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MEMO/10/701
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Brussels, 21 December 2010
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Roma Integration: First Findings of Roma Task Force and Report on Social Inclusion
In September, the European Commission established an internal Task Force to assess Member States' use of EU funding with regard to the social and economic integration of Roma, Europe's largest ethnic minority (IP/10/1097). This Task Force now reported its initial findings. It noted that while EU funds offer considerable potential for bolstering Roma inclusion, bottlenecks at national, regional and local levels are limiting their effective use by Member States. The Roma Task Force will continue its work in identifying concrete ways to enhance the funds’ uses. The results will be part of an EU framework for national Roma integration strategies in the Member States that will be presented by the Commission in spring 2011, for discussion in the European Parliament and the Council. A new study – released by the Commission today – analysed national Roma inclusion measures in 18 EU countries and identified a series of successful policy approaches. Integrated policies and projects addressing the multiple causes of social exclusion are the best ways to improve the situation of Roma in Europe, the study says.
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First findings of the Roma Task Force
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The Roma Task Force was established following a proposal by Vice-President Viviane Reding, EU Justice Commissioner; László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion; and Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs (IP/10/1097). The Task Force sent questionnaires to the 27 Member States regarding their use of EU funds to address the Roma situation.
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The preliminary findings indicate that Member States do not yet properly use EU money for the purpose of an effective social and economic integration of Roma. Weaknesses exist in the development of appropriate strategies and specific measures to address problems faced by Roma. Implementation at national level is problematic because of a lack of know-how and administrative capacity to absorb EU funds. The report also identifies problems in providing national co-financing as well as a lack of involvement by civil society and Roma communities themselves.
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The management of the bulk of EU funding that may benefit Roma integration is shared with Member States, notably through the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and to a lesser extent the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). In May 2010, the EU allowed the use of European regional funding to improve housing for marginalised communities in rural areas (IP/10/589). As is always the case with EU funds, it is up to Member States and managing authorities to come up with viable projects. It is not the European Commission’s role to propose projects (see also MEMO/10/383).
Next steps
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The Commission's Roma Task Force will now identify concrete ways to improve the effectiveness of EU funds in the Member States. These approaches will feed into an EU-level framework for national Roma inclusion strategies, which the Commission plans to adopt in spring 2011.
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New Study on Member States' Projects on Roma Inclusion
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Today's study – carried out on behalf of the Commission – finds that integrated policy approaches designed to tackle the multiple causes of social exclusion affecting Roma are the most successful. Strong political will is also required. Seven of the 18 countries studied have adopted integrated national strategies for Roma inclusion, although these are not always consistently implemented.
Success factors include:
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- effective coordination of policies within national governments and between the national, regional and local levels – such as the national coordination mechanisms set up by Spain and the national Roma strategy in Hungary;
- sustainable programmes with reliable, multi-annual budgets to ensure continuity of results – such as the ACCEDER training programme that began as a temporary project but has since helped 25,000 people find work over a 9-year period in 48 locations across Spain;
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- effective participation and consultation of Roma in inclusion efforts – Austria and Ireland have set up national advisory bodies to consult Roma and Traveller communities on government initiatives, while Romania's Parliament includes a member to represent Roma communities and all Slovene municipalities with Roma populations include at least one Roma councillor;
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- reliable data and evaluation of results – such as initiatives in Slovakia to survey the living conditions and health needs of Roma and Traveller communities.
Background
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The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Roma Education Fund (REF) prepared the comparative study, which looks at measures addressing the situation of Roma living in 18 EU Member States with sizeable Romani populations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The study analyses successful activities that seek to improve the situation of Roma in non-discrimination and equality policies, education, employment and training, health care services, housing and gender equality.
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A large proportion of the Roma community in the EU is disproportionately affected by unemployment, extreme poverty, poor housing, low health standards and difficult access to education. The EU – since 2007 – has confirmed that while the social and economic integration of disadvantaged Roma people is primarily a responsibility for each country, there is also a role for the EU. A series of Council conclusions have endorsed the Commission’s assessment (in Communications in 2008 and 2010, see IP/10/407 and MEMO/10/121) that more needs to be done to apply the EU framework of legislative, financial and policy coordination tools to the promote Roma inclusion.
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Today's Roma Task Force findings on the use of EU funds and the comparative study on national Roma Inclusion Measures will be used by the Commission in its further work with Member States on the successful integration of the 10-12 million Roma living in the EU.
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More on this memo can be read at-
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/701&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
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A review of this Memo will be coming soon. More news about the Roma can be read here on Alder's Ledge and at our FaceBook group: search word - Alder's Ledge.
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December 21, 2010
December 13, 2010
Scream Till Your Throat Bleeds...
...Never Relent, Never Stop, Never Forget.
Turkey
Rwanda
Cambodia
Iraq
Germany
Russia
China
Bosnia
Kosovo
Argentina
Australia
Namibia
United States
All of these are just a handful of modern states that have been the place settings of our most awful of sins. In each country the genocides happened through direct actions of the political parties involved. In every case mentioned above the rewards for slaughtering a "target of opportunity" just seemed to be to great to pass up. We as humans have killed each other for literally pennies on the dollar... with little reward for such great efforts of inhumanity.
The Armenian Genocide is still "forgotten" in the fact that the government formed out of its blood will still to this day deny it with ever increasing ferocity. Our government supports Turkey in its denial of the Armenian Genocide. Republicans and Democrats alike share the blame for this atrocious act of profiteering. Greed stifles the screams of long since dead children of Armenia. Lust for blood money and frivolous perks keeps our government in bed with willful murderers.
But as the great butcher once said... "Who alive today remembers the annihilation of the Armenians?"
WE DO.
Though I shut my eyes the images of wronged men linger in my mind. Though my lips fail me this urge to scream arises ever more relentlessly. It is as if I have just seen the murderous acts first hand and yet nobody around me even bothers to help. Instead we walk on past as the dead await their good Samaritan.
April 24Th marks the bloody beginning of the Armenian Genocide back in 1915. In 1904 the Germans in Namibia began to erect the first death camps of the 20Th century. The Germans began to slaughter the Herero and Namaqua in an effort to gain "vital Lebensraum". General Lothar Von Trotha achieved the Germans' goals by slaughtering an estimated 80 percent of the Herero and just over half of the Namaqua.
Germany today is seemingly believed to have been the kindest "masters" ever to have colonized Africa. Or so people have been led to believe. The "Second Reich" was just as barbaric as the first and last. And as we speak, Germany seems to be on the path toward the far right once more.
The blood on their hands was never washed away. As the saying goes... those who fail to learn from the past are damned to repeat it.
In the United States we seem to feel that our only sins have been to get into bed with the sinners themselves. We seem to forget what we did to the Americans who were here before us. We tend to think of "Indian Reservations" as being "safe places" for the old Americans. We tend not to realize that they were camps much like Buchenwald in the aspect that we set them up only to put the "problems out of sight" and out of mind.
Wounded Knee... the most famous butcher of our American history rode into the Native American camp and ordered the executions of anything that moved. Men, women, children... babies... anything that moved. The reason, the targeted "problems" might be up to something.
We stuck Geronimo on a "reservation" and told him to farm land that white settlers knew was unworkable. When he decided to live the way his ancestors did (instead of starve under white rule) we labeled him an outlaw and a "danger to society". We were not taught in school that the real danger was living in a society that hates you.
Of the sins we do admit... the sins of our allies are far to often never called by their rightful name. Genocide.
And when we have seen such acts taking place we dared not scream. Instead we remained silent and closed our eyes to what was going on before us. In Rwanda the dead and dieing yelled out in many different ways... LOOK AT US!
We decided to do what our good leader, Uncle Bill, told us to... look away.
After the killings were done we decided it was safe to look. After all... you can't help the dead, only the living... right?
We seem even more complacent when these sorta acts are carried out against groups of people to whom we have no connection. When the Serbs began to slaughter the Muslims in Bosnia... it wasn't the United State's problem. Instead we once again sat back and let the bloodbath unfold. We even decided it would be "indecent" to lift the weapons embargo on the Bosnian people, so as to allow them to defend themselves. After all, if we weren't going to ride in and save them why allow them to save themselves?
Trnopolje was the latest concentration camp to be erected upon European soil. Unlike Omarska and Keraterm, Trnopolje was not a standard death camp. And unlike Manjaca, it was not a "political prisoner" camp either. Trnopolje was a camp established to allow Serbian soldiers the pronounced "freedom" of raping Muslim girls and women. Other prisoners at Trnopolje were used in much the same manner and then deported either to other camps or out of Serb held territory.
The United States knew about all four camps in the Prijedor area. We even had photographs of the camp and its prisoners... we just didn't show the public till it was too late.
After all, who alive today remembers the annihilation of the Bosnians?
It has been about the same length of time from now back to the time the Serbs were unleashing hell upon Bosnia as it had been from the time Hitler said the same thing about the Armenians.
And that brings us back to the second genocide of the 20Th century. The attacks on the Armenians marked the first time the entire world knew about the acts of genocide as they were happening. It marks the first time that the entire world knew about the genocide and did nothing to stop it.
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We here at Alder's Ledge invite you to scream with us. Help us by doing anything you can to inform others of genocide. Read articles here on Alder's Ledge that explain how genocides begin, why they begin, and how to stop them. Read about pogroms and other genocidal acts and share them with us here in our comments sections. We will read and reply to every comment you leave in whatever fashion we deem appropriate.
Have questions about anything you have seen here? Just ask us in a comment and we will be more than happy to discuss anything you have questions or concerns about. This is an open forum for you the reader.
And remember... Scream till your throat bleeds or your voice fails you... Never Relent, Never Stop, Never Forget.
You can follow us on FaceBook, key search word... Alder's Ledge. Or follow us on Twitter, @alders_ledge
December 10, 2010
The Untouchables
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Roma: Romany for "man"
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"Self-determination is the right of a people to determine its own destiny," Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
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Romania, Bucharest
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Currently the Romanian government is attempting to have the Romani people's official name for their peoples changed to Tigan. Tigan happens to come from the Greek phrase for "untouchables". In other words, the Romanian government is trying to make it official that Roma are less than human.
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"Imagine if a U.S. Congressman proposed to change the name Afro-American back to the insulting term 'nigger'," said David Mark, director of the Roma Civic Alliance in Bucharest, speaking to TIME at a protest outside the government headquarters last week. "It would cause a huge scandal and that Congressman would probably have to resign."
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The politicians in Romania however will not be asked to resign. In fact, many Romanians are in favor of changing the countries classification of Roma to Tigans. That is precisely why people like Silviu Prigoana continue to climb the ranks of Romania's ruling Liberal Democratic Party. His race baiting legislation is more than welcome in the economically troubled Romanian political climate.
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With the backing of Romanian President Traian Basescu the Liberal Democrats will probably be more than able to push their legislation through Romania's legislative process. Little or no opposition is expected seeing as how Romanian peoples seem to bear nothing less than a burning hatred for the "Gypsies". Traian's own party has referred to them as a "scourge".
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Elsewhere in Europe the attacks on Roma continue to spill into the World News (slowly but surely, Europe appears to be willing to let the world see what sins they now perpetrate). Since 1989 in Slovakia 110 documented cases of Roma women being forcibly sterilized have shown up in "Body and Soul: Forced Sterilization and Other Attacks on Roma Reproductive Freedom". All of which have happened under Slovakia's public health care programs. CRR (The Center for Reproductive Rights) has documented 230 women in 40 Romani camps in Slovakia that have been sterilized by the Slovakian government. The process used appears to be a throwback to the Norwegian sterilizations of Roma in Norway some 40 to 60 years ago.
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As for the Czechs, 90 percent of Czechs say that they would rather share their "homeland" with Slovaks and "disabled" than Roma ( half of Czechs polled believe Roma are a source of diseases). In other words, the Czechs openly admit that they would like to see the Roma gone from their country. This holds true for France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, and Poland as well (just to name a few).
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In other news from The Czech Republic, The Workers' Social Justice Party may be on the rise seeing as how towns like Novy Bydzov are almost "courting" the "Neo-Nazis". After posting a racist declaration on their towns public website, the citizens of Novy are now getting offers from The Workers to help set up official pogroms. Many of the members own words can be read in the article on Romea.cz. Most of what they have to say sounds almost exactly like Adolf Hitler himself.
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Looking toward more popular images of Europe we now turn toward Athens. In just the last couple weeks the attacks on "immigrants" have been stepped up as racist groups like "Golden Dawn" (Chrysi Avgi) take their seats in local government.
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Citizens in Athens have resorted to using Molotov Cocktails in their attacks on Muslims and Roma in Greece. One of the most infamous attacks happened in the end of October when Greek citizens locked the doors to a temporary mosque and then hurled Molotov Cocktails through the building's windows. Four worshipers inside were nearly killed as the Greeks fought to keep them locked inside.
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While most of the violence in Greece is being directed at Turkish immigrants and other Muslims, the attacks on Roma in Athens and the rest of Greece continue to rise. Once again, the far right elements in Greece are targeting the "usual scapegoat"... the Roma.
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In the Scandinavian countries the rise of eugenic based laws and proposed laws are beginning to appear just as they did in the 1930s. Norway's far right and Sweden's far right have proposed that Roma should either leave their countries or accept and expect sterilization. The proposals are both socially based and loosely based of the Nazi belief of eugenics.
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All of these crimes against the basic human rights of Roma are somewhat quickly combining into the racist agenda of the National Socialist Workers' Party. If left unchecked we all know where these ideals lead... like train tracks to the iron gates. Under that hollow phrase, "work will set you free", the Roma are being exploited and abused to full fill a basic European desire... if all be it xenophobic... A world without Roma.
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Please read the other articles posted here on Alder's Ledge and check us out on FaceBook. We will be doing whatever we can to "Scream" out on behalf of those the world now chooses to neglect.
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Source Documents for this Post
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http://reproductiverights.org/en/document/body-and-soul-forced-sterilization-and-other-assaults-on-roma-reproductive-freedom
- The Center for Reproductive Rights
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http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,418541,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2035862,00.html
- Time Magazine Online
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http://www.praguemonitor.com/2010/12/10/poll-most-czechs-resent-sharing-state-drug-addicts-roma
- Prague Daily Monitor Online
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/world/europe/01greece.html
- The New York Times Online
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http://www.axt.org.uk/antisem/countries/norway/norway.htm
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December 8, 2010
Complacent Reaper
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Spontaneous Hell
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A Brief History of Pogroms and Genocide
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"Armenians in Baku"
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If you have read this blog at least once or twice in the past you should be at least familiar with the Armenian Genocide in the old Ottoman Empire. And for most of us that is the one and only genocidal act the Armenians have had to deal with. But for me, the events in Baku, Azerbaijan constitute a pogrom at least... if not a small scale genocide at best.
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In 1990 the local population in Baku was whipped into a frenzy over most everything there was to be angry about. However, the Armenian population seemed to invoke a special level of hatred from their neighbors... particularly the Azeris neighbors.
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Soviet authorities did little or nothing to stem the violence once it began. Police and military officials were far more complacent than they had been in previous decades. Some accounts even indicate that the police were helping local citizens round up Armenians. The attacks were therefore not "spontaneous" as the Soviets claimed seeing as how the attacker's had been provided with list of victims names and addresses.
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Like in Rwanda, the 100,000 victims were beaten to death or stabbed to death. No gunshot wounds were recorded. This was yet once again, a genocide in which the "gas chambers" were not the icons of death.
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So how did it happen? And why?
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Well the question of why is impossible to answer seeing as how the human mind is impossible to accurately dissect. But the political gains that resulted from the killings show that the Azerbaijan Popular Front was politically motivated in its participation.
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As with most pogroms, these attacks were planned from the beginning. And just as with most others, the group responsible did not come right out with the truth about what they had planned. Instead the attacks were ramped up over a relatively short period of time. The political backing had simply accelerated the attacks into a full blown "devouring" of the Armenian population.
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This sort of political backing however is never simply political in nature. The group that forms the political base for such a party usually already harbors such animosities. And it is from this base of hatred that the Azerbaijan Popular Front got its start.
