EXPLOITATION

MY BIG FAT JEWISH MOTHER

BY JON SPIRA

FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST

PHOTO FROM THE GUARDIAN (SEE ORIGINAL ARTICLE BELOW)
Channel 4 is searching for the ‘ultimate Jewish mother’ – maybe someone like Maureen Lipman as Beattie in the BT ad campaign from the 1980s?

Channel 4 revels in the muck of the human sideshow and has become increasingly adept at disguising it not just as documentary but
also as justifiable entertainment. Straddling these two forums is
the hit show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding which both invites us to
observe a culture and mock it until our hatred of them is
superseded only by our joyful derision. So gleeful are we about
the laughs the gypsy community can provide us with that we
literally place them beyond contempt.

I saw Channel 4's new ad for documentaries the other day, it
proclaimed itself either the home of modern documentary or the
future of documentary. Something hyperbolic and worrying. Just
when I thought I couldn't be more depressed by the situation, I
found this article on
the Guardian 's website.

------------------------------------------------------
Here is that article from the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/tvandradioblog/2012/mar/15/channel4-television?INTCMP=SRCH

BEGINNING OF ARTICLE:

Channel 4 is searching for the ‘ultimate Jewish mother’ – maybe someone like Maureen Lipman as Beattie in the BT ad campaign from the 1980s?

Channel 4 will launch a nationwide hunt for the "ultimate Jewish mother" in which contestants will be tested on their cooking, home-making and matchmaking skills.

The broadcaster has faced accusations of stereotyping with its breakout hit, Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, and may face similar criticism over the new four-part series.

Channel 4 has joined forces with The Jewish News for the show, Jewish Mum of the Year, which will air in the autumn.

"The competition will seek out the traditional, the overbearing, the cheek-pinching and the charming," said Channel 4.

"The winner is out there somewhere in the land of the Jewish princess and the over-pampered bar mitzvah boys, and no strudel will be left unturned in his quest to find the perfect Jewish mum. It's a television show with a heart of gold."

Channel 4 head of factual entertainment Liam Humphreys, who commissioned the show, emphasised the partnership with the newspaper behind the show.

"We hope the Jewish News' search for the greatest Jewish mum in Britain will provide new insights for all of us as we enter the wonderful world of bar mitzvahs, match making and Friday night dinners, discovering the secrets behind one of the most successful and engaging communities in Britain," he said.

The Jewish News will be the driving force of the competition, joined by a judge who will be a pillar of the community and a "classic Jewish mother figure".

Contestants will be put through their paces in a number of "gruelling tasks" including cooking, matchmaking, home-making, event organising and how well they know their children.

Each programme will also feature guest judges in their respective fields as the candidates are narrowed down to the eventual winner.
------------------------END OF ARTICLE/RETURN TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE-------
MY BIG FAT JEWISH MOTHER

BY JON SPIRA

It might sound innocent enough but if you read between the lines, they're not looking for the Jewish Mum of The Year. They're
looking for the Jewish female stereotype of the year. They're
looking for a cheek-pinching, fish-frying, son-smothering
stereotype. They're looking to display the easiest, most mockable
parts of my heritage for the edification of people who find the
world an easier place to exist in when they can write-off whole
cultures as risible.

They might as well be looking for Nigerian Traffic Warden of the
Year, French Waiter of the Year or Irish Labourer of the Year but
they would never be that forthright. Just like with Gypsy
Weddings, Channel 4 seems to think if they expose their viewers
to a stereotype they weren't previously familiar with, it can be
passed off as enlightenment rather than mockery.

It seems just as Channel 4 provided us with ammunition we were
previously unaware of to sling at the gypsy community, they're
now extending the favour to my own people.

First they came for the gypsies, and I didn't speak out because I
wasn't a gypsy.

Then they came for the people who only eat weird things, and I
didn't speak out because I don't only eat weird things.

Then they came for the people who have strange facial
disfigurements, and I didn't speak out because I don't have one
of those.

Then they came for the fat people who couldn't get out of bed,
and I didn't speak out because I could still get out of bed.

Then they came for me.

And there was no one left to speak for me because they were all
having too much fun watching these shitty TV programmes without
stopping to think how they pander to our lowest base prejudices
and that despite how easy they may be to watch, all we're really
doing is feeling better about ourselves through the denigration
of others.
--------THANK YOU JON SPIRA, AN OBVIOUS ALLY.

ROMANI MUSIC

ARTICLE BY YVONNE SLEE OF THE SINTI ROMANI COMMUNITY, AUSTRALIA

http://www.sintiromanicommunity.org/

http://rromaniconnect.org/docs/Romani%20music%20and%20dance.pdf

PHOTO: eaartistmanagement.com

There are many different styles of Romani music. Romani folk songs and the Balkan-style music from Romanies in the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece incorporate musical instruments such as the bouzouki, a stringed instrument that sounds a bit like the Indian ‘Veena’, which is played in Hindustani music.

For hundreds of years, people have been enthralled by the dance and music of the Romanies. Kings, Queens, Tzars and Emperors have all enlisted Romani musicians to play for them in their castles and palaces.

The fiery Flamenco dance and music from Spain is Romani in origin. The earliest accounts of Flamenco stem from the beginning of the 19thcentury where Spanish Romanies (Kale) played and sang at social events or gatherings. The onlookers participated in the performance by clapping their hands to the rhythm of the guitars while loudly cheering on the skilful flamenco dancers.

The dance gets its name from the flamingo bird, whose body, together with its long neck and raised leg, reminds one of the typical body posture of a flamenco dancer.

I really enjoy the impacting sounds of trumpets, trombones, clarinets and drums of the music played by Romani bands such as ‘Fanfare Ciocarlia’ from Romania. Their raging sounds and fast rhythms depicting sorrow, pain, rage, joy, fierceness and compassion reflect the many different aspects of Romanies.

This style of music, which originated in the Ottoman Empire changed over time to become a style of fast, sometimes dark blues that has become something akin to a release or an outpouring of feelings, as life has often been hard for Romanies... and this shows in Fanfare Ciocarlia’s music.

Some say let the spirit move you. Dance scarves, and vividly coloured dresses with many layers that spread out like butterfly wings when swirled around are what Romani women often wear to dance in. Black fire group, Kali Jag, are an example of a Romani group.

Romanies from Hungary, Russia, Serbia, and one I personally know from Macedonia, all play beautiful violin music. It was forbidden to sing in the Romani language because of assimilation laws that were enforced in the past in many European countries. Also, 400 years of slavery of Romanies in Romania suppressed any freedom of choice. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of discrimination happening against Romanies and for some, it’s on a daily basis.

These days however, many Romanies sing their songs in their mother language. A famous one is the Romani national anthem, Djelem Djelem, which you can listen to here.

Faster songs, like the wedding song, Usti Usti Baba, (Get up father the drums are playing) are very popular in Europe. There was one particular Balkan Romani dance that I participated in where the people hold hands and dance around in a big circle in quick, step-like movements.

The leader of the dance holds a handkerchief out high in one hand and waves
it around like a flag, beckoning for more people to join the circle. As more and more people break in to the circle the musicians pick up the tempo to get everyone really moving. It’s a lot of fun.

Of course you’ve heard of Django Reinhardt, a famous Sinto Romani jazz musician, who was born in Belgium in 1910 and lived till 1953. A relative of his, Lulo Reinhardt, who is a very talented guitarist, came to Bellingen, NSW during his Australian tour in 2010, and played Sinti Jazz at the Global festival.


http://rromaniconnect.org/docs/Romani%20music%20and%20dance.pdf

MY LAI MASSACRE

March 16, 1968 | U.S. Soldiers Massacre Vietnamese Civilians at My Lai

By THE LEARNING NETWORK

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BLOGS

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/march-16-1968-u-s-soldiers-massacre-vietnamese-civilians-at-my-lai/

PHOTO: kpbs.org

Credit: Ron Haberle; courtesy of National Archives

A soldier burning down a hut in My Lai village. Ron Haberle’s photos of My Lai were published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer more than a year after the events of March 16, 1968.