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But how does a far flung group of race baiters get their start?
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History has shown us that in times of economic uncertainty the far right and far left of society swell in numbers. Despite debate among the two sides, both are fanatical in their aims and goals. And it is in this phenomena that the rise of racist fascism gets its leg up in the world.
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In Baku the organization of the attacks also shows intense planning by the "grass roots" base. "The Party" knew who its targets were but the low ranking party followers did not. So to speed up the attacks, the names and addresses were printed out and passed around. That would have still allowed for "interference" in some manner. So the attackers were broken up into organized "mobs".
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Some "mobs" began to set up blockades both in front of military and police stations and then in the main roadways in and out of the city. The blockades in front of the military and police stations were simply meant to exert "The Party"'s power and authority. They also gave the military and police excuses for not stopping the attacks.
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As for the blockading of roadways... this is a trademark of modern pogroms. Mobs are set in place to keep the targets in place. The blockades were meant to stop any "flocking" of victims out of the targeted area. It also allows the "roaming mobs" to herd their targets into the "slaughter houses".
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Victims that fought back in Baku were almost always killed before they could be herded into the designated killing fields. That is the goal of these "havoc" filled pogroms. The main aim is to cut the victim off from their two main responses... fight or flight.
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In one aspect it seems easy to understand pogroms. They seem so simple in hindsight and yet they seem impossible to spot till they are already past. We know the signs and yet we seem incapable of stopping them.
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The following is an account I read before writing this article. I hope you read it through and continue reading future post on this subject. It is important that we learn from our past so that we do not have to repeat it.
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I was born on October 28, 1978 in the city of Baku. My family had two apartments- one in the 8Th district, the second one in Razino – Kirov str. 7, apt. 48. I still remember the postal code (370040) and the telephone number -25-10-75. We had a multinational neighborhood, with Azeris, Armenians (nearly all of them managed to escape on time), Germans, Russian, Jews, Lezghins, etc living around. In a word, it was a multinational city. Before the Sumgait events I didn’t know what nationality I belonged to. The nationality did not matter then. Nothing portended these events; my family believed in the Party up to the last minute. I’m not going to speak about the prerequisites; they are well known.
Everything started for my family on December 1, 1989 when my father got fired due to his being Armenian. He left for Russia searching for a job with family hostel for us. Unfortunately, he didn’t find anything and came back the same month.
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On Saturday, January 13, 1990 I was at school. We had then classes on Saturdays. Life went on normally. That day my Azeri classmate (I don’t remember his name) told me that the next day (January 14) the war between the Armenian and Azeris would break out. I didn’t understand what he meant; several hours later I realized everything.
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About 10 PM, January 13, 1990 (A Georgian movie “Donki Khod” was being broadcast on TV at that moment). Some strangers knocked at our door saying they wanted to buy our apartment. We explained that the house was not for sale. They kept demanding that we open the door. We did not. And then everything began; they started breaking our door. As ill luck would have it, we had a brazier in the corridor, and they used it. Fortunately, our door was armored. They had cut the telephone cable beforehand. Somehow, shouting, we called the police. None of our neighbors interfered. I don’t remember what the police told us then, they just came, spent there some time and left. After they left my father took my sister and me across the balcony to our Russian neighbors with the help of an ironing board. Since then I vaguely remember what was going on. My parents told me they tried to break our door twice, and twice the police were arriving. My father moved the coach up to the door - our door was opening inside. The Azeris said, “You’ll see tomorrow what we’ll do to you”. At night an Azeri neighbor of ours came to our apartment (to my parents) with a knife, sort of to protect us. (He didn’t bear ill will to anybody, he was a 35-year-old hashish-addict, had spent some time in prison). My parents deposited with him some valuable books and some other things. I don’t know what happened next, but my father came to us on January 14 morning, we left the house quickly and went to the road. The only thing I noticed was our broken window. The cab was waiting for us. We were going to the center of Baku, where my mother’s friend, a Jewish woman was living. As far as I understood the cab had come to our house twice. The first time it took out Grandmother with our living essentials, and then us. The taxi-driver was a Lezghin, and treated us normally. He also took offence at the Azeris.
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January 14 we spent at my mother’s Jewish friend. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon everything started, mass pogroms of Armenians began. My mother’s friend was in the city, she told that Armenians were being killed in the streets. We sat very silently so that the neighbors didn’t inform against us. The horror began next day.
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On January 15 we went to the station to leave the city. There were no trains. Our family consisted of five people. I don’t remember how we got to the station; we had a few packs with the necessities. My father and I were carrying our bags from a nearby square to the station. We couldn’t “flock”, that could arouse suspicions. My mother and sister stayed at the station, my father and I went to find my Grandmother, but failed to. My mother told my father to stay with my sister, and I went to search for my grandmother with my mother. Male Armenians were being killed. We couldn’t find my grandmother. (Later we learned that Azeris had taken her to “Shafag” cinema where Armenians were being driven together. They took away all valuable things that Granny had with, even pulled out her teeth with golden crowns, and then took her to the ferry berth). Upon arriving at the station we didn’t find my father and sister. The police told us they were catching Armenians and taking them to the ferry berth. They took us to the station square; a bus was waiting there (a village-type “Gaz” bus). Azeri builders and Russian soldiers were setting us in the bus. I remember them curtaining the windows. I saw horrible scene on the way.
Beaten Armenians were being taken out on lorries from the yards, and Azeris were standing around and shouting things. We didn’t find either my grandmother or father and sister on the ferry berth. Mom decided they could have returned to her Jewish friend. We got somehow to her place; they were not there. (Later we learned that they were at the same Armenian-collector cinema, grandmother was taken to Krasnovodsk on the ferry on January 15, and my father and sister – on January 16). My mother called to her Azeri deputy director (she worked at a musical school) to ask for some money. We had only two kopecks around.
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We met on January 16. I remember Azeris checking documents of all men. The deputy director gave us some money and took us to another place Armenians were being taken to. (Afterwards we learned that Azeris killed him). I guess that was an officer house, there were Russian military and a gun. Later a bus took us to the ferry berth. It was horrible – beaten Armenians, mainly children, elderly and women. Male Armenians were being killed. The last thing I saw in Baku was the Government House and the monument to 26 Baku commissioners. We were kept inside the bus for a few hours, and then taken to the berth. It was the first time I saw soldiers in black uniform with shields; that was amazing to me. The evening was cold, we were kept at the berth till morning, a cool wind was blowing. I remember in the evening Azeris brought a wagon with bread. They gave everybody buns and water. Early in the morning the ferry arrived. The soldiers circled the berth. People were striving to get on the ferry; Azeris were shouting something. I was standing facing a soldier’s shield. Then they let us on the ferry. We were lucky to get to the saloon; some people were in the engine-room. They told us Azeris drowned the first ferry - fortunately it was empty. Azeris wanted to drown the ferry my father and sister were in, but a plane or a helicopter from Krasnovodsk drowned the Azeri boat. I remember we went out to the deck; I was scared. A storm broke out, or maybe that just seemed to me - that was the fist time I appeared in the open sea. There was volleyball net on the ferry. I don’t remember how long we sailed.
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It seems to me we arrived in Krasnovodsk on January 18 morning. They took us to a house; a crowd was standing there. They gave us a “Refugee leaflet”; I keep it up to now. I can’t figure out when they managed to print them. Then Turkmen gave us some rice to eat and then separated us. Those wishing to get to Moscow were leaving by train, and those who wished to leave for Yerevan were taken to the airport. I fell asleep as soon as I appeared in the plane, and then woke up at the landing.
This is the story of my life. We were fortunate to find each other. My father was waiting for us at “Zvartnots” airport; we had buns and tea there. We all stayed with our relatives. Thus I became a refugee. Naturally, I don’t remember all the details; maybe I’m lucky to. It’s a pity few people talk about these events.
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Karen Harutyunyan
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It is a pity that more people do not talk about those events. That is why we here at Alder's Ledge will continue to post such accounts and study such events. The next post will once again turn back toward the United States as we study the relations between our Government and the native peoples we have so often neglected.
Spontaneous Hell
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A Brief History of Pogroms and Genocide
-
"Armenians in Baku"
-
-
If you have read this blog at least once or twice in the past you should be at least familiar with the Armenian Genocide in the old Ottoman Empire. And for most of us that is the one and only genocidal act the Armenians have had to deal with. But for me, the events in Baku, Azerbaijan constitute a pogrom at least... if not a small scale genocide at best.
-
In 1990 the local population in Baku was whipped into a frenzy over most everything there was to be angry about. However, the Armenian population seemed to invoke a special level of hatred from their neighbors... particularly the Azeris neighbors.
-
Soviet authorities did little or nothing to stem the violence once it began. Police and military officials were far more complacent than they had been in previous decades. Some accounts even indicate that the police were helping local citizens round up Armenians. The attacks were therefore not "spontaneous" as the Soviets claimed seeing as how the attacker's had been provided with list of victims names and addresses.
-
Like in Rwanda, the 100,000 victims were beaten to death or stabbed to death. No gunshot wounds were recorded. This was yet once again, a genocide in which the "gas chambers" were not the icons of death.
-
So how did it happen? And why?
-
Well the question of why is impossible to answer seeing as how the human mind is impossible to accurately dissect. But the political gains that resulted from the killings show that the Azerbaijan Popular Front was politically motivated in its participation.
-
As with most pogroms, these attacks were planned from the beginning. And just as with most others, the group responsible did not come right out with the truth about what they had planned. Instead the attacks were ramped up over a relatively short period of time. The political backing had simply accelerated the attacks into a full blown "devouring" of the Armenian population.
-
This sort of political backing however is never simply political in nature. The group that forms the political base for such a party usually already harbors such animosities. And it is from this base of hatred that the Azerbaijan Popular Front got its start.
-
But how does a far flung group of race baiters get their start?
-
History has shown us that in times of economic uncertainty the far right and far left of society swell in numbers. Despite debate among the two sides, both are fanatical in their aims and goals. And it is in this phenomena that the rise of racist fascism gets its leg up in the world.
-
In Baku the organization of the attacks also shows intense planning by the "grass roots" base. "The Party" knew who its targets were but the low ranking party followers did not. So to speed up the attacks, the names and addresses were printed out and passed around. That would have still allowed for "interference" in some manner. So the attackers were broken up into organized "mobs".
-
Some "mobs" began to set up blockades both in front of military and police stations and then in the main roadways in and out of the city. The blockades in front of the military and police stations were simply meant to exert "The Party"'s power and authority. They also gave the military and police excuses for not stopping the attacks.
-
As for the blockading of roadways... this is a trademark of modern pogroms. Mobs are set in place to keep the targets in place. The blockades were meant to stop any "flocking" of victims out of the targeted area. It also allows the "roaming mobs" to herd their targets into the "slaughter houses".
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Victims that fought back in Baku were almost always killed before they could be herded into the designated killing fields. That is the goal of these "havoc" filled pogroms. The main aim is to cut the victim off from their two main responses... fight or flight.
-
In one aspect it seems easy to understand pogroms. They seem so simple in hindsight and yet they seem impossible to spot till they are already past. We know the signs and yet we seem incapable of stopping them.
-
The following is an account I read before writing this article. I hope you read it through and continue reading future post on this subject. It is important that we learn from our past so that we do not have to repeat it.
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I was born on October 28, 1978 in the city of Baku. My family had two apartments- one in the 8Th district, the second one in Razino – Kirov str. 7, apt. 48. I still remember the postal code (370040) and the telephone number -25-10-75. We had a multinational neighborhood, with Azeris, Armenians (nearly all of them managed to escape on time), Germans, Russian, Jews, Lezghins, etc living around. In a word, it was a multinational city. Before the Sumgait events I didn’t know what nationality I belonged to. The nationality did not matter then. Nothing portended these events; my family believed in the Party up to the last minute. I’m not going to speak about the prerequisites; they are well known.
Everything started for my family on December 1, 1989 when my father got fired due to his being Armenian. He left for Russia searching for a job with family hostel for us. Unfortunately, he didn’t find anything and came back the same month.
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On Saturday, January 13, 1990 I was at school. We had then classes on Saturdays. Life went on normally. That day my Azeri classmate (I don’t remember his name) told me that the next day (January 14) the war between the Armenian and Azeris would break out. I didn’t understand what he meant; several hours later I realized everything.
-
About 10 PM, January 13, 1990 (A Georgian movie “Donki Khod” was being broadcast on TV at that moment). Some strangers knocked at our door saying they wanted to buy our apartment. We explained that the house was not for sale. They kept demanding that we open the door. We did not. And then everything began; they started breaking our door. As ill luck would have it, we had a brazier in the corridor, and they used it. Fortunately, our door was armored. They had cut the telephone cable beforehand. Somehow, shouting, we called the police. None of our neighbors interfered. I don’t remember what the police told us then, they just came, spent there some time and left. After they left my father took my sister and me across the balcony to our Russian neighbors with the help of an ironing board. Since then I vaguely remember what was going on. My parents told me they tried to break our door twice, and twice the police were arriving. My father moved the coach up to the door - our door was opening inside. The Azeris said, “You’ll see tomorrow what we’ll do to you”. At night an Azeri neighbor of ours came to our apartment (to my parents) with a knife, sort of to protect us. (He didn’t bear ill will to anybody, he was a 35-year-old hashish-addict, had spent some time in prison). My parents deposited with him some valuable books and some other things. I don’t know what happened next, but my father came to us on January 14 morning, we left the house quickly and went to the road. The only thing I noticed was our broken window. The cab was waiting for us. We were going to the center of Baku, where my mother’s friend, a Jewish woman was living. As far as I understood the cab had come to our house twice. The first time it took out Grandmother with our living essentials, and then us. The taxi-driver was a Lezghin, and treated us normally. He also took offence at the Azeris.
-
January 14 we spent at my mother’s Jewish friend. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon everything started, mass pogroms of Armenians began. My mother’s friend was in the city, she told that Armenians were being killed in the streets. We sat very silently so that the neighbors didn’t inform against us. The horror began next day.
-
On January 15 we went to the station to leave the city. There were no trains. Our family consisted of five people. I don’t remember how we got to the station; we had a few packs with the necessities. My father and I were carrying our bags from a nearby square to the station. We couldn’t “flock”, that could arouse suspicions. My mother and sister stayed at the station, my father and I went to find my Grandmother, but failed to. My mother told my father to stay with my sister, and I went to search for my grandmother with my mother. Male Armenians were being killed. We couldn’t find my grandmother. (Later we learned that Azeris had taken her to “Shafag” cinema where Armenians were being driven together. They took away all valuable things that Granny had with, even pulled out her teeth with golden crowns, and then took her to the ferry berth). Upon arriving at the station we didn’t find my father and sister. The police told us they were catching Armenians and taking them to the ferry berth. They took us to the station square; a bus was waiting there (a village-type “Gaz” bus). Azeri builders and Russian soldiers were setting us in the bus. I remember them curtaining the windows. I saw horrible scene on the way.
Beaten Armenians were being taken out on lorries from the yards, and Azeris were standing around and shouting things. We didn’t find either my grandmother or father and sister on the ferry berth. Mom decided they could have returned to her Jewish friend. We got somehow to her place; they were not there. (Later we learned that they were at the same Armenian-collector cinema, grandmother was taken to Krasnovodsk on the ferry on January 15, and my father and sister – on January 16). My mother called to her Azeri deputy director (she worked at a musical school) to ask for some money. We had only two kopecks around.
-
We met on January 16. I remember Azeris checking documents of all men. The deputy director gave us some money and took us to another place Armenians were being taken to. (Afterwards we learned that Azeris killed him). I guess that was an officer house, there were Russian military and a gun. Later a bus took us to the ferry berth. It was horrible – beaten Armenians, mainly children, elderly and women. Male Armenians were being killed. The last thing I saw in Baku was the Government House and the monument to 26 Baku commissioners. We were kept inside the bus for a few hours, and then taken to the berth. It was the first time I saw soldiers in black uniform with shields; that was amazing to me. The evening was cold, we were kept at the berth till morning, a cool wind was blowing. I remember in the evening Azeris brought a wagon with bread. They gave everybody buns and water. Early in the morning the ferry arrived. The soldiers circled the berth. People were striving to get on the ferry; Azeris were shouting something. I was standing facing a soldier’s shield. Then they let us on the ferry. We were lucky to get to the saloon; some people were in the engine-room. They told us Azeris drowned the first ferry - fortunately it was empty. Azeris wanted to drown the ferry my father and sister were in, but a plane or a helicopter from Krasnovodsk drowned the Azeri boat. I remember we went out to the deck; I was scared. A storm broke out, or maybe that just seemed to me - that was the fist time I appeared in the open sea. There was volleyball net on the ferry. I don’t remember how long we sailed.
-
It seems to me we arrived in Krasnovodsk on January 18 morning. They took us to a house; a crowd was standing there. They gave us a “Refugee leaflet”; I keep it up to now. I can’t figure out when they managed to print them. Then Turkmen gave us some rice to eat and then separated us. Those wishing to get to Moscow were leaving by train, and those who wished to leave for Yerevan were taken to the airport. I fell asleep as soon as I appeared in the plane, and then woke up at the landing.
This is the story of my life. We were fortunate to find each other. My father was waiting for us at “Zvartnots” airport; we had buns and tea there. We all stayed with our relatives. Thus I became a refugee. Naturally, I don’t remember all the details; maybe I’m lucky to. It’s a pity few people talk about these events.
-
Karen Harutyunyan
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It is a pity that more people do not talk about those events. That is why we here at Alder's Ledge will continue to post such accounts and study such events. The next post will once again turn back toward the United States as we study the relations between our Government and the native peoples we have so often neglected.
December 3, 2010
We Wish To Inform You...
That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
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A Brief History of Pogroms and Organized Chaos
-
-
American Style
-
-
The very word Pogrom means to literally "wreak havoc". It is a relatively new Russian word with ancient roots in human history. And in most incidents it is used to describe organized killings of Jewish communities in highly antisemitic cultures. Yet for the most part these sorts of attempts to "demolish violently" in part or in whole have been used against any minority.
-
In the United States we have witnessed these sorts of "state sponsored terrorism" in our recent past... we far to often ignore them and hide them. Under General Custer's dirty flag of freedom we marched into the West with one goal... "to demolish violently" the native way of life. Like the Spanish Conquistadors that came before us, we introduced a way of thinking not to different from the natives. The only difference was that we had the "human waves" to back our hatred and annihilate the peoples of the plains.
-
If you talk to very many average blue color working Americans you will find that the "Arab" is our new Native American. Among the liberal "upper crust" the Muslim is a novelty to be admired from afar... still not to be fully embraced. Among the conservative "working class" Islam is a foreign invader ready to rape and pillage... in much the same way they painted the Native American. And yet we hide away our animosity in much the same manner as our forefathers did; silently waiting for the opportunity to launch our assault.
-
The Hispanic community has gotten even less respect in recent history. But that is even more taboo to bring up than the "Arab". Yet here I go...
-
With a broad brush we often paint with fabricated numbers and bloated statistics the entire Latin community as "illegal aliens". When we feel generous we give them the titles of "immigrant", "migrant workers", or simply "illegals". But for the most part the goal is segregation. We seem to willfully forget that if you go back far enough even the Native American is an immigrant to this continent.
-
Forget about how we treated the blacks, gypsies, Japanese, Chinese, gays, or Jews. The cases for the Native Americans, Muslims, and Hispanics most clearly make my case for why we here at home are far from exempt from the hatred that feeds widespread "havoc". After all, we have made our own concentration camps... we have organized government to slaughter the weak... and we have washed our hands of innocent blood.
-
So how do pogroms get started?
-
"Where one or more are gathered..." evil will always be lingering close behind. After all, we are a species born to sin and to sin we so often turn. This just happens to be the worse form of sin we far too often take to. With our prejudice always at the front of our arsenals we take up arms when the world offers us "change".
-
With the harsh introduction of "radical Islam" we took up arms for good reasons against foreign foes. But for those left behind to fight upon the home front... we needed a face to a foe who dared not raise its head in public. For this we painted all Muslims as al-Quada or "radicals". For some, this meant that we were not at war with any particular sect of Islam but rather with Islam itself.
-
No greater lie has been spread since that fateful September.
-
Now we face a sect of Westerners that have "radicalized" as once again the world they knew changed... and abruptly at that. The conservative values of even liberal Muslims are now subjected to Western prejudice while Mormons are allowed to abuse their children. Lies about Islam are born and bread by people who have not even once read the Koran. Let alone the fact that most of us here in the United States know absolutely nothing about the Muslim's traditions or even their religion.
-
But this is a potential pogrom in the making. We don't have a government these days that will allow the masses to arm themselves and thus descend upon the Muslim community to "wreak havoc". Thank God.
-
We do however have a government that will not, mainly due to conservative fears, more aggressively identify "hate groups". Therefore the government can not nor will not prosecute hate group members for hate crimes when they do in fact happen. And for this reason the rise of violence against Muslims and their mosque continues.
-
A true pogrom against the Muslims in America would and could happen if the far right were allowed to organize a political party without public condemnation. Like the "brown shirts" in Washington during World War Two, this party would rise upon the growing prejudice against "common foes" such as the Muslims or Latinos. Ascending in power the group would need to quench the thirst of hatred amongst it members. So like other public figures, this group would allow publicly or in party memos the organized chaos that would follow. Like Krystalnaucht, the violence would be backed by the politician yet carried out by the people. Attacks would break out with true "havoc" being achieved almost over night. Only due to opposition by the Left, hopefully, the violence would end with the targeted community bloodied and in hiding.
-
I know that most reading this are probably upset that I am using America as my example while Europe is currently in the midst of government backed pogroms... but we must never forget just how vulnerable to Hitler's lures we truly are.
-
We have in our past raised hidden camps in isolated places in attempts to demoralize and destroy targeted communities. Like it or not, we have proven time and time again that we as Americans are far more than capable of uniting as the Nazis did in our hatred.
-
Indiana was once the site of a Osama like figure. Tecumseh, the military side of "radicalized" native society, led a "holy war" against the invading whites. Relentless in his attempts to destroy or at least demoralize the white Americans, Tecumseh launched, at times suicidal, attacks on much larger foes. His prejudice were of course formed out of his realization that the world as he knew it was changing... shrinking.
-
In my opinion, Islam has only radicalized due to... in part, the shrinking of the world the Middle Eastern Muslims once knew. The other factors are of course the many promises the West has made and broken (another link in my mind to Tecumseh). Then you have the exploitation of the Middle Easterners' resources (again Tecumseh). And finally the fact that Western ideals are being and have been forced upon the Arab world for decades now (most of which are incompatible with Islam itself).
-
Attacking Pigeon Roost, a band of natives linked to Tecumseh, massacred the local citizens without resistance. The fact that they then sliced the gut of a white women who was pregnant to make certain her baby was dead only galvanized the white Americans' hatred. So in response, orders were given to the Indiana Rangers to take no prisoners and spare nothing... woman, child, or animal.
-
The war from this point was one of burning abhorrence for the enemy on both sides. And in each camp the orders were interpreted to include the use of "pogroms" to strip the enemy of its will to fight.
-
Tecumseh would go on to target white settlements he knew to be unarmed and without young men to protect them. White men we here in Indiana hail as heroes made names for themselves by slaughtering Native American women and children while the "braves" were away. In both camps these were known as "targets of opportunity".
-
Pogroms are often carried out against "targets of opportunity". They are carried out by people who are either well armed or just plain better armed than their targets (in Rwanda the pogroms that grew into genocide were often carried out with machetes). In every case the targets most harassed are women, children, and old men. Young men that can fight back are mainly attacked when they are severely out numbered or unarmed. These tactics are almost universal in both pogroms carried out under the fog of war and pogroms that are carried out ahead of war or genocide.
-
At Wounded Knee the American cavalry and light infantry used the fog of war to cover up their genocidal acts. Knowing that the "enemy" or "target of opportunity" was vulnerable in the dead of winter the American Army attacked. In the same fashion of Hitler's Blitz, the Army made certain to shoot every woman and child they could find (in my opinion this was to force the tribe's men to fight since their families were now dead). It was then recorded that American soldiers walked among the dead with pistols in hand. Shooting those who survived the initial blitz... these SS like warriors finished the job.
-
The goal of a pogrom is simple. The perpetrators want one of two things. They either want the targeted community to leave the claimed territory or to gather in designated community areas. In the second of these two the goal is to form ghettos. Next, once ghettos are formed, the pogroms intensify and the genocide officially begins.
-
To better understand what the Roma in Europe are going through I decided before writing this brief history and introduction into "pogroms" that we should first understand how they work. I fully believe that we should be aware of this and understand that in no way are we here at home immune to such acts.
-
I will be writing more this month on clear cut cases of "pogroms" and genocide due to the Roma in Eastern Europe who are undergoing a clear cut case of "government backed pogroms". I hope you understand that I am not targeting America or Americans for any undue criticism. I believe that as Americans we should recognize both the great wonderful things we have accomplished and the nightmares we have wrought upon others. In this belief, I therefore believe other nations and peoples should do the same... i.e. Turkey and the Europeans at large.
-
My next example will be the Armenian Pogrom in Baku during January 1990. This will be an example of a pogrom being used to "expel the undesirables". And it will be only a temporary break from my look at American pogroms and genocides.
-
Please keep reading and please have an open mind when it comes to this rather unpleasent part of our history. After all, if we do not learn from our past we are damned to repeat it.
-
-
You can read brief updates and follow future post on our Facebook group page by searching Alder's Ledge on Facebook. Make sure to click on the group page and feel free to click "like" on our information page as well.
-
-
-
A Brief History of Pogroms and Organized Chaos
-
-
American Style
-
-
The very word Pogrom means to literally "wreak havoc". It is a relatively new Russian word with ancient roots in human history. And in most incidents it is used to describe organized killings of Jewish communities in highly antisemitic cultures. Yet for the most part these sorts of attempts to "demolish violently" in part or in whole have been used against any minority.
-
In the United States we have witnessed these sorts of "state sponsored terrorism" in our recent past... we far to often ignore them and hide them. Under General Custer's dirty flag of freedom we marched into the West with one goal... "to demolish violently" the native way of life. Like the Spanish Conquistadors that came before us, we introduced a way of thinking not to different from the natives. The only difference was that we had the "human waves" to back our hatred and annihilate the peoples of the plains.
-
If you talk to very many average blue color working Americans you will find that the "Arab" is our new Native American. Among the liberal "upper crust" the Muslim is a novelty to be admired from afar... still not to be fully embraced. Among the conservative "working class" Islam is a foreign invader ready to rape and pillage... in much the same way they painted the Native American. And yet we hide away our animosity in much the same manner as our forefathers did; silently waiting for the opportunity to launch our assault.
-
The Hispanic community has gotten even less respect in recent history. But that is even more taboo to bring up than the "Arab". Yet here I go...
-
With a broad brush we often paint with fabricated numbers and bloated statistics the entire Latin community as "illegal aliens". When we feel generous we give them the titles of "immigrant", "migrant workers", or simply "illegals". But for the most part the goal is segregation. We seem to willfully forget that if you go back far enough even the Native American is an immigrant to this continent.
-
Forget about how we treated the blacks, gypsies, Japanese, Chinese, gays, or Jews. The cases for the Native Americans, Muslims, and Hispanics most clearly make my case for why we here at home are far from exempt from the hatred that feeds widespread "havoc". After all, we have made our own concentration camps... we have organized government to slaughter the weak... and we have washed our hands of innocent blood.
-
So how do pogroms get started?
-
"Where one or more are gathered..." evil will always be lingering close behind. After all, we are a species born to sin and to sin we so often turn. This just happens to be the worse form of sin we far too often take to. With our prejudice always at the front of our arsenals we take up arms when the world offers us "change".
-
With the harsh introduction of "radical Islam" we took up arms for good reasons against foreign foes. But for those left behind to fight upon the home front... we needed a face to a foe who dared not raise its head in public. For this we painted all Muslims as al-Quada or "radicals". For some, this meant that we were not at war with any particular sect of Islam but rather with Islam itself.
-
No greater lie has been spread since that fateful September.
-
Now we face a sect of Westerners that have "radicalized" as once again the world they knew changed... and abruptly at that. The conservative values of even liberal Muslims are now subjected to Western prejudice while Mormons are allowed to abuse their children. Lies about Islam are born and bread by people who have not even once read the Koran. Let alone the fact that most of us here in the United States know absolutely nothing about the Muslim's traditions or even their religion.
-
But this is a potential pogrom in the making. We don't have a government these days that will allow the masses to arm themselves and thus descend upon the Muslim community to "wreak havoc". Thank God.
-
We do however have a government that will not, mainly due to conservative fears, more aggressively identify "hate groups". Therefore the government can not nor will not prosecute hate group members for hate crimes when they do in fact happen. And for this reason the rise of violence against Muslims and their mosque continues.
-
A true pogrom against the Muslims in America would and could happen if the far right were allowed to organize a political party without public condemnation. Like the "brown shirts" in Washington during World War Two, this party would rise upon the growing prejudice against "common foes" such as the Muslims or Latinos. Ascending in power the group would need to quench the thirst of hatred amongst it members. So like other public figures, this group would allow publicly or in party memos the organized chaos that would follow. Like Krystalnaucht, the violence would be backed by the politician yet carried out by the people. Attacks would break out with true "havoc" being achieved almost over night. Only due to opposition by the Left, hopefully, the violence would end with the targeted community bloodied and in hiding.
-
I know that most reading this are probably upset that I am using America as my example while Europe is currently in the midst of government backed pogroms... but we must never forget just how vulnerable to Hitler's lures we truly are.
-
We have in our past raised hidden camps in isolated places in attempts to demoralize and destroy targeted communities. Like it or not, we have proven time and time again that we as Americans are far more than capable of uniting as the Nazis did in our hatred.
-
Indiana was once the site of a Osama like figure. Tecumseh, the military side of "radicalized" native society, led a "holy war" against the invading whites. Relentless in his attempts to destroy or at least demoralize the white Americans, Tecumseh launched, at times suicidal, attacks on much larger foes. His prejudice were of course formed out of his realization that the world as he knew it was changing... shrinking.
-
In my opinion, Islam has only radicalized due to... in part, the shrinking of the world the Middle Eastern Muslims once knew. The other factors are of course the many promises the West has made and broken (another link in my mind to Tecumseh). Then you have the exploitation of the Middle Easterners' resources (again Tecumseh). And finally the fact that Western ideals are being and have been forced upon the Arab world for decades now (most of which are incompatible with Islam itself).
-
Attacking Pigeon Roost, a band of natives linked to Tecumseh, massacred the local citizens without resistance. The fact that they then sliced the gut of a white women who was pregnant to make certain her baby was dead only galvanized the white Americans' hatred. So in response, orders were given to the Indiana Rangers to take no prisoners and spare nothing... woman, child, or animal.
-
The war from this point was one of burning abhorrence for the enemy on both sides. And in each camp the orders were interpreted to include the use of "pogroms" to strip the enemy of its will to fight.
-
Tecumseh would go on to target white settlements he knew to be unarmed and without young men to protect them. White men we here in Indiana hail as heroes made names for themselves by slaughtering Native American women and children while the "braves" were away. In both camps these were known as "targets of opportunity".
-
Pogroms are often carried out against "targets of opportunity". They are carried out by people who are either well armed or just plain better armed than their targets (in Rwanda the pogroms that grew into genocide were often carried out with machetes). In every case the targets most harassed are women, children, and old men. Young men that can fight back are mainly attacked when they are severely out numbered or unarmed. These tactics are almost universal in both pogroms carried out under the fog of war and pogroms that are carried out ahead of war or genocide.
-
At Wounded Knee the American cavalry and light infantry used the fog of war to cover up their genocidal acts. Knowing that the "enemy" or "target of opportunity" was vulnerable in the dead of winter the American Army attacked. In the same fashion of Hitler's Blitz, the Army made certain to shoot every woman and child they could find (in my opinion this was to force the tribe's men to fight since their families were now dead). It was then recorded that American soldiers walked among the dead with pistols in hand. Shooting those who survived the initial blitz... these SS like warriors finished the job.