On March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, United States troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr. carried out a massacre of about 500 unarmed men, women and children in the village of My Lai.

The C Company, also known as the “Charlie Company,” of the 11th Brigade, Americal Division, was ordered to My Lai to eliminate the Vietcong’s 48th Battalion. On the night of March 15, Capt. Ernest Medina, the commander of Charlie Company, told his men that all civilians would leave the village by 7:00 the following morning, leaving only Vietcong soldiers and sympathizers. He ordered them to burn down the village, poison wells and wipe out the enemy.

The next day, at 8 a.m., after an aerial assault, Lieutenant Calley’s 1st Platoon of Charlie Company led the attack on My Lai. Expecting to encounter Vietcong soldiers, the platoon entered the village firing. Instead, they found mostly women and children who denied that there were Vietcong soldiers in the area. The American soldiers herded the villagers into groups and began burning the village.

The New York Times provided an account of the massacre from a survivor in its Nov. 17, 1969, edition: “The three death sites were about 200 yards apart. When the houses had been cleared, the troops dynamited those made of brick and set fire to the wooden structures. They did not speak to the villagers and were not accompanied by an interpreter who could have explained their actions. Then the Vietnamese were gunned down where they stood. About 20 soldiers performed the executions at each of the three places, using their individual weapons, presumably M-16 rifles.”

Lieutenant Calley gave explicit orders to kill and participated in the execution of unarmed villagers standing in groups and lying in ditches. There were also accounts of soldiers mutilating bodies and raping young women. Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson watched the massacre from his helicopter. Realizing that civilians were being killed, he landed his helicopter near one of the ditches and rescued some survivors.

The Army initially portrayed the events as My Lai as a military victory with a small number of civilian casualties. A year later, Ronald Ridenhour, a former soldier who had heard about the massacre from other soldiers, sent letters to leaders in Washington alerting them to the events. The Army opened an investigation and in September 1969 filed charges against Lieutenant Calley.

Two months later, in November 1969, the American public learned of the My Lai massacre as the journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story. Several publications ran in-depth reports and published photographs taken by the Army photographer Ronald Haeberle. The My Lai massacre intensified antiwar sentiment and raised questions about the quality of men being drafted into the military.

The Army charged 25 officers, including Lieutenant Calley and Captain Medina, for the massacre and its cover-up, though most would not reach court-martial. Lieutenant Calley, charged with premeditated murder, was the only man to be found guilty; he was initially given a life sentence, but after a public outcry he would serve just three and a half years of house arrest.

Connect to Today:

In 2004, 35 years after he broke the My Lai story, Seymour Hersh reported on the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by United States soldiers at Abu Ghraib, a prison compound west of Baghdad. The story sparked comparisons with My Lai and reignited the discussion on punitive justice for United States military atrocities committed abroad.

In November 2005, a group of American Marines killed 24 unarmed civilians, including women, children and a wheelchair-bound man, in Haditha, Iraq. As with My Lai, the military at first claimed that enemy insurgents had been killed in the attack before media reports revealed that only civilians had been targeted.

Eight Marines were charged under United States military law, but charges were eventually dropped for all but one, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who was able to avoid jail time with a January 2012 plea deal.

In a January 2012 New York Times article. Charlie Savage and Elisabeth Bumiller reported that the case illustrated the difficulty in investigating and prosecuting crimes committed by military members, who are much more likely to be acquitted on murder and manslaughter charges than civilians charged with those crimes. Soldiers can “argue that they feared they were still under attack and shot in self-defense,” Mr. Savage and Ms. Bumiller wrote, and the “military and its justice system have repeatedly shown an unwillingness to second-guess the decisions made by fighters who said they believed they were in danger.”

In late 2011, The Times uncovered a classified interview transcripts of United States troops discussing the Haditha massacre, which reveal the scope of civilian killings in Iraq. Marines said that they saw nothing “remarkable” about the massacre and one described it as “a cost of doing business.” Michael S. Schmidt of The Times wrote: “Troops, traumatized by the rising violence and feeling constantly under siege, grew increasingly twitchy, killing more and more civilians in accidental encounters. Others became so desensitized and inured to the killing that they fired on Iraqi civilians deliberately while their fellow soldiers snapped pictures.”

This week, a United States Army sergeant has been accused of methodically killing at least 16 civilians, 9 of them children, in a rural stretch of southern Afghanistan. Officials say he had been drinking alcohol — a violation of military rules in combat zones — and suffering from the stress related to his fourth combat tour.

What is your reaction when you hear of incidents in which United States troops explicitly target civilians? In your opinion, should soldiers be punished for their actions in the same way that civilians would be? Should wartime atrocities be viewed as unique events or as part of a bigger picture of the dehumanization of war and “history repeating itself”? Why?

-------------------------------------------------------------
AND TO CONNECT TO THE PAST----The massacre at My Lai reminds me so much of the massacre of Native Americans at Sand Creek.
Morgan

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES.

MY BIG FAT GYPSY RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

FROM THE LEAMINGTON OBSERVER

http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2012/03/15/news-My-big-fat-gypsy-rights-campaign-32877.html#.T2ImYS-xJhw.email

A CAMPAIGNING Warwick schoolgirl is in the running for a prestigious national writing competition.

Alice Woodhouse, a pupil at King's High, has been shortlisted for Amnesty International’s Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year award.

The 16-year-old's report on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Rights was selected in the top ten for her age category from hundreds of entries nationally. Her article weaved together a history of gypsys and travellers with the modern day issue of prejudice against such communities.

Her work will now be judged by a panel of editors, authors and industry professionals including mutli-awarding Guardian journalist Ian Cobain, renowned author Anna Perera and television celebrity Danny Bartlett.

Over 3,000 young people from all four corners of the United Kingdom took part in the competition, which is being run by Amnesty International UK, the Guardian and the secondary school magazine SecEd.

Alice said: "I hope I have managed to bring to light a rather unpublicised human rights abuse, and feel privileged to have been longlisted for the award."

Kathy Hewitt, Alice’s teacher, was overjoyed.

She added: "This is great news! Alice has been a keen supporter of Amnesty International. She brings a fine critical mind to issues, along with a sensitivity which is admirable in such a young person."

Pete Henshaw, editor of SecEd, was involved in the listing process and described Alice's report as "a powerful piece with a powerful aftermath".

Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, said: “Journalists play such an important role in exposing human rights abuses and it is inspiring to see so many children and young people taking an active interest in human rights.”

The top three from each category will be invited to an awards ceremony held at Amnesty International UK’s headquarters in May, where the winner will be announced.

The winner’s work will then be showcased at the organisation’s annual Media Awards in central London in front of an audience of over 400 of the nation’s top media figures on May 29.

The winner will receive a goodie bag from Amnesty International, The Guardian and SecEd.


Alice's report - Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Rights:


Human rights abuses have the stereotype of being seen to happen in some far flung corner of the world, or else occur in some kind of hidden underbelly of society. Yet they can, and do occur, almost literally in our back gardens. Flamenco dancing as we know it owes much to the Gypsy and Roma community. Django Reinhardt, was a Belgian Sinto Gypsy and one of Europe's first great jazz musicians.

Gypsy culture is built upon strict codes of cleanliness learnt over centuries of life on the road. Concepts such as mokadi and mahrime provide strict guidelines, detailing, for example, on what objects can be washed in what bowls.

And Gypsies have been present in Britain for at least 500 years. Yet so many still seem to think of them as an invading, uncivilised, dirty force, setting out to wreck people’s livelihoods and their cultures.

Evidence would seem to suggest that the attack comes from the opposite direction. Programmes such as Big Fat Gypsy Weddings have been criticised by people such as Roma author and Teacher Dr Ian Hancock, and in the words of filmmaker Yale Strom "When entertainment of any kind feeds the public's false stereotypical image of a particular ethnic, religious or racial group it only reinforces ignorance”. This is exactly what such programmes do.