-
The goal of a pogrom is simple. The perpetrators want one of two things. They either want the targeted community to leave the claimed territory or to gather in designated community areas. In the second of these two the goal is to form ghettos. Next, once ghettos are formed, the pogroms intensify and the genocide officially begins.
-
To better understand what the Roma in Europe are going through I decided before writing this brief history and introduction into "pogroms" that we should first understand how they work. I fully believe that we should be aware of this and understand that in no way are we here at home immune to such acts.
-
I will be writing more this month on clear cut cases of "pogroms" and genocide due to the Roma in Eastern Europe who are undergoing a clear cut case of "government backed pogroms". I hope you understand that I am not targeting America or Americans for any undue criticism. I believe that as Americans we should recognize both the great wonderful things we have accomplished and the nightmares we have wrought upon others. In this belief, I therefore believe other nations and peoples should do the same... i.e. Turkey and the Europeans at large.
-
My next example will be the Armenian Pogrom in Baku during January 1990. This will be an example of a pogrom being used to "expel the undesirables". And it will be only a temporary break from my look at American pogroms and genocides.
-
Please keep reading and please have an open mind when it comes to this rather unpleasent part of our history. After all, if we do not learn from our past we are damned to repeat it.
-
-
You can read brief updates and follow future post on our Facebook group page by searching Alder's Ledge on Facebook. Make sure to click on the group page and feel free to click "like" on our information page as well.
-
November 26, 2010
Dieing to Live
Waiting to Die
In places like Hungary death for the Roma people is part of life in much the same way as breathing is. We know that someday we too will die and yet we do not expect it to be before we can take our next breath. For Roma, it may very well be.
Living under the threat of violence makes one question just how long they have left. Will the next attack be their last? Will the man who cuts you off in traffic pull a pistol and fire? Or maybe it will be when you go to bed? Will you wake up?
This sort of life breaks people's hearts, minds, even sometimes their souls. They wait for death to come or to pass them by. Not knowing if it will be them that goes next, they wait.
Despite the new attacks on Roma, this way of life is not new to the Romani. They are and have for centuries lived under the persistent threat of death and discrimination. The most horrific attack on the Roma came under Hitler during his Porrajmos (devouring) of the Romani people. This was the Roma Holocaust.
The death of millions came and went without notice amongst far to many in our Western world. We decided to accept the fact that the Nazis had killed the Jews over time but we forgot the others. Like silent invisible children they have seemingly slipped into the darkness of mankind's memory. And for far too long that has been just where we have kept them.
Out of sight, out of mind.
The near destruction of a culture brought about the unity of a people however. In the years that followed the Nazis' fall and the rise of Soviet dominance, the Romani united. Under the flag of the oppressed, the Rom was finally one. Their flag was adopted years later and their anthem was finally recorded. "Gelem, Gelem"... "We will go on".
I will never know just why, or for what reason, but Thanksgiving has always reminded me of those who have seemingly nothing to be thankful for. It has always amazed me how much the human spirit can take without finally collapsing. And even in the darkest hours of our history there seems to be those few glimmering lights of hope. Acting like beacons they guide us back to sanity if not for just a moment.
After your turkey is eaten and your family has left, do me this favor. Pray for those Roma still suffering at the hands of our European brothers. May God comfort them as this new wave of racist violence sweeps over them. And if God willing, may it truely Never Again reach the depths of those dark nights during Hitler's Porrajmos.
Please follow us on Facebook. Our page is named "Alder's Ledge".
Thank You.
In places like Hungary death for the Roma people is part of life in much the same way as breathing is. We know that someday we too will die and yet we do not expect it to be before we can take our next breath. For Roma, it may very well be.
Living under the threat of violence makes one question just how long they have left. Will the next attack be their last? Will the man who cuts you off in traffic pull a pistol and fire? Or maybe it will be when you go to bed? Will you wake up?
This sort of life breaks people's hearts, minds, even sometimes their souls. They wait for death to come or to pass them by. Not knowing if it will be them that goes next, they wait.
Despite the new attacks on Roma, this way of life is not new to the Romani. They are and have for centuries lived under the persistent threat of death and discrimination. The most horrific attack on the Roma came under Hitler during his Porrajmos (devouring) of the Romani people. This was the Roma Holocaust.
The death of millions came and went without notice amongst far to many in our Western world. We decided to accept the fact that the Nazis had killed the Jews over time but we forgot the others. Like silent invisible children they have seemingly slipped into the darkness of mankind's memory. And for far too long that has been just where we have kept them.
Out of sight, out of mind.
The near destruction of a culture brought about the unity of a people however. In the years that followed the Nazis' fall and the rise of Soviet dominance, the Romani united. Under the flag of the oppressed, the Rom was finally one. Their flag was adopted years later and their anthem was finally recorded. "Gelem, Gelem"... "We will go on".
I will never know just why, or for what reason, but Thanksgiving has always reminded me of those who have seemingly nothing to be thankful for. It has always amazed me how much the human spirit can take without finally collapsing. And even in the darkest hours of our history there seems to be those few glimmering lights of hope. Acting like beacons they guide us back to sanity if not for just a moment.
After your turkey is eaten and your family has left, do me this favor. Pray for those Roma still suffering at the hands of our European brothers. May God comfort them as this new wave of racist violence sweeps over them. And if God willing, may it truely Never Again reach the depths of those dark nights during Hitler's Porrajmos.
Please follow us on Facebook. Our page is named "Alder's Ledge".
Thank You.
November 22, 2010
Article by the Guardian UK
-
Europe's chance to stand with its Roma
-
After much hypocrisy and inaction, it might still be possible for Europe to restore its commitment to equality for all its citizens
-
This could have been the shining moment when the European Union finally stood foursquare beside its Roma citizens. It could have been the moment that the European commission, the Council of Europe, and the alphabet soup of Euro-agencies stood up and said it is time to behave according to the fundamental European values everyone in Brussels and Strasbourg loves to talk about and to take the steps necessary to bring the Roma into European society.
-
The opportunity passed.
-
This autumn, the EU executive's justice and fundamental rights commissioner, Viviane Reding, described the government of France's expulsion of Roma in the starkest of terms. Reding said she was appalled by the treatment France meted out to the Roma. She said Europe had not witnessed this kind of behaviour since the second world war. "Enough is enough," Reding declared. "Fundamental values and European laws are at stake." On 29 September, the European commission formally announced its intention to launch infringement proceedings against France before the European court of justice.
-
The secretary general of the Council of Europe proposed a "high-level meeting on Roma and Travellers" in Strasbourg to discuss a range of ambitious aims, including the establishment of a European Observatory on Roma, the appointment of a high-level representative on Roma, and an action plan committing states to specific measures in education, health and employment. The date of the meeting was chosen to coincide with the 60Th anniversary of the European convention on human rights.
-
Just as leaders were convening in Strasbourg, however, Reding announced in Brussels that the justice and fundamental rights commission would not, for the time being, pursue infringement procedures against France. Paris, she said, had "provided documents" indicating it would modify domestic laws on freedom of movement to conform with EU requirements.
-
The Strasbourg meeting accomplished next to nothing. France has done nothing to address the anti-Roma discrimination that sparked this controversy. The commission now seems unlikely to follow through with a case against France. Though technically investigations are under way, the commission has already stated: "Measures taken by the French authorities since this summer did not have the objective or the effect of targeting a specific ethnic minority." This is disingenuous. The reality is that, in government statements and written circulars, the government of France specifically targeted the Roma for heightened scrutiny.
-
Even after so much hypocrisy and inaction, it might be possible for a European body to restore Europe's commitment to equality for all.
-
On 30 November, the Council of Europe's governing body, the committee of ministers, has a chance to do so. It will take up discussion of a pernicious practice commonplace in several European countries: segregation of Roma children into separate, inferior schools and classrooms. The European court of human rights has condemned this practice in three landmark judgments against Croatia, the Czech Republic and Greece. To date, these rulings have been ignored.
-
The committee of ministers has the power to call publicly upon EU member-states to comply with the judgments of the European court of human rights. The right thing to do is obvious, but there are easily discernible reasons why the committee of ministers might refrain from doing what it should. Every government reasonably fears that, should it endorse criticism of a neighbour today, it might come under scrutiny tomorrow. So the committee of ministers prefers to operate in secret, and to move at a glacial pace, if at all.
-
Failing to do the right thing in this case would be short-sighted. It would further undermine the credibility of the EU and of the Council of Europe. It will help governments consign more generations of Roma children to an inferior education.
-
Shunting thousands of Roma children into second-class schools and classrooms each year perpetuates the social segregation of the Roma, which drives the westward migration that France, Italy and many of the more prosperous European countries recoil against. By failing to enforce these court's judgments, the committee of ministers is not only making itself a party to this discrimination against the Roma, it is helping to lay the groundwork for future crises.
-
The committee of ministers should do the right thing – for thousands of Roma children. And for a Europe that will be better off in the long run if it stands behind its declared values.
-
James A Goldston, November 20Th, 2010
Europe's chance to stand with its Roma
-
After much hypocrisy and inaction, it might still be possible for Europe to restore its commitment to equality for all its citizens
-
This could have been the shining moment when the European Union finally stood foursquare beside its Roma citizens. It could have been the moment that the European commission, the Council of Europe, and the alphabet soup of Euro-agencies stood up and said it is time to behave according to the fundamental European values everyone in Brussels and Strasbourg loves to talk about and to take the steps necessary to bring the Roma into European society.
-
The opportunity passed.
-
This autumn, the EU executive's justice and fundamental rights commissioner, Viviane Reding, described the government of France's expulsion of Roma in the starkest of terms. Reding said she was appalled by the treatment France meted out to the Roma. She said Europe had not witnessed this kind of behaviour since the second world war. "Enough is enough," Reding declared. "Fundamental values and European laws are at stake." On 29 September, the European commission formally announced its intention to launch infringement proceedings against France before the European court of justice.
-
The secretary general of the Council of Europe proposed a "high-level meeting on Roma and Travellers" in Strasbourg to discuss a range of ambitious aims, including the establishment of a European Observatory on Roma, the appointment of a high-level representative on Roma, and an action plan committing states to specific measures in education, health and employment. The date of the meeting was chosen to coincide with the 60Th anniversary of the European convention on human rights.
-
Just as leaders were convening in Strasbourg, however, Reding announced in Brussels that the justice and fundamental rights commission would not, for the time being, pursue infringement procedures against France. Paris, she said, had "provided documents" indicating it would modify domestic laws on freedom of movement to conform with EU requirements.
-
The Strasbourg meeting accomplished next to nothing. France has done nothing to address the anti-Roma discrimination that sparked this controversy. The commission now seems unlikely to follow through with a case against France. Though technically investigations are under way, the commission has already stated: "Measures taken by the French authorities since this summer did not have the objective or the effect of targeting a specific ethnic minority." This is disingenuous. The reality is that, in government statements and written circulars, the government of France specifically targeted the Roma for heightened scrutiny.
-
Even after so much hypocrisy and inaction, it might be possible for a European body to restore Europe's commitment to equality for all.
-
On 30 November, the Council of Europe's governing body, the committee of ministers, has a chance to do so. It will take up discussion of a pernicious practice commonplace in several European countries: segregation of Roma children into separate, inferior schools and classrooms. The European court of human rights has condemned this practice in three landmark judgments against Croatia, the Czech Republic and Greece. To date, these rulings have been ignored.
-
The committee of ministers has the power to call publicly upon EU member-states to comply with the judgments of the European court of human rights. The right thing to do is obvious, but there are easily discernible reasons why the committee of ministers might refrain from doing what it should. Every government reasonably fears that, should it endorse criticism of a neighbour today, it might come under scrutiny tomorrow. So the committee of ministers prefers to operate in secret, and to move at a glacial pace, if at all.
-
Failing to do the right thing in this case would be short-sighted. It would further undermine the credibility of the EU and of the Council of Europe. It will help governments consign more generations of Roma children to an inferior education.
-
Shunting thousands of Roma children into second-class schools and classrooms each year perpetuates the social segregation of the Roma, which drives the westward migration that France, Italy and many of the more prosperous European countries recoil against. By failing to enforce these court's judgments, the committee of ministers is not only making itself a party to this discrimination against the Roma, it is helping to lay the groundwork for future crises.
-
The committee of ministers should do the right thing – for thousands of Roma children. And for a Europe that will be better off in the long run if it stands behind its declared values.
-
James A Goldston, November 20Th, 2010
November 19, 2010
Segregated From Birth
-
From Health Care to Education
-
-
In most of Europe it is unacceptable for children to be kept segregated simply because they are black or white. It is however the standard in European schools to keep Roma children segregated from their peers. And as to be expected, these segregated class rooms are separate and Not equal.
-
And even when Roma children are allowed to enter into "normal" schools they often receive the same discrimination as before. Roma children in the Czech Republic that are granted access to the standard education are stunted due to Czech policies. In most of the Czech Republic these Romani children are placed in classes with "slightly to fully mentally retarded". The reason, Czech citizens view Roma as "socially stunted".
-
Perhaps the Roma would not be "socially stunted" if in the rest of Czech society they were accepted and allowed to stay in their homes un-harassed. But that is for another post...
-
When the European Union gave the Czech government the opportunities to draw upon 4.5 billion euros, the Czech schools asked for computers and school books. These accommodations were being given to the Czech school systems because they had "integrated" Roma into their "standard" schools (into mentally handicapped classrooms). This money was being given to the Czechs so as to help with the integration of Roma children and yet the computers and books were going to all the other classrooms Roma children are not allowed into.
-
Klara Laurencikova, who pushed for Roma integration and succeeded this last March in getting legislation passed, recently left her post at the Education Ministry due to her country's failures. Despite laws and mandates the Czech people still sway toward open prejudice against Romani peoples... even Rom children.
-
The Czech Republic however is not alone in its methods of dodging "integration". In 2009 Slovakia was shown to have forced Roma children (those eligible for the "standard" schools) into special schools for the mentally ill and handicapped. Three out of four children in Slovakia's schools for the mentally handicapped were Romani children. This is despite the fact that Roma make up less than 10 percent of Slovakia's total population. The number of Roma being placed in handicapped schools continues to rise in Slovakia.
-
In Bulgaria the Roma children are actually used as weapons against their parents when it comes to school. Despite laws in the country that make it difficult for Roma parents to stay in one place for any given length of time, Roma parents are now expected to keep their children in the same school all year long. Any truancy would therefore result in the child's expulsion from school and the parents' loss of any governmental aid... i.e. welfare or Bulgaria's food aid programs for the poor.
-
Yet in most places across Europe the simple fact is that Roma children are simply kept out of schools or forced into segregated schools or classrooms. If even offered access to any form of education at all, Roma schools are severely disadvantaged. The level of education is so far below the "public school system's standards" that many Roma children are still considered illiterate by national standards despite their "education".
-
For those kept out of school in countries like Slovakia face constant attacks from not only local citizens but even the Police. This month alone six Roma children in Slovakia were arrested without any given cause then taken back to police headquarters in Kosice, Slovakia and tormented by 9 policemen and one police women. Throughout their ordeal the police forced the boys to attack one another, lick the police officers' boots, strip naked for lengthy periods of time, and even have police rifles put to their heads and the triggers pulled only to hear the hammer click.
-
If convicted in Slovakia's courts the police officers will most likely be given 10 years for public display of disapproval (disapproval only being that the officers got caught) and yet serve less time than Lindsay Lohan.
-
Here in the United States we are constantly reminded of the reasons a quality education is important. We know that the fundamental elements of our future rest upon the basis of our education. Ask any of your parents just why they forced you to go to school even when you wanted nothing more than to quite... they will tell you they did it so that you could succeed in life. Roma children across Europe are not getting that opportunity. They are being stunted from birth by racist laws and public condemnation. And once of age to go to school, Romani children are lucky if they even get into a class for the mentally handicapped.
-
-
You can follow this topic and more by going to FaceBook and joining the Alder's Ledge group. Thank you for your support and please read more articles here on Alder's Ledge tagged with "Roma", "Romani", "Roma in Europe", and "Roma in France".
-
From Health Care to Education
-
-
In most of Europe it is unacceptable for children to be kept segregated simply because they are black or white. It is however the standard in European schools to keep Roma children segregated from their peers. And as to be expected, these segregated class rooms are separate and Not equal.
-
And even when Roma children are allowed to enter into "normal" schools they often receive the same discrimination as before. Roma children in the Czech Republic that are granted access to the standard education are stunted due to Czech policies. In most of the Czech Republic these Romani children are placed in classes with "slightly to fully mentally retarded". The reason, Czech citizens view Roma as "socially stunted".
-
Perhaps the Roma would not be "socially stunted" if in the rest of Czech society they were accepted and allowed to stay in their homes un-harassed. But that is for another post...
-
When the European Union gave the Czech government the opportunities to draw upon 4.5 billion euros, the Czech schools asked for computers and school books. These accommodations were being given to the Czech school systems because they had "integrated" Roma into their "standard" schools (into mentally handicapped classrooms). This money was being given to the Czechs so as to help with the integration of Roma children and yet the computers and books were going to all the other classrooms Roma children are not allowed into.
-
Klara Laurencikova, who pushed for Roma integration and succeeded this last March in getting legislation passed, recently left her post at the Education Ministry due to her country's failures. Despite laws and mandates the Czech people still sway toward open prejudice against Romani peoples... even Rom children.
-
The Czech Republic however is not alone in its methods of dodging "integration". In 2009 Slovakia was shown to have forced Roma children (those eligible for the "standard" schools) into special schools for the mentally ill and handicapped. Three out of four children in Slovakia's schools for the mentally handicapped were Romani children. This is despite the fact that Roma make up less than 10 percent of Slovakia's total population. The number of Roma being placed in handicapped schools continues to rise in Slovakia.
-
In Bulgaria the Roma children are actually used as weapons against their parents when it comes to school. Despite laws in the country that make it difficult for Roma parents to stay in one place for any given length of time, Roma parents are now expected to keep their children in the same school all year long. Any truancy would therefore result in the child's expulsion from school and the parents' loss of any governmental aid... i.e. welfare or Bulgaria's food aid programs for the poor.
-
Yet in most places across Europe the simple fact is that Roma children are simply kept out of schools or forced into segregated schools or classrooms. If even offered access to any form of education at all, Roma schools are severely disadvantaged. The level of education is so far below the "public school system's standards" that many Roma children are still considered illiterate by national standards despite their "education".
-
For those kept out of school in countries like Slovakia face constant attacks from not only local citizens but even the Police. This month alone six Roma children in Slovakia were arrested without any given cause then taken back to police headquarters in Kosice, Slovakia and tormented by 9 policemen and one police women. Throughout their ordeal the police forced the boys to attack one another, lick the police officers' boots, strip naked for lengthy periods of time, and even have police rifles put to their heads and the triggers pulled only to hear the hammer click.
-
If convicted in Slovakia's courts the police officers will most likely be given 10 years for public display of disapproval (disapproval only being that the officers got caught) and yet serve less time than Lindsay Lohan.
-
Here in the United States we are constantly reminded of the reasons a quality education is important. We know that the fundamental elements of our future rest upon the basis of our education. Ask any of your parents just why they forced you to go to school even when you wanted nothing more than to quite... they will tell you they did it so that you could succeed in life. Roma children across Europe are not getting that opportunity. They are being stunted from birth by racist laws and public condemnation. And once of age to go to school, Romani children are lucky if they even get into a class for the mentally handicapped.
-
-
You can follow this topic and more by going to FaceBook and joining the Alder's Ledge group. Thank you for your support and please read more articles here on Alder's Ledge tagged with "Roma", "Romani", "Roma in Europe", and "Roma in France".
-
November 18, 2010
Separate and Not Equal
-
Segregation of Roma Children In European Schools
-
Amnesty International on YouTube
-
-
-
A more in depth article will be following this post soon. Thank you for watching and thank you to Amnesty International for posting this video on YouTube.
Segregation of Roma Children In European Schools
-
Amnesty International on YouTube
-
-
-
A more in depth article will be following this post soon. Thank you for watching and thank you to Amnesty International for posting this video on YouTube.
Origins of the Roma
-
A History of Neglect
-
-
"There are some 15 million Roms dispersed across the world. Their history is one of suffering and misery, but it is also one of the victories of human spirit over the blows of fate. Today the Roms revive their culture and are looking for their identity. On the other hand, they integrate into the societies in which they live. If they are understood by their fellow citizens in their new homelands, their culture will enrich the society's atmosphere with the color and charm of spontaneity." Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, at the International Romani Festival in Chandigarh, India on October 28, 1983.
-
A specific place of origin for the Roma has long been debated. On one side you have the Roma wanting nothing more than to have their ancestry and heritage recognized. On the other hand you have the xenophobic lust to associate Europe's Roma with a distant and alien culture. Whatever the case however, there are a few facts that we can all agree upon.
-
The Roma, or Rom, are most certainly descendants of the warrior clans of Northern India. Their culture in ancient times was one of dance, song, and an occasional war or two. Today the dance and song are still associated with modern Roma populations. Yet Europe has seemed to overlook the fact that their ancestors were once on the front lines against the spread of Islam.
-
As early as the 5Th century Roma were on the road to the West. The Persian monarch Behram Goar is documented to have allowed at least 12,000 of the Romanis' ancestors to have entered Persia due to their musical talents. Today those decedents are the Roma's relatives the modern day Persian Luris or Lulis. This would be the first time the Roma's ancestors were recorded to have had to ask permission to enter a foreign land.
-
The only other recorded migrations of Romani, or Roms, to Western Europe occur from the 10Th to the 15Th century. All of these migrations have different reasons given but all resulted in the nomadic lifestyle that Roma lived with up to modern day. As late as the 1950's Roma were still nomadic in lifestyle in Russia.
-
To start of with, the migrations in the early 10Th century were most likely due to war with invading Muslim armies. Yet it is important to note that Roma were often noted to trade goods with both Muslims and Indians alike. But in the end the fighting would uproot the Roma closest to what is now modern day Pakistan.
-
In the early 11Th century the bulk of the remaining Roma population would be uprooted by persistent invasions of the armies of Mahmud of Ghazni. His armies would continually attack for at least the first 25 to 30 years of the 11Th century. This led to the Roma migration through the northerly route through the Indus Valley. From the Indus Valley the Roma most likely followed the Silk Road west to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. From there the Roma camps were most likely taken north along the western shores to the foothills of the Caucuses and into modern day Armenia.
-
Once inside the Byzantine Empire the Roma were forced to continue moving. In what would become a custom and part of their heritage, Roma were constantly "asked" to leave once the entertainment value of their culture dried up. However, in some remote areas along the route to the West, the Roma did find homes amongst the local populations.
-
For centuries the Roma were allowed to live amongst the Albanian majority in modern day Serbia's Kosovo region. But as stated above, this would be the exception amongst the mainly nomadic Roma population.
-
The remainder of the migrations would once again follow the Silk Road to the West as the Roma exploited the trade goods they could find or make. Being rather resourceful, the Roma were well known at the time to be able to find trade goods many other merchants were unable or unwilling to pass along. This would once again benefit them in modern times as Communism swept over Eastern Europe.
-
As the years have passed since the first Roma entered our mainly "Christian" world we have witnessed the rise of "anti-gypsyism". In the first few decades of their arrival into Eastern Europe the Roma witnessed the same persecution and stereotyping that they had received in the Middle East in prior centuries. It may have been then that the elders and leaders of the Roma decided to adopt lifestyles that would best cope with local prejudices. Or it may just have been a collective decision to continue moving. But whatever the case, even today the Roma are barred by legislation and public opinion from entering fully into our Western world.
-
In modern times many Roma have refused the age old image of a "nomadic" population (especially among the roughly 1 million Roma here in the United States). The sedentary Roma populations today have adopted the cultures of their neighbors to as much an extent as any given country could wish for or ask for. Yet local laws continue the age old persecutions the Roma have suffered for centuries.
-
And for me at least, the hardships of the Roma have been as much a part of their heritage as any other part of their collective past.
-
During the Holocaust an estimated 600,000 Roma were executed by the Nazis in occupied Europe. This would constitute somewhere around a third to a quarter of their known population in Europe at the time. It did in fact entail roughly 70 percent of their population in Nazi controlled Europe.
-
Prior to this most horrific nightmare the Roma were subjected to slavery, expulsion, rapes, mistrust, fear, torture, and organized murders. Many of these issues and mistreatment persist into modern times.
-
Despite all this, all these abuses, the Roma have routinely persevered under hardships. When local laws and populations have allowed the Roma to remain and even enter into the culture, the Roma have risen to professions such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, social workers, various artists, writers, actors, poets, builders, and more. This flies in the face of typical stereotypes that many hold of the "romantic view" of Roma... in which they are always portrayed as thieves and fortunetellers or fancifully dressed circus like performers.
-
One might even say, in spite of the cultural stereotypes, the Roma have done their part to kill the western fears. In the end they simply do not wish to assimilate in such a manner that would kill their ethnic heritage and their individual personas. Like all the rest of us, the Roma are individuals who believe deeply in their peoples past, their individual present being, and their children's futures. Like any of the rest of us they love their children and wish nothing more than to pass along the beliefs their parents passed to them. In simple terms... they are human... they are people like any of the rest of us.
-
Dance has long been associated with the Rom as he or she has seemed to revel in it. Yet unlike what the outsider would be led to believe, the Romani dance is directly linked to their deep ancient past in Baro Than (modern day Deli and its surrounding areas). Their songs are filled with meaning and not simply meant to entertain the curious western world. Their language is unique and ancient in its connection to the Punjabi language. And their customs are far from being mere adaptations to persecutions or convenient parlor tricks... the Roma customs can actually be traced back to those of the warrior classes of Northern India (the Kshatriyas, Rajputs, and Jats).
-
In 1971 on April 8Th near London a congregation of Roma assembled to form the first meeting of the First World Romani Congress. It was here that the modern Romani people got their nation's (ethnically, politically and geography wise the Roma have no recognized homeland) flag and national anthem.
-
The Anthem, "Djelem Djelem" in traditional Romani
-
Djelem, djelem, lungone dromensa
Maladilem baxtale Romensa
Djelem, djelem, lungone dromensa
Maladilem baxtale Romensa.
Ay, Romale, Ay, Chavale,
Ay, Romale, Ay, Chavale.
Ay Romale, katar tumen aven
Le tserensa baxtale dromensa
Vi-man sas u bari familiya
Tai mudardya la e kali legiya.
Aven mansa sa lumiake Roma
Kai putaile le Romane droma
Ake vryama - ushti Rom akana
Ame xutasa mishto kai kerasa.
Ay, Romale, Ay Chavale,
Ay, Romale, Ay Chavale.
-
English Translation by Ron Lee
-
I have travelled over long roads
I have met fortunate Roma
I have travelled far and wide
I have met lucky Roma
Oh, Romani adults, Oh Romani youth
Oh, Romani adults, Oh Romani youth
Oh, Roma, from wherever you have come
With your tents along lucky roads
I too once had a large family
But the black legion murdered them
Come with me, Roma of the world
To where the Romani roads have been opened
Now is the time - stand up, Roma,
We shall succeed where we make the effort.
Oh, Roma adults, Oh, Roma youth
Oh, Roma adults, Oh, Roma youth.
-
-
I hope this has informed the readers here at Alder's Ledge at least a little of who the Romani are and where they have come from. As for me, the Rom will always have a special place in my heart and have every since I learned about their persecutions under the Nazis. We will continue to post information on their current oppressions under European law and even venture into their mistreatment here in the Americas.
-
There is nothing worse for our culture as a people and as a species than the continued perseverance of prejudice and bigotry. Each culture brings to our table a different dish savory in its own manner. And each ethnic group has a heritage that should never be marginalized or stereotyped to fit our own ideas of who they are or who we wish them to be.
-
For me personally the Roma have showed me that in "romanticizing" the Rom we belittle them in just as harsh a manner as Hitler did in demonizing them. I encourage you to open your minds and hearts to the Roma and other ethnic groups around you... be it the Arabic culture or even the Latino ethnic groups here in America. Let us turn a blind eye to our differences instead of the looking the other way when presented with the oppression of our brothers and sisters under God.
-
-
Source Documents
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http://www.romani.org/
-
-
You can also find us on Facebook.
-
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139306139423986
-
A History of Neglect
-
-
"There are some 15 million Roms dispersed across the world. Their history is one of suffering and misery, but it is also one of the victories of human spirit over the blows of fate. Today the Roms revive their culture and are looking for their identity. On the other hand, they integrate into the societies in which they live. If they are understood by their fellow citizens in their new homelands, their culture will enrich the society's atmosphere with the color and charm of spontaneity." Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, at the International Romani Festival in Chandigarh, India on October 28, 1983.
-
A specific place of origin for the Roma has long been debated. On one side you have the Roma wanting nothing more than to have their ancestry and heritage recognized. On the other hand you have the xenophobic lust to associate Europe's Roma with a distant and alien culture. Whatever the case however, there are a few facts that we can all agree upon.
-
The Roma, or Rom, are most certainly descendants of the warrior clans of Northern India. Their culture in ancient times was one of dance, song, and an occasional war or two. Today the dance and song are still associated with modern Roma populations. Yet Europe has seemed to overlook the fact that their ancestors were once on the front lines against the spread of Islam.
-
As early as the 5Th century Roma were on the road to the West. The Persian monarch Behram Goar is documented to have allowed at least 12,000 of the Romanis' ancestors to have entered Persia due to their musical talents. Today those decedents are the Roma's relatives the modern day Persian Luris or Lulis. This would be the first time the Roma's ancestors were recorded to have had to ask permission to enter a foreign land.
-
The only other recorded migrations of Romani, or Roms, to Western Europe occur from the 10Th to the 15Th century. All of these migrations have different reasons given but all resulted in the nomadic lifestyle that Roma lived with up to modern day. As late as the 1950's Roma were still nomadic in lifestyle in Russia.
-
To start of with, the migrations in the early 10Th century were most likely due to war with invading Muslim armies. Yet it is important to note that Roma were often noted to trade goods with both Muslims and Indians alike. But in the end the fighting would uproot the Roma closest to what is now modern day Pakistan.
-
In the early 11Th century the bulk of the remaining Roma population would be uprooted by persistent invasions of the armies of Mahmud of Ghazni. His armies would continually attack for at least the first 25 to 30 years of the 11Th century. This led to the Roma migration through the northerly route through the Indus Valley. From the Indus Valley the Roma most likely followed the Silk Road west to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. From there the Roma camps were most likely taken north along the western shores to the foothills of the Caucuses and into modern day Armenia.
-
Once inside the Byzantine Empire the Roma were forced to continue moving. In what would become a custom and part of their heritage, Roma were constantly "asked" to leave once the entertainment value of their culture dried up. However, in some remote areas along the route to the West, the Roma did find homes amongst the local populations.
-
For centuries the Roma were allowed to live amongst the Albanian majority in modern day Serbia's Kosovo region. But as stated above, this would be the exception amongst the mainly nomadic Roma population.
-
The remainder of the migrations would once again follow the Silk Road to the West as the Roma exploited the trade goods they could find or make. Being rather resourceful, the Roma were well known at the time to be able to find trade goods many other merchants were unable or unwilling to pass along. This would once again benefit them in modern times as Communism swept over Eastern Europe.
-
As the years have passed since the first Roma entered our mainly "Christian" world we have witnessed the rise of "anti-gypsyism". In the first few decades of their arrival into Eastern Europe the Roma witnessed the same persecution and stereotyping that they had received in the Middle East in prior centuries. It may have been then that the elders and leaders of the Roma decided to adopt lifestyles that would best cope with local prejudices. Or it may just have been a collective decision to continue moving. But whatever the case, even today the Roma are barred by legislation and public opinion from entering fully into our Western world.