More than this, one of the many victims to the cuts was the maintenance of official Traveller sites in Britain. But the main issue concerning the abuse of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller rights should perhaps be the common source of these abuses - a lack of knowledge and understanding from childhood about this culture.

Casual racism and name calling may not seem to be such a major abuse of human rights, when far more dramatic horrors occur all over the world. But it is still abuse. And it is right in front of us, in a so called civilised society.

A Children’s Society survey in 2007 found that eight out of ten Gypsy and Traveller children have suffered racial abuse and almost two thirds have been bullied or physically attacked. Terms such as “Pikey” fall frighteningly easily from the lips of otherwise amiable people. And if cultural conception of an entire culture is affected by programmes and myths which seem to focus on the worst, it does not look as though either understanding or acceptance is going to make any headway. An old Traveller woman and her husband come to our village sometimes, to sharpen blades for old clothes. Doors and windows shut in their faces, like something out of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The Nazis killed about 25% of European Roma. Of slightly less than a million before the war, up to 220,000 were killed. Yet as a culture we are developing. For the first time in British history, the March 2011 census acknowledged Gypsy, Roma and Traveller as a separate ethic group. Perhaps equality is not too far away.


Read more: My big fat gypsy rights campaign | Leamington Observer

http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/2012/03/15/news-My-big-fat-gypsy-rights-campaign-32877.html#.T2ImYS-xJhw.email

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We thank you, young Alice Woodhouse and wish you baxthale.
Morgan

UPROOTED

PRESS RELEASE by the Romedia Foundation

http://youtu.be/RpGMsC8BOpQ

It is with immense pride and excitement that the Romedia Foundation announces that its latest film Uprooted has been nominated for an award at the 8th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival on April 19-22 in Doha, Qatar

From over a thousand entries, Uprooted was the only Hungarian film chosen among 46 films competing in the short film category. At a press conference on Tuesday 13th March, Mr Abbas Arnaout, director of the festival, revealed the confirmed line-up.

Going back and forth between Germany and Kosovo, Uprooted brings the voice of Romani youths into the debate on immigration in Europe.

In October 2010, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have "utterly failed". From the perspective of children like Anita, Sedat and Nasmija, born and raised in Germany by parents who had fled Kosovo in the 1990s, the statement makes no sense. For them, there is no question: they are German.

Uprooted was premiered on September 29, 2011, during prime time on RTK (Radio Televizioni i Kosoves). Its US premiere was on Link TV earlier this month and it is soon to be broadcast in the UK on the Community Channel.

Uprooted teaser AVAILABLE HERE

http://youtu.be/RpGMsC8BOpQ

Aljazeera has been striving to show the world from fresh, unheard angles and it is a great honor to have been selected to present the rarely documented Romani perspective.

Executive director of the Romedia Foundation, film director Katalin Bársony is the first Romani director to be nominated for an award at this festival.

This is great recognition for all of our hard work. We would like to sincerely thank all friends and colleagues in Germany, Hungary and Kosovo who supported the production of the film.

The film was financed by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society, the Open Society Roma Initiatives and the National Endowment for Democracy.

SOFI MARINOVA

FROM ROM VIRTUAL NETWORK

PHOTO : www.eurovision-addict.blogspot.com

Dear all,

Please support the Bulgarian-Roma singer Sofi Marinova, who will represent Bulgaria in Baku, on the Eurovision song contest 2012 with her song "Love Unlimited"! Vote for Sofi, vote for Bulgaria on 24th of May,2012!

More about Sofi:
Sofi Marinova is one of the most famous Bulgarian singers. Her unusual music style consists of Bulgarian pop-folk and ethno music mixed with her considerable vocal capabilities, makes Sofi often compared with Bulgaria’s most highly regarded singer in last few decades – Lili Ivanova. Marinova is supported by one of the most influential gypsy singers and humanitarians in Europe – Esma Redzepova.

The Bulgaria entry „Love Unlimited” features Sofi Marinova singing „I love you” in eleven different languages – Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, English, French, Greek, Italian, Romani, Serbian, Spanish and Turkish. It should be noted that this will be the first song ever to feature the language of the 2012 host Azerbaijan in the history of the contest.
After she was announced as the winner of the National Final, Sofi burst into tears and expressed her honest gratefulness for the support of the Bulgarian people. Her entry „Love Unlimited”, which was already a hit in the nation before the final, clearly won the televote and received almost double the amount of votes than the second placed entry received.

Love Unlimited (lyrics):

The song has no limit, language or color
it does not know poor man or rich.
Everybody sings all over the world,
all of them are singing about love
Love has no limit language and color
it is one and the same for everyone in this world,
for you, for me, for them.

Seviyorum seni, Sagapao poli
Yo te quiero a ti, Volim te mon cheri
I love you, I love only you,I am saying I love you
But dehaftu mange, Voglio bene a te
Men seni sevirem, Yahabibi jé táime
I love you, I love only you,There are no limits for us.

The pain has no limit, language and color
it does not know poor man or rich.
The same tears fall down when our life hurts us.
Love has no limit, language and color
it is one and the same for everyone in this world
for you, for me, for them.I love you so much!

Facebook page for support of the Romani singer Sofi Marinova: http://www.facebook.com/sofieurovision

To hear Sofi and a clip of Esma visit the following sites.

http://youtu.be/45eea7F1ovM

http://youtu.be/nrWa7129Oh4

http://youtu.be/nrWa7129Oh4

And be still my heart there is still no one like the Queen, Esma.

http://youtu.be/UiIcfH0_Z3g

STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ROMANI UNION

FROM INTERNATIONAL ROMANI UNION

http://www.internationalromaniunion.org/index.php/en/organization-status/ertf-charter-on-the-rights-of-the-roma

PHOTO: www.groups.yahoo.com

ERTF CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF THE ROMA

1. More than seven centuries ago, our People were enslaved in the Indian subcontinent in the course of the Islamization of India and expelled towards Europe during the Islamic wars.

2. For more than six centuries, we Roma have lived here in Europe. Our history has been marked by Antiziganism, slavery, discrimination, persecution, expulsion, violence and genocide; this history has been written with our people's blood.

3. Hundreds of thousands of our people were victims of the Parraijmos, the Holocaust on Roma, murdered in the name of the Nazi race mania, abused for pseudo-medical experiments and gassed in concentration camps. This injustice and crime against our people has too often been concealed, ignored, treated as a footnote to history, or simply forgotten.

4. We Roma have been deprived of recognition as a national minority group so far. Traditionally, we are regarded as a social fringe group, as a social problem that is to be "integrated" by means of disciplinary measures and state repression.

5. Our fate has been determined by self-appointed experts and specialists; our history has been written by linguists and gypsyiologists.

6. Our people live in deplorable conditions comparable with the Third World, often segregated from the rest of society and subjected to rejection and discrimination.

7. Our people are frequently denied equal access to public health services. Our people's life expectancy is far below the European average; our infant mortality is much higher than average. Our everyday life is determined by segregation in every area of life;

8. Our children are regularly denied access to education or segregated from other children in socalled “special schools”.

9. Discrimination at work is commonplace; our people's unemployment rate is 80 per cent and in some parts of Europe even higher.

10. Hate campaigns against us in the media are increasing year by year; the public image of our people as a criminal and unwanted menace has long been current. Balanced media accounts of the conditions of the Roma are infrequent. Positive media images of Roma are few and far between.

11. Expulsions and expropriations of our people are not condemned by the International Community; on the contrary, authorities are encouraged by the Public Opinion to continue their antigypsy policies through silence and reward.

12. Millions of our people are forced to live in ethnic slums, with no future, with no hope.

13. Thousands of our people were sent to battle against each other in European wars; brothers and sisters, parents and relatives were forced to fight against each other in different armies.

14. Instead of fighting the causes for fleeing, international institutions are fighting Roma refugees. Our people's attempt to flee from discrimination and Antiziganism is interpreted as nomadism, as asocial behaviour.