-
In modern times many Roma have refused the age old image of a "nomadic" population (especially among the roughly 1 million Roma here in the United States). The sedentary Roma populations today have adopted the cultures of their neighbors to as much an extent as any given country could wish for or ask for. Yet local laws continue the age old persecutions the Roma have suffered for centuries.
-
And for me at least, the hardships of the Roma have been as much a part of their heritage as any other part of their collective past.
-
During the Holocaust an estimated 600,000 Roma were executed by the Nazis in occupied Europe. This would constitute somewhere around a third to a quarter of their known population in Europe at the time. It did in fact entail roughly 70 percent of their population in Nazi controlled Europe.
-
Prior to this most horrific nightmare the Roma were subjected to slavery, expulsion, rapes, mistrust, fear, torture, and organized murders. Many of these issues and mistreatment persist into modern times.
-
Despite all this, all these abuses, the Roma have routinely persevered under hardships. When local laws and populations have allowed the Roma to remain and even enter into the culture, the Roma have risen to professions such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, social workers, various artists, writers, actors, poets, builders, and more. This flies in the face of typical stereotypes that many hold of the "romantic view" of Roma... in which they are always portrayed as thieves and fortunetellers or fancifully dressed circus like performers.
-
One might even say, in spite of the cultural stereotypes, the Roma have done their part to kill the western fears. In the end they simply do not wish to assimilate in such a manner that would kill their ethnic heritage and their individual personas. Like all the rest of us, the Roma are individuals who believe deeply in their peoples past, their individual present being, and their children's futures. Like any of the rest of us they love their children and wish nothing more than to pass along the beliefs their parents passed to them. In simple terms... they are human... they are people like any of the rest of us.
-
Dance has long been associated with the Rom as he or she has seemed to revel in it. Yet unlike what the outsider would be led to believe, the Romani dance is directly linked to their deep ancient past in Baro Than (modern day Deli and its surrounding areas). Their songs are filled with meaning and not simply meant to entertain the curious western world. Their language is unique and ancient in its connection to the Punjabi language. And their customs are far from being mere adaptations to persecutions or convenient parlor tricks... the Roma customs can actually be traced back to those of the warrior classes of Northern India (the Kshatriyas, Rajputs, and Jats).
-
In 1971 on April 8Th near London a congregation of Roma assembled to form the first meeting of the First World Romani Congress. It was here that the modern Romani people got their nation's (ethnically, politically and geography wise the Roma have no recognized homeland) flag and national anthem.
-
The Anthem, "Djelem Djelem" in traditional Romani
-
Djelem, djelem, lungone dromensa
Maladilem baxtale Romensa
Djelem, djelem, lungone dromensa
Maladilem baxtale Romensa.
Ay, Romale, Ay, Chavale,
Ay, Romale, Ay, Chavale.
Ay Romale, katar tumen aven
Le tserensa baxtale dromensa
Vi-man sas u bari familiya
Tai mudardya la e kali legiya.
Aven mansa sa lumiake Roma
Kai putaile le Romane droma
Ake vryama - ushti Rom akana
Ame xutasa mishto kai kerasa.
Ay, Romale, Ay Chavale,
Ay, Romale, Ay Chavale.
-
English Translation by Ron Lee
-
I have travelled over long roads
I have met fortunate Roma
I have travelled far and wide
I have met lucky Roma
Oh, Romani adults, Oh Romani youth
Oh, Romani adults, Oh Romani youth
Oh, Roma, from wherever you have come
With your tents along lucky roads
I too once had a large family
But the black legion murdered them
Come with me, Roma of the world
To where the Romani roads have been opened
Now is the time - stand up, Roma,
We shall succeed where we make the effort.
Oh, Roma adults, Oh, Roma youth
Oh, Roma adults, Oh, Roma youth.
-
-
I hope this has informed the readers here at Alder's Ledge at least a little of who the Romani are and where they have come from. As for me, the Rom will always have a special place in my heart and have every since I learned about their persecutions under the Nazis. We will continue to post information on their current oppressions under European law and even venture into their mistreatment here in the Americas.
-
There is nothing worse for our culture as a people and as a species than the continued perseverance of prejudice and bigotry. Each culture brings to our table a different dish savory in its own manner. And each ethnic group has a heritage that should never be marginalized or stereotyped to fit our own ideas of who they are or who we wish them to be.
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For me personally the Roma have showed me that in "romanticizing" the Rom we belittle them in just as harsh a manner as Hitler did in demonizing them. I encourage you to open your minds and hearts to the Roma and other ethnic groups around you... be it the Arabic culture or even the Latino ethnic groups here in America. Let us turn a blind eye to our differences instead of the looking the other way when presented with the oppression of our brothers and sisters under God.
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Source Documents
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http://www.romani.org/
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-
You can also find us on Facebook.
-
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139306139423986
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November 16, 2010
The Greatest Sin of our Fathers
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Porajmos
-
-
-
Even in recognition of these attacks and this oppression and segregation we have done far to little far to late. Most information that is being leaked, or breaking through European censorship is at least a year old by now. Those left dead or dieing in distant lands are without names and faces because nations such as Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, and the UK don't want us to know of their sins. Yet here we are... screaming... if for no other reason but to maintain our humanity.
-
As of last week the French government has stepped up its deportations of Roma and many are being sent to countries they were not born in nor where their parents or grandparents. Most are receiving far less than the 343 dollar pay out for "volunteering" to leave French soil that Sarkozy promised them. And even more aren't receiving no monetary compensation for being uprooted at all.
-
Reported on November 5Th by Financial Times Online, Italy's far right (FT was more generous and said "centre-right") government has proposed a new (all be it in addition to current racist laws) law that would allow Italy to deport its entire Roma population. The proposed law states that any Italian citizen or non-citizen of foreign birth or origin may be deported for any "overstay" in Italy without financial support (i.e. a job).
-
The same law in Italy would also "clear prostitutes from the streets". Thus allowing Italy's Silvio Berlusconi to equate Roma citizens to prostitutes. And yet Italy claims it is not committing any acts of prejudice what-so-ever.
-
And yet if one looks through the bill they would notice that Italy is allowed, by this law's own wording, to "expel EU citizens who remain in Italy for more than 90 days should they not fulfil EU requirements in having a job, adequate income, and proper lodging (all of which most Italian citizens have suffered as least once in their life). This law is not only aimed at targeting the Roma, whom are "routinely unemployed", but is also retroactive. Meaning that if the Italian government believes that their is even the possibility that you have ever been without "a job, adequate income, and proper lodging" you are a candidate for expulsion.
-
Take this to the next level and you have a new problem. Say Silvio's government decides to expel more of its Roma to Kosovo. If deported to Kosovo Roma will not be capable of reentering the European Union or its member states. After all, if you believe Italy or France, they only got to the said member states because of the EU's lack of "monitoring internal migrations".
-
Therefore the racist policies of European Union member states would be effectively stripping European Union members not only of their citizenship to Italy or France but to the European Union itself. And that is precisely the goal of people like Silvio and Sarkozy. If the Roma in Western Europe are simply shipped to Eastern Europe... well they can't legally reenter into countries such as Italy or France without Silvio or Sarkozy's permission. And you can bet you top dollar that these to fascist are not about to allow Roma back into their countries once they have been expelled.
-
The only hope for Italy's Roma population to remain put now lay in Brussels. The European Union has previously denied Italy's past attempts at legally expelling European Union citizens from Union soil. But with the rising tide of xenophobia and anti-gypsyism it isn't as unlikely this time around.
-
However, despite my disgust with Italy and France; Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have elicited more outrage from me and others in the recent months as they too have amped up their persecution of the Roma.
-
In the Czech courts the life of a Roma toddler will only get you 22 years... that is if you even actually serve that. The Neo-Nazis who burnt the young girl had done so in celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday... this happened to be the only reason the Czech court took on the case.
-
Natalka Kudrikova, set on fire on April 19Th after four Nazis tossed Molotov cocktails into her home, finally was released from the hospital in December of last year. She had received burns over an estimated 80 percent of her body. Having lost three fingers in the fire, Natalka fought off repeated attacks of post-burn trauma as her kidneys began to fail and blood poisoning set in. 14 surgeries later, the young Roma girl is alive... her attackers showed only remorse for the fact that she had not perished in the fire.
-
Hitler's 120Th birthday was grounds for celebration amongst Neo-Nazis and pot smoking hippies alike. For Czech Roma... just another day in the Hell Europe has to offer them.
-
In Hungary you can see Jobbik followers sporting everything form t-shirts saying "Jewish Pigs" or driving cars with bumper stickers saying "Jew Free Car". Yet it is the Roma who the Jobbik party has targeted with their racist laws. And if not with their laws, Hungary has long been an accomplice to the Roma's Devouring by remaining silent as right wingers light up their Molotovs and load their pistols.
-
As for Germany, well they have been watching and listening to all their neighbors for some time now. They have successfully gauged the level of tolerance Europe has for racism against the Romani. And Germany is now willing to apply what it has learned.
-
Looking back at Norway (from the 1930s-1970s it was legal in Norway to forcefully sterilize Roma) Germany has decided to allow its politicians to talk about reintroducing such practices. After all, Hitler proved to us that if you can destroy enough of a generation in one population you can therefore successfully destroy the culture they would have otherwise passed on. And Hitler is still not all that "evil" in Germany's collective mindset (if he was, the German public school system would more honestly record and teach their history under his Third Reich).
-
For the most part however, Germany has simply adopted the strategies of France... or Sarkozy. And with German efficiency (i.e. Auschwitz) the Germans have begun to forcibly expel its Roma population to Kosovo. This allows Germany to be free of a "problem" as they call the Roma and to seemingly never have to deal with them again.
-
In the end we will have to wait to see where these issues lead us. We can imagine the red banner of fascism rising over the horizon and yet it is not yet up the flag pole all the way. We can hear the echoes of jackboots upon the sidewalks of Europe and yet they are not reverberating in Washington's ears just yet. This may become the things of nightmares or if God willing... just another trial for the beleaguered Roma.
-
In 1986 Elie Wiesel accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his works in recording his story of survival during the Holocaust. Upon receiving it, Elie was compelled to ask the Roma for forgiveness for "not listening to your story". It was at that moment that many "intellectuals" suddenly became aware of all those Roma Hitler had killed alongside the Jews, biracial, blacks, homosexuals, mentally ill or retarded, and enemies of the state.
-
-
Source Documents
-
http://www.english.rfi.fr/europe/20101020-czech-nio-nazes-get-22-years-attack-roma
-
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aeaebf0c-e90c-11df-a1b4-00144feab49a.html
-
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/opportunity-finally-knocks-for-europe-s-roma-/69222.aspx
Porajmos
-
-
-
Even in recognition of these attacks and this oppression and segregation we have done far to little far to late. Most information that is being leaked, or breaking through European censorship is at least a year old by now. Those left dead or dieing in distant lands are without names and faces because nations such as Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, and the UK don't want us to know of their sins. Yet here we are... screaming... if for no other reason but to maintain our humanity.
-
As of last week the French government has stepped up its deportations of Roma and many are being sent to countries they were not born in nor where their parents or grandparents. Most are receiving far less than the 343 dollar pay out for "volunteering" to leave French soil that Sarkozy promised them. And even more aren't receiving no monetary compensation for being uprooted at all.
-
Reported on November 5Th by Financial Times Online, Italy's far right (FT was more generous and said "centre-right") government has proposed a new (all be it in addition to current racist laws) law that would allow Italy to deport its entire Roma population. The proposed law states that any Italian citizen or non-citizen of foreign birth or origin may be deported for any "overstay" in Italy without financial support (i.e. a job).
-
The same law in Italy would also "clear prostitutes from the streets". Thus allowing Italy's Silvio Berlusconi to equate Roma citizens to prostitutes. And yet Italy claims it is not committing any acts of prejudice what-so-ever.
-
And yet if one looks through the bill they would notice that Italy is allowed, by this law's own wording, to "expel EU citizens who remain in Italy for more than 90 days should they not fulfil EU requirements in having a job, adequate income, and proper lodging (all of which most Italian citizens have suffered as least once in their life). This law is not only aimed at targeting the Roma, whom are "routinely unemployed", but is also retroactive. Meaning that if the Italian government believes that their is even the possibility that you have ever been without "a job, adequate income, and proper lodging" you are a candidate for expulsion.
-
Take this to the next level and you have a new problem. Say Silvio's government decides to expel more of its Roma to Kosovo. If deported to Kosovo Roma will not be capable of reentering the European Union or its member states. After all, if you believe Italy or France, they only got to the said member states because of the EU's lack of "monitoring internal migrations".
-
Therefore the racist policies of European Union member states would be effectively stripping European Union members not only of their citizenship to Italy or France but to the European Union itself. And that is precisely the goal of people like Silvio and Sarkozy. If the Roma in Western Europe are simply shipped to Eastern Europe... well they can't legally reenter into countries such as Italy or France without Silvio or Sarkozy's permission. And you can bet you top dollar that these to fascist are not about to allow Roma back into their countries once they have been expelled.
-
The only hope for Italy's Roma population to remain put now lay in Brussels. The European Union has previously denied Italy's past attempts at legally expelling European Union citizens from Union soil. But with the rising tide of xenophobia and anti-gypsyism it isn't as unlikely this time around.
-
However, despite my disgust with Italy and France; Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have elicited more outrage from me and others in the recent months as they too have amped up their persecution of the Roma.
-
In the Czech courts the life of a Roma toddler will only get you 22 years... that is if you even actually serve that. The Neo-Nazis who burnt the young girl had done so in celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday... this happened to be the only reason the Czech court took on the case.
-
Natalka Kudrikova, set on fire on April 19Th after four Nazis tossed Molotov cocktails into her home, finally was released from the hospital in December of last year. She had received burns over an estimated 80 percent of her body. Having lost three fingers in the fire, Natalka fought off repeated attacks of post-burn trauma as her kidneys began to fail and blood poisoning set in. 14 surgeries later, the young Roma girl is alive... her attackers showed only remorse for the fact that she had not perished in the fire.
-
Hitler's 120Th birthday was grounds for celebration amongst Neo-Nazis and pot smoking hippies alike. For Czech Roma... just another day in the Hell Europe has to offer them.
-
In Hungary you can see Jobbik followers sporting everything form t-shirts saying "Jewish Pigs" or driving cars with bumper stickers saying "Jew Free Car". Yet it is the Roma who the Jobbik party has targeted with their racist laws. And if not with their laws, Hungary has long been an accomplice to the Roma's Devouring by remaining silent as right wingers light up their Molotovs and load their pistols.
-
As for Germany, well they have been watching and listening to all their neighbors for some time now. They have successfully gauged the level of tolerance Europe has for racism against the Romani. And Germany is now willing to apply what it has learned.
-
Looking back at Norway (from the 1930s-1970s it was legal in Norway to forcefully sterilize Roma) Germany has decided to allow its politicians to talk about reintroducing such practices. After all, Hitler proved to us that if you can destroy enough of a generation in one population you can therefore successfully destroy the culture they would have otherwise passed on. And Hitler is still not all that "evil" in Germany's collective mindset (if he was, the German public school system would more honestly record and teach their history under his Third Reich).
-
For the most part however, Germany has simply adopted the strategies of France... or Sarkozy. And with German efficiency (i.e. Auschwitz) the Germans have begun to forcibly expel its Roma population to Kosovo. This allows Germany to be free of a "problem" as they call the Roma and to seemingly never have to deal with them again.
-
In the end we will have to wait to see where these issues lead us. We can imagine the red banner of fascism rising over the horizon and yet it is not yet up the flag pole all the way. We can hear the echoes of jackboots upon the sidewalks of Europe and yet they are not reverberating in Washington's ears just yet. This may become the things of nightmares or if God willing... just another trial for the beleaguered Roma.
-
In 1986 Elie Wiesel accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his works in recording his story of survival during the Holocaust. Upon receiving it, Elie was compelled to ask the Roma for forgiveness for "not listening to your story". It was at that moment that many "intellectuals" suddenly became aware of all those Roma Hitler had killed alongside the Jews, biracial, blacks, homosexuals, mentally ill or retarded, and enemies of the state.
-
-
Source Documents
-
http://www.english.rfi.fr/europe/20101020-czech-nio-nazes-get-22-years-attack-roma
-
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aeaebf0c-e90c-11df-a1b4-00144feab49a.html
-
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/opportunity-finally-knocks-for-europe-s-roma-/69222.aspx
November 15, 2010
"Screamers"
-
"I promise I'll never be Tutsi again"
-
-
1994. The world watched as the Hutu nationalist in Rwanda took to the streets with guns held high and and machetes strapped to their sides. Militias had been training for years before the violence erupted once again that April. Soon they would run out of ammunition... even running out of hand grenades. The machete would be the judge, jury, and executioner for 100 long bloody days.
-
The quote above is directly from the lips of a young boy whose mother happened to be Hutu. She was promised that she and her children would be safe if they left her Tutsi husband. Instead the butchers fell upon her children like savage wolves ravening their prey. Those words were the last he would ever speak on God's green earth. He, like many before him, knew the killings had nothing to do with ration or reason... he was killed simply because of who and what he was. Tutsi.
-
In Bosnia the world witnessed the death of thousands of Muslims. Perhaps that is why we allowed the Christian Serbs to put them in concentration camps? Whatever the case, we watched as they Serbs set up "cat houses" in which they raped young Muslim girls. The money they spent on their savage rapes funded the deaths of the girls' fathers, brothers, and mothers. Even with this we remained silent.
-
From 1991 to 1995 we watched as the Serbs literally raped Bosnia. And again President Clinton waited till the blood and dust had mixed into mud before he gave his apology. He was even so bold as to utter that damned hollow phrase "NEVER AGAIN".
-
For what has seemed like an eternity we as a species have watched as the oppressed and tormented beat upon the barbwire and shout for our help. With slit wrist they have have come before us and begged for our mercy and yet we have sent them back into the mouths of Hell's hounds to be devoured.
-
With all the evidence the world had to offer we watched as the Armenians were marched into the wastelands only to be slaughtered. Under unmarked graves their bones were left to rot only later to have Hitler himself proclaim, "Who alive today remembers the Armenians?"
-
Well I do.
-
Today we watch as the European continent (and its outlying island nations) are steadily marching toward the sins of their fathers. Complacent to murder, they have strapped back on the jackboots and began to beat the same bloody drums as before. This time, as before, they march to the "sound of progress". They will, less their path be altered, once again have an entire race put to the flames of Hell for nothing less than "progress".
-
The Roma have long been targets of discrimination due to the European view that they are "outsiders" or "un-civilized". The popular view of the Roma is that they are not nor never will be true citizens of the nation in which they live. Despite the common perception that the European Union was set up to allow the free flow of money, products, and people the Roma remain "outsiders".
-
In Italy they are forced to register and live in camps the Italians have purposely set up in areas where the Roma will be harassed daily. Their children are forced to go to schools that are set up like prisons (with barbwire and guard towers). Some Italians have even forced the Roma to have their finger prints taken, their family histories documented, their religion publicly proclaimed, the languages they are capable of speaking or writing recorded, and their pictures documented and posted for public access.
-
So even if you overlook the French "raffles" (which the French used to rid themselves of Jews in World War Two) you cannot overlook their issuing of ghettos for the Roma. Ghettos that are more reminiscent of Hitler's treatment of Polish Jews than anything we have seen since Bosnia.
-
The march is on. The familiar tones of far right fascism is wringing from across the pond. The sound of hard rubber soles is echoing in nearly every capitol city in Europe.
-
According to groups such as Human Rights First (www.humanrightsfirst.org) violent crimes committed against and specifically targeting Roma in Europe have been sharply increasing since at least 2007. The ethnocentric fear that fueled Hitler's crimes are showing their teeth with ever increasing tenacity.
-
What is more disturbing is that, as Human Rights First puts it, "The bias-motivated violence against Roma often occurs in a hostile environment, as political leaders speak openly of desire to expel Roma from their communities." And this is exactly what is happening in France under Nicolas Sarkozy and his fellow brown shirts.
-
It leaves me to wonder just how long it will be before all of Europe adopts Italy's "Security Pact" program. It is clear that France, Germany, and Sweden have adopted this policy in their own ways, but how long till more liberally whitewashed nations like England take to these deportation policies? And now that Germany has chosen to evict its Roma to Kosovo (a country that is not a European Union nation) will France choose a country from which the Roma may not return?
-
In 2008 the Italian government declared a "state of emergency" so as to stop the immigration of Roma from Bulgaria and Romania. This was the first time since World War Two that a European nation used immigration as a reason to declare a state wide "state of emergency". It however had little to do with the Roma that were coming into the Axis state as much as it did with those already citizens of Italy.
-
Under the broad banner of "emergency" it is surprising just how much citizens are willing to give up in the name of "safety". It is under this same guise that Saddam Hussein began his gassing of the Kurds. And it is under this same sheepskin cloak that almost every loss of freedom has been suffered. Nazism, Fascism, Communism... they all came from the mere perception of a "state of emergency".
-
Italy has been using this "state of emergency" to evict long standing communities of Roma so as to destabilize the Roma population in whole. They want to keep the Roma moving so that they cannot integrate any more than they already have. This is a direct personification of the xenophobia that has stripped the Roma of their freedoms... the same freedoms that are "guarantied to all European citizens" by the European Union.
-
"Resolution 1740 (2010)
The situation of Roma in Europe and relevant activities of the Council of Europe
1. The Roma constitute the largest minority in Europe and are present in virtually all Council of Europe member states. All member states – without exception – have the moral and legal duty to make concrete and sustained efforts to improve the situation of Roma and to ensure the full respect of their fundamental rights."
-
Yet "without exception" the Italians have made "concrete and sustained efforts" to destabilize the Romani population in an attempt to destroy or remove the said population from Italy.
-
"2. The Parliamentary Assembly is shocked by recent outrages against Roma in several Council of Europe member states, reflecting an increasing trend in Europe towards anti-Gypsyism of the worst kind." -Parliamentary Assembly of the European Union, Resolution 1740
-
And yet still, with all their "shock" by "recent outrages against Roma" the European Union has failed to stop or even sway the steady march toward Nazi style policies in "several Council of Europe member states". In fact, recently the European Union has dropped its grievances and charges against France. Instead they took a step back and allowed Germany to step up its "anti-Gypsyism" by deporting Roma to Kosovo.
-
We know not where this current genocide is heading but we do know that, like most others, it is going to escalate. It is also apparent to those aware of its existence that far to few others are watching. And to those of us screaming on the sidelines... we know this sense of desperation far to well.
-
To those who want to write this current genocide off as "typical melodrama" from some "typical tree hugging hippie"... well its obvious you don't know me.
-
Here is the legal definition of genocide.
-
Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
-
-
We here at Alder's Ledge will continue to fight in any way we can. If nothing else, we will continue to scream till our throats bleed or our voices fail us.
-
You can continue to follow us on Facebook by searching "Alder's Ledge" and clicking on the group page.
-
-
Source Documents
-
http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm#II
-
http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta10/ERES1740.htm
-
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/media/disc/2009/alert/430/index.htm
"I promise I'll never be Tutsi again"
-
-
1994. The world watched as the Hutu nationalist in Rwanda took to the streets with guns held high and and machetes strapped to their sides. Militias had been training for years before the violence erupted once again that April. Soon they would run out of ammunition... even running out of hand grenades. The machete would be the judge, jury, and executioner for 100 long bloody days.
-
The quote above is directly from the lips of a young boy whose mother happened to be Hutu. She was promised that she and her children would be safe if they left her Tutsi husband. Instead the butchers fell upon her children like savage wolves ravening their prey. Those words were the last he would ever speak on God's green earth. He, like many before him, knew the killings had nothing to do with ration or reason... he was killed simply because of who and what he was. Tutsi.
-
In Bosnia the world witnessed the death of thousands of Muslims. Perhaps that is why we allowed the Christian Serbs to put them in concentration camps? Whatever the case, we watched as they Serbs set up "cat houses" in which they raped young Muslim girls. The money they spent on their savage rapes funded the deaths of the girls' fathers, brothers, and mothers. Even with this we remained silent.
-
From 1991 to 1995 we watched as the Serbs literally raped Bosnia. And again President Clinton waited till the blood and dust had mixed into mud before he gave his apology. He was even so bold as to utter that damned hollow phrase "NEVER AGAIN".
-
For what has seemed like an eternity we as a species have watched as the oppressed and tormented beat upon the barbwire and shout for our help. With slit wrist they have have come before us and begged for our mercy and yet we have sent them back into the mouths of Hell's hounds to be devoured.
-
With all the evidence the world had to offer we watched as the Armenians were marched into the wastelands only to be slaughtered. Under unmarked graves their bones were left to rot only later to have Hitler himself proclaim, "Who alive today remembers the Armenians?"
-
Well I do.
-
Today we watch as the European continent (and its outlying island nations) are steadily marching toward the sins of their fathers. Complacent to murder, they have strapped back on the jackboots and began to beat the same bloody drums as before. This time, as before, they march to the "sound of progress". They will, less their path be altered, once again have an entire race put to the flames of Hell for nothing less than "progress".
-
The Roma have long been targets of discrimination due to the European view that they are "outsiders" or "un-civilized". The popular view of the Roma is that they are not nor never will be true citizens of the nation in which they live. Despite the common perception that the European Union was set up to allow the free flow of money, products, and people the Roma remain "outsiders".
-
In Italy they are forced to register and live in camps the Italians have purposely set up in areas where the Roma will be harassed daily. Their children are forced to go to schools that are set up like prisons (with barbwire and guard towers). Some Italians have even forced the Roma to have their finger prints taken, their family histories documented, their religion publicly proclaimed, the languages they are capable of speaking or writing recorded, and their pictures documented and posted for public access.
-
So even if you overlook the French "raffles" (which the French used to rid themselves of Jews in World War Two) you cannot overlook their issuing of ghettos for the Roma. Ghettos that are more reminiscent of Hitler's treatment of Polish Jews than anything we have seen since Bosnia.
-
The march is on. The familiar tones of far right fascism is wringing from across the pond. The sound of hard rubber soles is echoing in nearly every capitol city in Europe.
-
According to groups such as Human Rights First (www.humanrightsfirst.org) violent crimes committed against and specifically targeting Roma in Europe have been sharply increasing since at least 2007. The ethnocentric fear that fueled Hitler's crimes are showing their teeth with ever increasing tenacity.
-
What is more disturbing is that, as Human Rights First puts it, "The bias-motivated violence against Roma often occurs in a hostile environment, as political leaders speak openly of desire to expel Roma from their communities." And this is exactly what is happening in France under Nicolas Sarkozy and his fellow brown shirts.
-
It leaves me to wonder just how long it will be before all of Europe adopts Italy's "Security Pact" program. It is clear that France, Germany, and Sweden have adopted this policy in their own ways, but how long till more liberally whitewashed nations like England take to these deportation policies? And now that Germany has chosen to evict its Roma to Kosovo (a country that is not a European Union nation) will France choose a country from which the Roma may not return?
-
In 2008 the Italian government declared a "state of emergency" so as to stop the immigration of Roma from Bulgaria and Romania. This was the first time since World War Two that a European nation used immigration as a reason to declare a state wide "state of emergency". It however had little to do with the Roma that were coming into the Axis state as much as it did with those already citizens of Italy.
-
Under the broad banner of "emergency" it is surprising just how much citizens are willing to give up in the name of "safety". It is under this same guise that Saddam Hussein began his gassing of the Kurds. And it is under this same sheepskin cloak that almost every loss of freedom has been suffered. Nazism, Fascism, Communism... they all came from the mere perception of a "state of emergency".
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Italy has been using this "state of emergency" to evict long standing communities of Roma so as to destabilize the Roma population in whole. They want to keep the Roma moving so that they cannot integrate any more than they already have. This is a direct personification of the xenophobia that has stripped the Roma of their freedoms... the same freedoms that are "guarantied to all European citizens" by the European Union.
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"Resolution 1740 (2010)
The situation of Roma in Europe and relevant activities of the Council of Europe
1. The Roma constitute the largest minority in Europe and are present in virtually all Council of Europe member states. All member states – without exception – have the moral and legal duty to make concrete and sustained efforts to improve the situation of Roma and to ensure the full respect of their fundamental rights."
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Yet "without exception" the Italians have made "concrete and sustained efforts" to destabilize the Romani population in an attempt to destroy or remove the said population from Italy.
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"2. The Parliamentary Assembly is shocked by recent outrages against Roma in several Council of Europe member states, reflecting an increasing trend in Europe towards anti-Gypsyism of the worst kind." -Parliamentary Assembly of the European Union, Resolution 1740
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And yet still, with all their "shock" by "recent outrages against Roma" the European Union has failed to stop or even sway the steady march toward Nazi style policies in "several Council of Europe member states". In fact, recently the European Union has dropped its grievances and charges against France. Instead they took a step back and allowed Germany to step up its "anti-Gypsyism" by deporting Roma to Kosovo.
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We know not where this current genocide is heading but we do know that, like most others, it is going to escalate. It is also apparent to those aware of its existence that far to few others are watching. And to those of us screaming on the sidelines... we know this sense of desperation far to well.
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To those who want to write this current genocide off as "typical melodrama" from some "typical tree hugging hippie"... well its obvious you don't know me.
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Here is the legal definition of genocide.
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Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
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We here at Alder's Ledge will continue to fight in any way we can. If nothing else, we will continue to scream till our throats bleed or our voices fail us.
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You can continue to follow us on Facebook by searching "Alder's Ledge" and clicking on the group page.
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Source Documents
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http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm#II
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http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta10/ERES1740.htm
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http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/media/disc/2009/alert/430/index.htm
November 11, 2010
European Dreams
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A World Without Roma
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Imagine a world without rats. No mice either for that matter. No more need for mice traps or glue filled boxes. No need for boxes of poison or even cats. That is how Hitler viewed the “Jewish Problem”. He even had videos made up to be displayed before the public where images of rats were used to portray the entire Jewish population. So again, imagine a world without rats.
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Currently the world is trying desperately not to watch the new age Europeans as they dream of a world without rats. Most, excluding Hungary, dream of the Roma being the said rats. France spent the summer playing out their fantasies while Germany tried to slyly advance racist laws “help immigrants voluntarily leave Deutschland”… once again on trains.
-
Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ireland, and other major European member states have tried many policies for decades now to “evict” the “long-term unemployed”. These laws are only enforced it appears if the “long-term unemployed” individual happens to be Roma.
-
In Italy the laws are put in place only to “protect ourselves from rampant Roma violence”. However the only person being attacked in a Roma – non-Roma incident is the Roma individual. In the last two decades alone the number of “incidents” involving attacks on Roma has risen so sharply that groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch can no longer overlook them. Yet the EU continues to turn its blind eye to the Roma’s plight in Italy (even after the most notorious “incident” in which two Roma girls were drown to death and left on a public beach, the locals simply covered the bodies with beach towels so as not to have to look at the victims lifeless bodies).
-
History has shown that the anti-Gypsy sentiment is well ingrained in European consciences. For centuries the tendency for violence against Roma has been tolerated due to an underlying lack of respect for the ethnic group across Europe. Whenever a scapegoat has been needed in European history the Roma has fit the bill due to social prejudice condoned by the European states. Even in the Holocaust, the Roma were targeted with as much of a dogged resolve as the Jews in most of Europe.
-
In Hungary, where anti-Semitism is rampant even in condoned politics, the need for an “anti-Roma” platform has given rise to the Jobbik (or “better”) Party. This extremely right-wing racist party is currently the third most powerful political party in Hungary. And for the most part, it and its leaders flamboyantly boast their anti-Roma redirect as something of a “badge of honor”. The only targeted group the Roma take back seat to with this party happens to be the Hungarian Jews (so much so that the party only recently dropped the Nazi uniforms and swastika flags from their party gatherings).