15. Romani women are exposed to triple discrimination: as women in society; as Romani women in the women's rights movement; and often as scapegoats in our own community. Young women and girls are particularly vulnerable to violence and lack of life opportunities.

16. After centuries of expulsion and exclusion, some of us have chosen the path of cultural selfdetermination and a travelling way of life and are particularly affected by prejudices, defamation, violence and rejection.

17. By discrimination against our language, customs, tradition and culture, by falsification of our history and our identity, the breeding ground for European Antiziganism was created.

18. Thousands of Roma children have been taken away from their parents, forced to be adopted and torn away from their roots: a measure that runs like a red thread through our people's history.

19. The defamation of our people as a social fringe group is the basis of deprivation of our rights as a national minority and lack of equal treatment with other people and nations.

20. The traditional adherence to experts and specialists deciding on our fate constitutes a blatant infringement of any kind of peoples' right of self-determination; this discriminatory practice is an integral part of our problem. This kind of neo-colonialism is actually to blame for Europe's failure to

insure Human Rights and Civil liberties to our People.

21. We Roma, as well as our organisations, live in an atmosphere of general suspicion; the system of general suspicion is the most striking feature of Antiziganism and has to this day led to selfappointed experts being entrusted with making decisions concerning Roma instead of Roma themselves.

22. The behaviour of European States towards the Roma in the 21st century will be a critical test of their implementation of the human rights and civil liberties of minorities, as well the sincerity of their commitment to combating any kind of racism, anti-semitism, discrimination xenophobia and antiziganism.

23. The Roma occupy a unique position in Europe, both historically and politically, as a pan-European national minority, without kin-state. Efforts to improve the situation of the Roma in Europe must acknowledge this special position.

24. A constitutional, democratic and just Europe must include the participation of Roma in all areas of society. The participation process needs to draw on common roots and common perspectives beyond citizenship, group affiliation, or country of residence. Ensuring the participation and contribution of Roma in decision-making processes is one of the principal aims we wish to achieve.

25. A Europe in which Roma suffer from Antiziganism and segregation should not be allowed to exist for any longer. Yet we will only succeed in reducing this xenophobia, prejudice, stereotyping and fear emerging from ignorance through systematic and continuous education.

26. The Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,1 affirm the fundamental importance of the right to self-determination of all peoples, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development

27. Considering that every attempt to decisively improve the Roma's situation to date has been unsuccessful, a collaboration of the states, international institutions and the Roma's legitimate representatives based on equal rights is urgently needed. Furthermore, it is our obligation and duty to ensure that societies, as well as states and international institutions, revise their opinions;

28. Recalling the spirit of the partnership agreement signed on December 15 2004 between the Council of Europe and ourselves the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF), we the Roma in Europe declare the principles of this Charter on the Rights of Roma as binding for all Roma Representations, Initiatives and particularly for the ERTF, as the only legitimate representation of

Roma in Europe authorised by democratic processes, and actively commit ourselves to promote the implementation of the rights and principles in this Charter, in collaboration with all Roma and everyone of good will.

29. The Roma are a European national minority and citizens of the countries they live in; their participation process needs to draw on common roots andcommon perspectives beyond citizenship, group affiliation, or country of residence.

30. We, the ERTF as the only legitimate representation of Roma in Europe authorised by democratic processes, declare the principles of this Charter on the rights of Roma as binding and actively commit ourselves to promote the implementation of this charter in collaboration with all Roma and
everyone of good will.

As such, we proclaim the following:

Article 1

Roma is; who avows oneself to the common historical Indo-Greek origin ,

who avows oneself to the common language of Romanes, who avows oneself to the common cultural heritage of the Romanipe,

Article 2

We have a shared national identity as Roma, independent of citizenship, state and/or group and/or religious affiliation.

Article 3

Every person of our people has the right to self-determined designation, identity and community. Every person has the right to freely practice his/her religion, culture and tradition.

Romanipe is based on unity through diversity.

Article 4

We Roma are a people equal to every other people in the world. We Roma live in every state of Europe and hereby declare ourselves to be a national minority in Europe without our own state or claim for a state.

Article 5

As a national minority, we Roma engage in the rights and duties stipulated in contracts, agreements and declarations both collectively and individually. Roma have the right to the protection and opportunities as secured in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Treaties of the Council of Europe4 , the OSCE5 and the European Union6 , as well as allfurther national and international civil rights.

Article 6

We Roma have the right to self-determination in accordance with international law including: the right to cultivate one's cultural autonomy, the right to freely promote our economic, social and cultural development and to select our partners, projects, and programmes on our own and, where appropriate, implement them as well; the right to decide on our representation free of any kind of obstruction or discrimination and to vote on it democratically.

We refuse any kind of heteronomy; representations, experts or speakers on ourbehalf who are selfappointed or appointed by third parties,

Article 7

We Roma have the right to a nationality and citizenship, social life, to have access to public health services, the right to physical integrity, the right to freedom, the right to protection from defamation and prejudices. We Roma have the collective right to lead our lives in peace, to equal opportunities,security and equal treatment.

Article 8

We Roma have the right to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of the person. We Roma have the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide, pogrom or any other act of violence, including forced sterilisation, internment,compulsory expropriations, forced resettlement, all forms of hard labour or forcibly removing children. To protect our People we have the right to use all appropriate measures that are foreseen by the international community and in accordance with international law.

Article 9

Participation in all areas of society and contribution to their decision processes is one of the principal aims we wish to achieve.

Article 10

We Roma, collectively and individually, have the right to not be subjected to forced assimilation or to abandonment or destruction of our culture. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of and redress for:

- Any action which has the effect of depriving Roma of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities or language;

Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their land, housing or possessions;

- Any form of forced population transfer, resettlement or expulsion;

- Any form of forced assimilation or integration;

- Any form of incitement or promotion (by individuals, organisations the media or any other source) of discrimination, hatred, violence, humiliation, defamation or false reporting against them.

Article 11

States shall ensure by means of appropriate measures that the media cannot incite hatred and violence against Roma through false reporting and hate campaigns. Additionally, statutes shall be revised if, in the name of freedom of the press, they allow humiliation, defamation or incitement or commit offences that are punishable by existing international understanding.

Article 12

States and international institutions shall initiate appropriate education campaigns in their public authorities, departments and among their employees in order to counteract prejudices and stereotypes, as well as xenophobia and Antiziganism, and to raise awareness of injustice and sensitivity toward human rights and civil liberties and the values of the Council of Europe.

Article 13

As our language, Romanes shall be equated with all other European languages.
States, as well international institutions, shall therefore ensure by all appropriate means that Romanes is protected as a living European language. This includes taking measures to promote public acceptance of Romanes and all measures stipulated in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, as well as support our own educational institutions and native-language classes at schools.

Article 14

States shall ensure, by appropriate means, that Roma are able to establish their own media in their mother tongue. The mainstream media, both state and private and including television and radio, shall provide the Roma with the opportunity to report in their own language without discrimination; this particularly applies to state media.

Article 15

States shall ensure that Roma history, origin and fate, persecution and community are included in school curricula.

To this end, States and international institutions shall develop such curricula in collaboration with Roma institutions and integrate them without delay into their educational systems.

Article 16

States shall, in collaboration with Roma institutions, develop effective solutionsfor the improvement of the living conditions of Roma. The EU and its institutions shall take all appropriate measures within their respective competencies to support the efforts of its Member States to carry out their duties under this Charter.

The EU shall establish, in cooperation with the ERTF, a special aid fund for the stabilisation of Roma civil society.

The European Commission shall take all possible measures to ensure that Structural Funds, as well as Social Funds, are used to support disadvantaged regions of the EU in which a particularly large number of Roma live.

Article 17

Political parties, institutions and universities, public service and governments shall take measures, including where appropriate, positive action, to ensure that the proportion of the Roma in their states is reflected in the number of their Roma employees and/or members. The European Commission, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and other international institutions shall make particular efforts to act as role models in this regard. The ERTF also appeals to international corporate groups to show more courage and increasingly employ Roma.