-
When asked about his parties platform Jobbik party spokesperson Zsolt Varkonvi pointed to a “case” that was more than three years old (not proven by the courts or even collaborated by eye-witness accounts) in which he claimed a single man was mugged and killed by a roaming group of Roma thugs. He has since, and his party has since, never once been able to point out a true incident of Roma perpetrated violence. However in 2009 alone there have been two men and four women and children killed in attacks on Roma in Hungary (forty other attacks have been reported without loss of life so Zsolt and his party do not recognize them).
-
On February 23, 2009 Robert Csorba and his five-year-old son were shot and killed after fleeing from their home. Their house had just been set on fire by a group of Hungarian men (known to be racially motivated) when they were gunned down. Zsolt seemed to have overlooked the fact that Robert Csorba and his five-year-old boy were Roma. The town they were attacked in… Tatarszentgyorgy, Hungary.
-
In the two years prior to 2009 there were a recorded 50 attacks on Roma in which 10 resulted in fatalities.
-
A Jobbik Hungary, a Better Hungary, appears to be a Roma free Hungary. This would be a Hungary in which the Roma (and “their eight or nine kids”) were dead or at least gone. And as for Zsolt… well he agrees with that view wholeheartedly.
-
Zsolt however is not alone. Far from it.
-
Italy, May 11Th of 2008… attackers ignite a Roma camp with Molotov cocktails in Via Novara, Milan. May 13Th… a mob hurls stones and Molotov cocktails into a Roma camp in the Ponticelli district of Naples. The mob grew in size the following day, May 14Th, as they systematically torched the camp in Ponticelli. Then to top things off, June 9Th, a mob systematically burns a Roma camp in Catania, Sicily. No charges are pressed and none of the mob is arrested. Italian police are actually thought to have helped but nobody knows since nobody cared enough to stop it.
-
By law the member states of the European Union are supposed to have designated camp sites for the Roma. These camps are supposed to be protected from such acts of violence just as the main streets of Vienna are protected from hoards of angry Molotov tossing thugs. Yet just as the poem goes… First they came for the…
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As of now, they are still trying to take away their silent prey. Yet just as the poem goes… I (the world at large) am saying nothing… doing nothing.
-
The laws of Europe are clear and rather flat in their depictions of what must be done in this case. The deportations, or attempts to eradicate in-part or in-whole, cannot nor should not be accepted as “age old anti-Roma sentiment”. The willful infliction of harm to an ethnic group with intent of destruction of the said ethnic group (once again… in-part or in-whole) is Genocide. And the last time we saw this in Europe we muttered those hollow words “Never Again”.
-
Germany recently stated that it would begin shortly deporting its Roma population back to Kosovo. Before I start on Germany it is important to note that Germany’s Roma population is only partially from Kosovo or even the surrounding area. And the small portion that happens to be from Kosovo was granted asylum, and for the most part… citizenship, was granted such due to the German’s desire to help stop the Serbian genocide in that area. This “goodwill gesture” was only made due to Germany’s lack of will to intervene in any other form (the new German mentality of “no war at any cost”).
-
Like France, Germany is shallowly claiming that the “immigrants” are willfully returning and that it is the Fatherland’s duty to help them. Unlike France however, Germany is not about to offer each Roma (over the age of 18) 300 Euros for going away. And unlike France, Germany is sending its Roma population to Kosovo… a country that is not nor will not be part of the European Union.
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The tail of Germany’s plan gets even more interesting when you note that Germany is one of the few European nations to recognize Kosovo as a sovereign nation after it split from Serbia back in 2008. The reason, a nation that is not recognized or part of an ongoing conflict will never be given membership into the European Union. Thusly, Germany’s population of Roma will never be allowed back into Germany.
-
France on the other hand is sending its population of Roma (with a slap on the butt and 300 Euros in hand) to countries that only recently were accepted into the European Union. Yet, just like Germany, the Roma population in France is being sent to Romania and Bulgaria… places that they and their families have not lived in for generations. And those who did immigrate to France from those two countries… well they did just that, they immigrated and thusly are French citizens.
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On the other hand you have to look at this from an even more awkward angle than before. Think about it like this. You are from Idaho but you move to Florida. Well the job market if Florida goes belly up so all of a sudden the local sunshine state boys decide it is time to send you and your family back to Idaho. Only problem is that you already got your “Sunshine State” license plates and changed your place of citizenship. Heck, you even got two or three different magazines coming to your house… you know, you home there in Florida. But hey, you aren’t a Floridian now are you? After all, you emigrated from Idaho.
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The same can be said about the legal citizens of the European Union. See, you can live in Hungary and yet you are a citizen of Austria. You have your Euro-pass so you’re good to go. One day you decide to pack up and move on up to Sweden… fine, fine… you are European right? We all get along here in this liberal peace loving society right? Nope, you happen to be Roma and the Social Democrats up there in Sweden just happen to hate you.
-
So now we come back to the fact that all these “cases” and “incidents” are occurring because of one thing… race.
-
The “feel good” politics of Europe have made the Europeans’ world much smaller. People are free to travel from one end of Europe to the other without much to stop them. And this is now leading toward one of the worse cases of “ethnic cleansing” Europe has seen in some time. We have major nations in the European Union deporting those they find “undesirable” or “problems”. The BBC does one report on it and all of a sudden France and Germany are at each others’ throats. Viviane Redding does her little bit before the European Union and Sarkozy’s Parisians are suddenly storm troopers.
-
Yet none of this happened overnight. The practice of targeting Romani populations has long been a problem in Europe. The open door policies of European borders have just amplified it. Throw in the economic depression and you have “ethnic tensions” so razor thin that something is bound to rise to the surface sooner or later.
-
As for now we seem to be in the organizing stage of this coming nightmare. Maybe, hopefully, the racist banter dies out and the continued “occasional incident” is all I’m really focusing on here. But this is the same sort of violence and the same “tensions” that sparked the Serbian Genocide in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. This is the same stepping stone Hitler used to take his step up to the Holocaust.
-
If we don’t open our eyes soon the ghettos currently being used to “house” Roma populations will quickly turn into the things of nightmares. It is only a matter of time before the barbwire comes out of the closet and the skulls start to stack up again.
-
Since 2006 Italian cities have quickly adopted “Security Packs” so as to rid themselves of Roma populations. No violence has to be perpetrated by the Roma to induce these racist policies; they simply have to be insinuated. The attacks that follow are always Italian mobs attacking Roma camps… most often in the dead of night.
-
These sorts of laws cannot be tolerated by the civilized world. They must be stopped before it becomes truly legal for an “Italian” to shoot and kill any Roma they find within their “Secure” Italy.
-
-
I need to stop this post now… I can’t think anymore about this tonight. My heart aches in much the same way it does when I look at pictures of the Armenians. To be honest… it is getting hard to think straight enough to string these words together.
-
Please continue to read these articles and please continue to “Scream” for those without a voice. We as a race, the human race, have witnessed far too many of these senseless acts to remain silent any longer. We cannot nor should not remain silent as our brothers and sister remain beneath the heel of such tyrants. We must scream out from the Armenians’ graves with a determination that makes them think we are truly mad… NEVER AGAIN!
A World Without Roma
-
-
Imagine a world without rats. No mice either for that matter. No more need for mice traps or glue filled boxes. No need for boxes of poison or even cats. That is how Hitler viewed the “Jewish Problem”. He even had videos made up to be displayed before the public where images of rats were used to portray the entire Jewish population. So again, imagine a world without rats.
-
Currently the world is trying desperately not to watch the new age Europeans as they dream of a world without rats. Most, excluding Hungary, dream of the Roma being the said rats. France spent the summer playing out their fantasies while Germany tried to slyly advance racist laws “help immigrants voluntarily leave Deutschland”… once again on trains.
-
Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ireland, and other major European member states have tried many policies for decades now to “evict” the “long-term unemployed”. These laws are only enforced it appears if the “long-term unemployed” individual happens to be Roma.
-
In Italy the laws are put in place only to “protect ourselves from rampant Roma violence”. However the only person being attacked in a Roma – non-Roma incident is the Roma individual. In the last two decades alone the number of “incidents” involving attacks on Roma has risen so sharply that groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch can no longer overlook them. Yet the EU continues to turn its blind eye to the Roma’s plight in Italy (even after the most notorious “incident” in which two Roma girls were drown to death and left on a public beach, the locals simply covered the bodies with beach towels so as not to have to look at the victims lifeless bodies).
-
History has shown that the anti-Gypsy sentiment is well ingrained in European consciences. For centuries the tendency for violence against Roma has been tolerated due to an underlying lack of respect for the ethnic group across Europe. Whenever a scapegoat has been needed in European history the Roma has fit the bill due to social prejudice condoned by the European states. Even in the Holocaust, the Roma were targeted with as much of a dogged resolve as the Jews in most of Europe.
-
In Hungary, where anti-Semitism is rampant even in condoned politics, the need for an “anti-Roma” platform has given rise to the Jobbik (or “better”) Party. This extremely right-wing racist party is currently the third most powerful political party in Hungary. And for the most part, it and its leaders flamboyantly boast their anti-Roma redirect as something of a “badge of honor”. The only targeted group the Roma take back seat to with this party happens to be the Hungarian Jews (so much so that the party only recently dropped the Nazi uniforms and swastika flags from their party gatherings).
-
When asked about his parties platform Jobbik party spokesperson Zsolt Varkonvi pointed to a “case” that was more than three years old (not proven by the courts or even collaborated by eye-witness accounts) in which he claimed a single man was mugged and killed by a roaming group of Roma thugs. He has since, and his party has since, never once been able to point out a true incident of Roma perpetrated violence. However in 2009 alone there have been two men and four women and children killed in attacks on Roma in Hungary (forty other attacks have been reported without loss of life so Zsolt and his party do not recognize them).
-
On February 23, 2009 Robert Csorba and his five-year-old son were shot and killed after fleeing from their home. Their house had just been set on fire by a group of Hungarian men (known to be racially motivated) when they were gunned down. Zsolt seemed to have overlooked the fact that Robert Csorba and his five-year-old boy were Roma. The town they were attacked in… Tatarszentgyorgy, Hungary.
-
In the two years prior to 2009 there were a recorded 50 attacks on Roma in which 10 resulted in fatalities.
-
A Jobbik Hungary, a Better Hungary, appears to be a Roma free Hungary. This would be a Hungary in which the Roma (and “their eight or nine kids”) were dead or at least gone. And as for Zsolt… well he agrees with that view wholeheartedly.
-
Zsolt however is not alone. Far from it.
-
Italy, May 11Th of 2008… attackers ignite a Roma camp with Molotov cocktails in Via Novara, Milan. May 13Th… a mob hurls stones and Molotov cocktails into a Roma camp in the Ponticelli district of Naples. The mob grew in size the following day, May 14Th, as they systematically torched the camp in Ponticelli. Then to top things off, June 9Th, a mob systematically burns a Roma camp in Catania, Sicily. No charges are pressed and none of the mob is arrested. Italian police are actually thought to have helped but nobody knows since nobody cared enough to stop it.
-
By law the member states of the European Union are supposed to have designated camp sites for the Roma. These camps are supposed to be protected from such acts of violence just as the main streets of Vienna are protected from hoards of angry Molotov tossing thugs. Yet just as the poem goes… First they came for the…
-
As of now, they are still trying to take away their silent prey. Yet just as the poem goes… I (the world at large) am saying nothing… doing nothing.
-
The laws of Europe are clear and rather flat in their depictions of what must be done in this case. The deportations, or attempts to eradicate in-part or in-whole, cannot nor should not be accepted as “age old anti-Roma sentiment”. The willful infliction of harm to an ethnic group with intent of destruction of the said ethnic group (once again… in-part or in-whole) is Genocide. And the last time we saw this in Europe we muttered those hollow words “Never Again”.
-
Germany recently stated that it would begin shortly deporting its Roma population back to Kosovo. Before I start on Germany it is important to note that Germany’s Roma population is only partially from Kosovo or even the surrounding area. And the small portion that happens to be from Kosovo was granted asylum, and for the most part… citizenship, was granted such due to the German’s desire to help stop the Serbian genocide in that area. This “goodwill gesture” was only made due to Germany’s lack of will to intervene in any other form (the new German mentality of “no war at any cost”).
-
Like France, Germany is shallowly claiming that the “immigrants” are willfully returning and that it is the Fatherland’s duty to help them. Unlike France however, Germany is not about to offer each Roma (over the age of 18) 300 Euros for going away. And unlike France, Germany is sending its Roma population to Kosovo… a country that is not nor will not be part of the European Union.
-
The tail of Germany’s plan gets even more interesting when you note that Germany is one of the few European nations to recognize Kosovo as a sovereign nation after it split from Serbia back in 2008. The reason, a nation that is not recognized or part of an ongoing conflict will never be given membership into the European Union. Thusly, Germany’s population of Roma will never be allowed back into Germany.
-
France on the other hand is sending its population of Roma (with a slap on the butt and 300 Euros in hand) to countries that only recently were accepted into the European Union. Yet, just like Germany, the Roma population in France is being sent to Romania and Bulgaria… places that they and their families have not lived in for generations. And those who did immigrate to France from those two countries… well they did just that, they immigrated and thusly are French citizens.
-
On the other hand you have to look at this from an even more awkward angle than before. Think about it like this. You are from Idaho but you move to Florida. Well the job market if Florida goes belly up so all of a sudden the local sunshine state boys decide it is time to send you and your family back to Idaho. Only problem is that you already got your “Sunshine State” license plates and changed your place of citizenship. Heck, you even got two or three different magazines coming to your house… you know, you home there in Florida. But hey, you aren’t a Floridian now are you? After all, you emigrated from Idaho.
-
The same can be said about the legal citizens of the European Union. See, you can live in Hungary and yet you are a citizen of Austria. You have your Euro-pass so you’re good to go. One day you decide to pack up and move on up to Sweden… fine, fine… you are European right? We all get along here in this liberal peace loving society right? Nope, you happen to be Roma and the Social Democrats up there in Sweden just happen to hate you.
-
So now we come back to the fact that all these “cases” and “incidents” are occurring because of one thing… race.
-
The “feel good” politics of Europe have made the Europeans’ world much smaller. People are free to travel from one end of Europe to the other without much to stop them. And this is now leading toward one of the worse cases of “ethnic cleansing” Europe has seen in some time. We have major nations in the European Union deporting those they find “undesirable” or “problems”. The BBC does one report on it and all of a sudden France and Germany are at each others’ throats. Viviane Redding does her little bit before the European Union and Sarkozy’s Parisians are suddenly storm troopers.
-
Yet none of this happened overnight. The practice of targeting Romani populations has long been a problem in Europe. The open door policies of European borders have just amplified it. Throw in the economic depression and you have “ethnic tensions” so razor thin that something is bound to rise to the surface sooner or later.
-
As for now we seem to be in the organizing stage of this coming nightmare. Maybe, hopefully, the racist banter dies out and the continued “occasional incident” is all I’m really focusing on here. But this is the same sort of violence and the same “tensions” that sparked the Serbian Genocide in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. This is the same stepping stone Hitler used to take his step up to the Holocaust.
-
If we don’t open our eyes soon the ghettos currently being used to “house” Roma populations will quickly turn into the things of nightmares. It is only a matter of time before the barbwire comes out of the closet and the skulls start to stack up again.
-
Since 2006 Italian cities have quickly adopted “Security Packs” so as to rid themselves of Roma populations. No violence has to be perpetrated by the Roma to induce these racist policies; they simply have to be insinuated. The attacks that follow are always Italian mobs attacking Roma camps… most often in the dead of night.
-
These sorts of laws cannot be tolerated by the civilized world. They must be stopped before it becomes truly legal for an “Italian” to shoot and kill any Roma they find within their “Secure” Italy.
-
-
I need to stop this post now… I can’t think anymore about this tonight. My heart aches in much the same way it does when I look at pictures of the Armenians. To be honest… it is getting hard to think straight enough to string these words together.
-
Please continue to read these articles and please continue to “Scream” for those without a voice. We as a race, the human race, have witnessed far too many of these senseless acts to remain silent any longer. We cannot nor should not remain silent as our brothers and sister remain beneath the heel of such tyrants. We must scream out from the Armenians’ graves with a determination that makes them think we are truly mad… NEVER AGAIN!