Article 18

States shall ensure that any kind of segregation and/or apartheid within their sphere of influence is removed and fought effectively and sustainably. This particularly applies to the education sector.

Article 19

States shall implement and enforce strong and effective laws and action against discrimination in employment against Roma. These shall include provisions against direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment. They shall also allow employers to take positive action to prevent or compensate for disadvantages experienced by Roma. We explicitly refuse short-term projects which merely develop symbolic value. State sponsored programmes to increase the employment of Roma shall be long-term and sustained. The unemployment rate of Roma has to be reduced drastically by positive actions; this also includes the development of appropriate strategies as well as the cooperation of state, economy and Roma.

Article 20

The ERTF calls upon the Roma in Europe to actively participate in the political processes in their states. This implies participating in elections actively as well as passively, becoming members of political parties or founding one’s own party.

Article 21

The ERTF shall instantly begin examining compensation claims to states or their legal successors, which are to blame for violence against the Roma in the past.

Article 22

None of the articles of this Charter shall be interpreted in a way that infringes upon the Charter's spirit and positive intentions.

Article 23

As pacifists who do not wish to participate in acts of war, we Roma shall not be forced into military service; though this does not affect the right of individual Roma to volunteer for military service.

Article 24

States, as well as international institutions, shall support the establishment of independent civilian Roma society, both actively and financially. Based on the ERTF model, each national state shall ensure that existing Roma organisations are enabled to unite to form a national Roma umbrella alliance/forum which is free of state influence. Each national Roma umbrella alliance/forum shall then be granted a seat in the national state's parliament. The national state shall provide sufficient financial assistance to each national Roma umbrella forum/alliance. National umbrella organisations of Roma must be accepted, promoted and supported as legitimate representations of interests and partners of governments.

Article 25

States shall ensure that Roma are granted pro bono legal advice, including on the implementation of existing human rights and civil liberties.

Article 26

In order to succeed in the implementation of large parts of this charter, legally binding agreements of the member states of the Council of Europe, the European Union, the United Nations and the OSCE are necessary. These kinds of legally binding agreements only could contribute to the abolishment of the present unequal treatment of our people among the states and to the respect for the special situation of our people.

Article 27

Nothing in this charter may be interpreted as implying for any state, people, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to the Charter of the United Nations or construed as authorising or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent states. In the exercise of the rights enunciated in the present declaration, human rights and fundamental freedoms of all shall be respected. The exercise of the rights set forth in this declaration shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law, and in accordance with international human rights obligations. Any such limitations shall be non-discriminatory and strictly necessary solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for meeting the just and most compelling requirements of a democratic society.

PETER POLLAK

SLOVAK ELECTIONS: ROMANI CANDIDATE PETER POLLAK ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT

FROM ROMEA.CZ
http://www.romea.cz/english/index.php?id=detail&detail=2007_3225


Yesterday in Slovakia the opposition Social Democrats (Směr-SD) overwhelmingly defeated their political rivals in early parliamentary elections. With 44.41 % of the votes, the party has won a comfortable majority in the 150-member chamber. Romani candidate Peter Pollák has also made it into the National Council for the "Ordinary People and Independent Personalities" party (Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti - OLNO). The party took third place with 16 seats.

"I believe it is good for Slovakia that someone will be in parliament who won't just talk about the Romani issue, but will start doing something too. I believe Slovakia needs a person in parliament who is thoroughly familiar with this issue and is informed enough to successfully address it," Pollák told Gipsy Television after learning of his victory. "I thank all the responsible voters in Slovakia for electing a person who will defend not just Romani interests in parliament, but those of Slovakia as well. Without addressing this issue Slovakia will never move forward," Pollák said in the interview. He is currently a teacher at the St. Elizabeth College of Social Work and Health in Bratislava (Vysoká škola sociální práce a zdravotnictví sv. Alžběty).

The Social Democrats will take 83 seats and lack only seven votes for a constitutional majority. For the first time since the fall of communism in 1989, a single party will govern parliament in Slovakia. Voter turnout was almost 60 %. The results of the vote were confirmed by the central electoral commission.

Another five parties were elected to the chamber in addition to Směr-SD. The Christian Democrats (KDH), currently part of the governing coalition, came in second place with 8.82 % of the vote. The surprise of the election is the new party of populist Igor Matovič', "Ordinary People and Independent Personalities" (Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti - OLNO), which won 8.55 % of the vote. The Most-Híd (Bridge) party, also currently in government, won only 6.89 % of the vote.

The two formerly dominant parties in the governing coalition made it past the 5 % threshold for entering parliament but have been significantly weakened: SDKU-DS won only 6.09 % of the vote, while Freedom and Solidarity (Svoboda a solidarita - SaS) got 5.88 %. The nationalist Slovak National Party (Slovenská národní strana- SNS) will not be seated in the chamber.

Concerns of low voter turnout proved unfounded, with 59.11 % of voters participating. Voter turnout was higher than even two years ago.

The battle against high unemployment awaits the new government, as does the far from easy task of restoring the state's finances to health so the budget deficit does not exceed Brussels' 3 % of GDP eurozone limit. Speaking today, Směr-SD leader Fico embraced that obligation. He had previously announced he would increase the country's special tax on banks, already one of the highest in the EU. More income tax will evidently also be paid by citizens with above-average incomes and the most profitable firms under a Směr-SD government. That would mean backtracking on the current flat income tax of 19 %.

The early elections in Slovakia were held after the center-right, four-party coalition was unable to agree on aid for other indebted countries in the eurozone. Last fall the SaS refused to support expanding the powers of the eurozone bailout fund during a vote in parliament which the government linked to a vote of confidence.

ryz, Gipsy Television, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY AWARDS TO ROMANI/SINTI WOMEN

ROMANE ROMNJA

The Women's Initiative Romane Romnja has held on International Women's Day a day of cross-cultural encounters in the field of politics, art and music, and the Romane Romnja Award 2012th.

There was a socio-political dialogue between Roma women (Jane Simon, Elvira Ajvazi, Indira Lösbrock and others) and women from the Majority Society (Dr. Lale Akgun, Nisihiti Tesfamarin, and others).

From over 200 submissionsto intercultural painting competition of Sinti and Roma children and other children from the city of Cologne, the five best were awarded prizes. Thanks to the intercultural center FIZ in Cologne-Chorweiler and Angelika Bahls and Ute Gau, and also to the bookstore Mayerische in Cologne. Special thanks to the children, because without the coloring paintings, this exhibitionwould not have taken place.

With the Romane Romnja Award was Piroschka Triska, Jane Simon, and Elvira Ajvazi and Mrs. Burakovska honored as culturalambassadors for their long-standing involvement in politics, education and culture issuses for Sinti & Roma.

Likewise, the musical evening with the Sintizza Piroschka Triska & Roger Moreno from the musicgroup Tabor comes from the Netherlands, the violinist George Velikov from St. Petersburg and the Roma children's choir of Cologne, wasan inter-cultural exchange evening with many different cultures wholiving in Cologne.

The day was a good example to honor positive images of women and children, young people and to try to reduce tensions and prejudice. Even to enter into aDialog with the majority population, we need such and similar events on all levels, and positive public relations.

Thanks to all participants and supporters who have made ​​this day possible and to a specially Sinti & Roma highlight in Cologne.

Sinti & Roma women can apply from all over Europe for the Romane Romnja Award 2013:
Please send your application ( CV, Motivation Letter, Reference Letter) by 15 09.2012, to the following email address: romane.romnja@yahoo.de

With best regardes,
Romane Romnja - Support Team, Indira Lösbrock & Gordana Herold

HOLOCAUST IN ROMANIA

FROM ACT MEDIA. ROMANIAN NEWS AGENCY

http://www.actmedia.eu/2012/03/08/top+story/criminal+complaint+filed+against+senator+sova+over+holocaust+assertions+/38607

PHOTO:www.holocaustresearchproject.org


NGOs Romani CRISS and the Center for the Monitoring and Combat of Anti-Semitism in Romania on Wednesday filed a criminal complaint against Social-Democratic Senator Dan Sova over his assertions about the Holocaust.

In the complaint filed with the Prosecution Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the two NGOs accuse the Senator of violating Article 6 of the Government's Urgency Ordinance No. 31/2002 prohibiting the denial of the Holocaust, which is punishable by prison terms between 6 months and 5 years and the prohibition of certain rights.

According to a Romani CRISS and MCA Romania release to Agerpres, on March 5, at the TV show ‘People and People' broadcast by The Money Channel, Senator Sova made the following statements: 'no Jew stood to suffer in Romania, and Antonescu should be credited with that,' '24 Jews died in the Iasi Pogrom,' 'the German army is responsible for the events in Iasi.'

'Mr. Dan Sova ignored the historical facts and the conclusions of the International Commission on the investigation of the Holocaust in Romania according to which between 280,000 and 380,000 Romanian and Ukrainian Jews were killed or died in the respective period because of the Transnistria system of extermination. 155,000 Romanian Jews and about 115,000 Jew locals, Ukrainian citizens from Transnistria, were exterminated. Thus, the number of Jews exterminated under the Antonescu government totals 270,000 souls. In Romania, Holocaust victims also include 36,000 Roma, of whom around 6,000 children, who were deported to Transnistria between 1942 - 1944,' reads the release.

Romani CRISS and MCA Romania consider that the 'negationist statements of Senator Sova were explicit and his public apology must reflect regret and admission to the error made in his public statement, not the regret of being possibly misinterpreted or misunderstood.'

On his personal blog, Senator Sova wrote: 'I regret if my statements on The Money Channel were misunderstood' and 'I deeply regret if what I said at the aforementioned TV station was interpreted in the sense that I might be denying, even for one second, the suffering of the Jewish people and the guilt of the Romanian authorities at that time.'

PSD chairman Victor Ponta announced on Wednesday that for the time being Senator Dan Sova is no longer the party's spokesman and that he would be sent to Washington to document on the Holocaust.
------------------------------------------------------------
This article seems especially relevant after seeing ROMA TEARS last week, the film by Luminata Cioaba. Please see previous entries for information about this film.
Morgan

ROMA/SINTI WOMEN

ROMA WOMEN NEED BETTER ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

FROM THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE

http://www.osce.org/odihr/88848

PHOTO: SINTI WOMAN
www.12degreesoffreedom.blogspot.com

Women from the Roma and Sinti communities are particularly vulnerable regarding their access to health care and more should be done to address the multiple forms of discrimination against them, said the head of the OSCE Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues, Andrzej Mirga, on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2012.

The available data provides illustrative information on the obstacles Roma women face in accessing medical help and shows that the gap between the health of the Roma and non-Roma population remains wide, Mirga said.

“The average lifespan among Roma is around 10 years lower than that for the rest of the population. Infant mortality rates are double those of the non-Roma population,” he noted.

"These statistics reflect the inequalities Roma women face in accessing medical care,” he said. “Poverty, lack of education, early marriage, segregation and isolation in ghetto-type settlements – all these factors reinforce each other in producing dire consequences for the status of Roma women.”

He said governments must address issues of discrimination, access to education and reducing poverty to lessen the health inequalities between Roma women and non-Roma.

“Health problems faced by the Roma and particularly Roma women should be addressed as a matter of urgency,” Mirga concluded.

SARKOZY YET AGAIN

FROM EUROPE OBSERVER

http://euobserver.com/22/115509

French President Nicolas Sarkozy thinks there are too many foreigners in France.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,819914,00.html

Sarkozy: 'Too many foreigners in France'

By Valentina Pop


French President Nicolas Sarkozy faces a steep uphill battle in his campaign for re-election. On Tuesday, he vowed to slash the number of immigrants allowed into the country, complaining of "too many foreigners." The policy proposal marks a change from the mudslinging that has characterized the contest thus far.

07/03/2012 - There are many in France who would argue that President Nicolas Sarkozy has never truly embodied the spirit of "Frenchness." He is, say some, too spontaneously proactive and not committed to the kind of intellectually-hued complexe de supériorité that has often characterized his country's leaders. Indeed, at home he has long been called "Sarko l'Américain."

Now, faced with an uphill re-election battle against Socialist challenger Francois Hollande and well behind in the polls, Sarkozy would seem to be doing his nickname justice and taking a page out of campaign playbooks from across the Atlantic. On Tuesday, the French president made immigration a key element of his campaign and, like several US candidates before him, vowed to redouble efforts to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Speaking on the French television station France 2, Sarkozy on Tuesday evening said that the annual number of immigrants allowed into France should be nearly halved, from the current 180,000 to 100,000. There are, he said, simply "too many foreigners" in France and it is no longer possible to provide shelter, work and education to them all.

The incumbent also said that he would make 2012 a "year of peace" in the Middle East, adding that the conflict there has gone on for too long.

Pulling Out the Stops

Sarkozy's latest proposals come as he continues to lag behind Hollande in the polls. A new survey released on Wednesday found that, were Sarkozy to go head-to-head against Hollande in the second round of elections, he would receive 46 percent to his challenger's 54 percent. With only six weeks to go before the first round on April 22, the incumbent is pulling out all the stops.

The focus on immigration is hardly a new one for Sarkozy. In 2010, in the face of falling public approval ratings and a scandal surrounding French tycoon Liliane Bettencourt, Sarkozy spent the summer having Sinti and Roma rounded up across the country and sent back to Romania and Bulgaria -- a move that earned him significant opprobrium across Europe.

Still, the concrete policy proposals represent a welcome change from the vitriol that has characterized the campaign thus far. Sarkozy began his official re-election bid on Feb. 16 by saying that Hollande lies "from morning to night." The president is also fond of asking: "Can you think of a single thing that Francois Hollande has achieved in 30 years in politics?"

'Dumb'

Hollande, for his part, has blasted Sarkozy for being a "president of the rich" who has an "awful legacy." He says his conservative competitor is "a cross between Silvio Berlusconi and Vladimir Putin" -- a comparison he did not intend to be complimentary.

During his television appearance on Tuesday evening, Sarko l'Américain also admitted several mistakes that he made during his first term in office. Specifically, he cited the vacation he took directly after his election victory in 2007 on the yacht of his rich businessman friend Vincent Bolloré and his attempt to install his son Jean in a leadership position of the Parisian business quarter La Défense.

The interview, it would seem, has not led Hollande to tone down his anti-Sarkozy rhetoric. On the contrary. The Socialist candidate had one word for the president's proposal to cut immigration levels: "Dumb."

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY GREETING

I have very low expectations of media, but this is the first International Women's Day in years when there has been virtually NO mention in the mainstream media in the USA. Not NPR, not even the TODAY IN HISTORY section of the newspaper.

TODAY WE WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE STORY OF A LARGELY UNKNOWN GYPSY HERO.

FROM ROMEDIA FOUNDATION

http://romediafoundation.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/katarina-katitzi-taikon-and-her-immortal-tale-of-the-swedish-roma/

PHOTO romove.radio.cz

KATARINA "KATITZI" TAIKON AND HER IMMORTAL TALE OF THE SWEDISH ROMA

As the years and decades go by, the works of Swedish Romani writer Katarina “Katitzi” Taikon still strike a chord with many across Europe.

Taikon’s most famous work, the semi-autobiographical book series “Katitzi” tells the story of a young Romani girl growing up in 1940’s Sweden. Written primarily for children, the series, which was televised in 1979, was also a thought-provoking read for adults as it challenges the prejudices of educated people.

As a 9-year old, lead character “Katitzi” returns to her Romani family from an orphanage where her innocence helps to give a stark portrayal of the prejudices faced by the Roma in Sweden at the time.

Promoting inter-cultural understanding, the books awoke older readers to the realities of social and political shortcomings in Sweden and beyond.

The books have since been translated and published in various other languages as the impact of Taikon’s work spread further and further.

Born in the Swedish town of Orebro in 1932, Katarina received no formal education as a child but emerged as a talented actress, starring in her first film “Uppbrott” as a teenager in 1948.

Katarina was an avid believer in equality for the Roma and fought for the cause not only in the field of literature. Intrepidly, she would approach newspapers, government, parliament and political parties to try and make the Roma voice heard. She also gave lectures at universities on the Roma in Sweden.

Katarina was one of few to speak up for the Roma in Sweden despite their long history in the country.

Today, the number of Roma living in Sweden is estimated at around 40,000-50,000 comprising of various different groups. The largest of these groups are Travellers who are believed to have lived in the country since the 14th century.

Other groups include the Kale, originally from Finland, and around 5,000 Romani refugees from the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, mainly from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 2006, the Swedish government introduced a special commission dealing with issues in the Romani minorities consisting of some experts from different Romani groups.

The delegation was tasked with submitting proposals to improve living conditions of the Roma, with specific attention being paid to children.

However, four years later the Swedish authorities were heavily criticized after 50 Roma EU citizens were abruptly deported.

Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, who is a Swede, stated that his fellow countrymen were complicit in the Roma’s ongoing discrimination.

He said: “They are identified as a danger to society by politicians who seek to win political points on demands of a tough line against this already vulnerable group. They are subjected to arrest and collective deportations.”

It seemed that not a lot had changed since the early 1980′s when Katarina’s sister Rosa explained in an article of the UNESCO Courier that it was difficult to eradicate prejudices from adult minds. Instead Katarina “wrote the Katitzi stories to help young people to understand a minority more fully.”

Rosa spoke powerfully about her experiences as a Roma in the twentieth century and was especially critical of Roma access to education.

She said: “I never went to school until I was 33 years old even though I am a Swedish citizen, born in Sweden.”

In 1982, Katarina suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma from which she would never wake up.

She died in 1995 at the age of 63 in Sweden but her insights into a Romani upbringing in Sweden still resonate with Roma of all ages across Europe

PLEASE VISIT ROMEDIA FOUNDATION FOR MORE PHOTOS OF KATARINA AND HER SISTER.
http://romediafoundation.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/katarina-katitzi-taikon-and-her-immortal-tale-of-the-swedish-roma/

GYPSIES IN EUROPE

GYPSIES FACE PERSECUTION IN EUROPE

BY HANS M. WUERTH

FROM THE MORNING CALL

http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-plight-of-gypsies-roma-wuerth-yv-0305-20120305,0,4428481.story

PHOTO : Helena Ferencikova, shown with her son Nikolas in Ostrava, Czech Republic in January, 2006.
Dozens of Gypsy women, including Ferencikova, have been illegally sterilized -- a practice that dates to communist times. (AP file photo)

In Tuebingen, Germany, in December 1990, I witnessed some 200 Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) occupying the large Protestant church. Some local folks called the unexpected visitors "vagabonds" and "criminals" and asked local authorities to evict them immediately.

But most people, including students and university and church officials, supported the plea for assistance and justice and supplied the Gypsies with food and medicine. After three weeks, their protest was over. As far as I know, most Roma families were flown to their home country, the former Yugoslavia, with assurances of humane treatment there by local authorities.

Since then, Roma from Eastern Europe were expelled by a number of west-European countries. For example, in August 2010 the French government was criticized for condemning the prolonged stay of "foreign-born" travelers and for deporting them to Eastern Europe. Tristan Garcia, in a New York Times opinion piece on Jan. 1, 2011, wrote that the "French government and most of the neighboring states have made the Roma the perfect scapegoats for the failure of their imagination: a Europe that is white, rich and impenetrable, where the Roma are the pariahs."

Before that, on June 18, 2006, The Morning Call carried a story with the headline, "Czech Republic acknowledges sterilizing Gypsy women without their consent." A 19-year-old, Helena Ferencikova, blamed her unwanted sterilization to an "ethnicity — Gypsy." The article by Karel Janicek also dealt with "broader issues of entrenched European prejudice toward Gypsies, or Roma, especially in the former communist bloc, where most of the continent's 7-9 million Gypsies are concentrated."

We know that the Gypsies emigrated from India (not from Egypt) in the 15th century. "The popular term 'Gypsy,'" as the scholar Romani Rose noted, "is rejected by many Sinti and Roma as discriminatory, since the word is usually understood in a disparaging sense. If the term 'Gypsy' is used in a historical context, the clichés and preconceptions behind it also have to be considered."

For many centuries, the Roma were social outsiders and endured discrimination, stereotyping and persecution. Dehumanizing and hurtful clichés prevailed. Gypsies cannot be trusted, they are deceptive, destructive, they steal and beg, etc. Nevertheless, many Roma adopted a sedentary lifestyle and became cobblers, craftsmen, horse dealers, toolmakers, dancers and outstanding musicians.

During World War II, approximately 940,000 Roma lived in Greater Germany and in countries under Nazi occupation. "Between 1933 and 1945 Sinti and Roma suffered greatly as victims of Nazi persecution and genocide," according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Gypsies, like Jews, were interned, killed, or deported to camps in Germany and Eastern Europe." Using racial guidelines, Sinti and Roma were murdered in large numbers. For example, 2,897 Gypsies were exterminated at Auschwitz on Aug. 3-4, 1944. It is estimated that the Roma genocide claimed as many as 500,000 lives.

Today approximately 9 million Roma live in Eastern Europe, 12 million worldwide. The largest population is in Rumania (1.9 million), followed by Bulgaria (750,000), Hungary (600,000), and Slovakia (500,000). Despite hundreds of years of stereotyping, discrimination and persecution, the Roma are still the victims of racist violence, hate crimes and intolerance, especially in some central and eastern European countries. According to Amnesty International, the Roma live in poverty, receive little official and public support and lack equal educational rights. They suffer from inadequate housing, inferior health care, high unemployment, and incidents of evictions.

In the past several years, there have been incidents of shooting, stabbing, beating, firebombing and other acts of violence. On Feb. 16, European Roma Rights Center Executive Director Dezideriu Gergely, at a hearing in Washington, D.C., referred to a survey that showed that "one in five Roma respondents were victims of racially motivated personal crimes at least once in the previous 12 months."

It is a shame that Western media pay little attention to the Roma's plight and struggle for equality and justice. The former Czech president and playwright Vaclav Havel once remarked, "The Roma are the litmus test not of a democracy but of a civil society."

Hans M. Wuerth, who lives in Upper Saucon Township, is professor emeritus at Moravian College.

SWINGING WITH NO HANDS BY GILDA SHEPPARD

PHOTO www.evergreen.edu

Please join us for a trailer screening of Gilda's documentary "Swinging With No Hands."

Suggested Donation is 10.00 for this event.

Swinging With no Hands presents the transformative power of compassion, activism and community building amongst men and women serving 20 years to life sentences in 2 of Washington's prisons. While uncovering the high incarceration rate and culture of punishment in ...criminal justice this documentary reveals the triumph of the human spirit through inspiring stories from men and women inside these prisons, who challenge the system and facilitate healing inside and outside prison.

There will be food and and wine and a panel discussion with family and friends of incarcerated men and women who are highlighted in the documentary. See you soon!

http://www.facebook.com/events/190645581043804/

SATURDAY 31 MARCH 2012 4-6 PM

NORTHWEST FILM FORUM

1515 12th AVE.

SEATTLE WA.

HERE'S A PREVIEW OF THE FILM SWINGING WITH NO HANDS

http://vimeo.com/30936583

AND ONE OF GILDA'S EARLIER DOCUMENTARIES

WOMEN TOGETHER AS ONE

http://vimeo.com/30956515

AND FINALLY, GILDA HERSELF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s1gE2jTLgU
Please especially note how she references critical analysis vs. theraputic analysis.

ROMA TEARS

I publicized an event at the University of WA, in Seattle, in a recent post.

The Romani activist, writer and film maker Luminita Mihai Cioaba was showing her film ROMA TEARS as well as engaging in a question and answer period after.

I was fortunately able to attend this wonderful event.

Ms. Cioaba, not a physically large woman, somehow seemed larger than life. Her intelligence was balanced wonderfully with her graciousness and kindness of spirit. Her interpreter and host (herself from Romania) was also a wonderful and welcoming presence.

I was most impressed with the film Roma Tears, and the love with which Ms Cioaba let survivors speak their hearts and minds. She told a very hard story with the beauty only possible from a kind and compassionate heart.

To sum up the film from her own description:
" From the spring until the autumn of the year 1942, the nomad and sedentary Roma people were deported from Romania to Transnistra at the order of Marshal Ion Antonescu. It was a tragedy of immense proportions, completely ignored until now."

And, sadly, ignoring the plight of the Romani, yesterday and today is still the norm. As Ms. Cioaba said, she's trying to interest Steven Speilberg in making a movie of the story of the Romani throughout Europe now and during the Holocaust.
She's been trying to reach him during her brief visit to the United States; sadly, but predictably, he has not returned her messages.

As well as making Roma Tears accessible, she also brought many other wonderful items with her to share. These items include several books, artwork and traditional clothing from Roma in Romania.

While we were able to purchase several items for the museum, Ms. Cioaba graciously, and generously donated her other books, and we are in process of obtaining a hand made skirt and vest.

Hearing Ms. Cioaba and watching the film Roma Tears was a wonderful, empowering experience.

We thank her for her kindness, talent and generosity.

If anyone would like information on how to reach her to purchase a copy of the film, or her books leave a comment and i will post an internet address.

Also, Roma Tears, and several books by Ms. Cioaba, including THE LOST COUNTRY, are available at the Lolo Diko museum.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ROMANI

Thomas Hammarberg: Making the Case for Anti-Discrimination Against Roma

From OPEN SOCIETY

http://blog.soros.org/2012/03/thomas-hammarberg-making-the-case-for-anti-discrimination-against-roma/

BY MARTIN DEMIROVSKI

The Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, launched a new report in February, The Human Rights of Roma and Travellers in Europe [pdf]. It should be compulsory reading for anyone working on Roma policies. The report combines solid research and content with a clear understanding of Roma in Europe. However solid, the Council's study only complements, but does not substitute for, European Union commitments to Roma.

The report highlights the range of abuse and injustice faced by European Roma. It is both broad yet detailed on issues including anti-Gypsyism, racially motivated violence, conduct of law enforcement and judicial authorities, forced sterilization, removal of children from their parents, socio-economic rights, statelessness, and freedom of movement. The final chapter discusses the important element of political rights and the need for more inclusion in decision making processes.

Hammarberg frames the report with the historical context of pre- to post-War atrocities that have neither been recognized by truth commissions nor addressed by reconciliation efforts. Roma have been repressed and targeted without the recognition or justice afforded other groups. At a presentation of his report in Brussels, Hammarberg called for the establishment of a “reconciliation committee” that will lead to an apology to Roma for the scars left by the various forms of repression.

The gallery of cases of serious discrimination in Europe over the last two years illustrates the task ahead for Roma equality. For example, French policies are described in the report in a section on the right to vote: “Travellers of French nationality are subject to special legislation that does not apply to other French citizens.” Persons with an “itinerant” way of life must hold a travel permit and need to be “attached” to a municipality for three years in order to vote, compared to only a half-year requirement for “ordinary” French citizens. A “quota system” that doesn’t allow the number of permits in a municipality to exceed three percent of its population then means that Travellers “have difficulty becoming meaningful electoral constituencies when they are a priori barred from exceeding 3% of any local population.”

Aside from legislative forms of discrimination there is a serious rise in violence against Roma in Europe, primarily provoked by hate speech in the media. In some cases political parties have openly called for such violence and discrimination. While noting the anomaly that “domestic judicial systems are often perpetuating and in some cases possibly amplifying bias in policing,” Hammarberg usefully outlines the Council of Europe instruments that could be used to sanction hate crimes and violence against Roma.

The launch of the report at the Council's offices in Brussels gave the opportunity to engage Commissioner Hammarberg on how he sees the institutional players in Brussels. When asked for his perspective on the level of protection of fundamental rights in the EU and how the EU should approach cases of explicit discrimination against Roma, Hammarberg suggested that Commissioners László Andor (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) and Cecilia Malmstrom (Home Affairs) also need to be brought “into the Roma picture.” The active engagement of these Commissioners to date on Roma issues, and the expertise within their Directorates-Generals highlights the importance of the broadest possible engagement across the Commission to ensure the Framework does not fail. Hammarberg’s impression based on conversations with Brussels officials was that the EU does not have an adequate mandate to act on human rights violations. He suggested that greater use be made of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) given their binding conventions for member states. Hammarberg also expressed concern about the frequent reports of misuse of EU funds dedicated to Roma.

These observations reflect an equivocal response in the Commission on its competence to deal with internal fundamental rights violations. Despite this, the primary mechanism for European Roma should be through the EU’s implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The primary actors should be the designated Commissioner for Fundamental rights and the Fundamental Rights Agency. It is the EU that has come up with a Framework for national Roma strategies for which NGOs have been advocating for since 2007, and it is this Framework that needs to be further challenged, assisted, improved, and implemented if we want to ensure sustainable solutions to improve the status of Roma.

The OSCE and the Council of Europe have invaluable instruments, both legal and institutional, that will complement the EU’s approach, but the Framework is the main tool to bring coordination and coherence at EU level on the Roma dossier. In line with this, the meetings of the Roma Platform led by the European Commission could change into a practical “policy exchange” where successful Roma policies are traded in terms of their real value. Roma NGOs, politicians, civil servants, and independent experts must be among the brokers who provide governments and the EU with effective Roma policies for inclusion.

The next opportunity to do so is the forthcoming extraordinary meeting of the Platform in March. This is an occasion to agree on making the fight against anti-Gypysism in Europe a priority, and that national Roma strategies should not just be about the sustainability of Roma Inclusion but a new deal for an ambitious and qualitatively improved EU-wide approach to Roma rights.

MUNDI ROMANI

http://youtu.be/-2kErKNIOEs

Mundi Romani – The World Through Roma Eyes” Show-reel

The Romedia Foundation is proud and thrilled to announce that its award winning Mundi Romani series, will be returning this year. Our new show-reel gives you a three minute taster of footage from dozens of different countries showing what we do and how we do it, getting up close and personal with Romani communities everywhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2kErKNIOEs

Plans for filming four films throughout 2012 are already underway as we aim to show the World through Roma eyes.

Directed by Budapest-based Romani filmmaker Katalin Barsony, the series was first launched in 2007 and, spanning 28 countries, Mundi Romani was broadcast on Hungarian TV network Duna and was nominated for several awards. In 2008, the series received a nomination for Best News Documentary at Monte Carlo for “Trapped: the Forgotten Story of the Mitrovica Roma” and a year later the same film was shortlisted for the FIPA award for Best Reportage and Current Affairs.

Also in 2009, Mundi Romani’s film “Last Days of Sulukule” won Best Cinematographer at the Golden Eye awards. The following year, UNESCO formally honored the series with its Prize for the Rapprochement of Cultures.

Mundi Romani has also won two First Prizes at the My Native Land International Television awards (2008 and 2009) in Ukraine.


Now, bigger and bolder than ever, Mundi Romani can continue to offer viewers a unique taste of each country we visit while covering human rights and cultural stories from a fresh perspective. We are very grateful for the support we have received so far, especially from the Open Society Roma Initiatives, which has helped Mundi Romani to make a mark on Romani filmmaking.

Taking the viewer on a journey into little known corners of the world, Mundi Romani works in tight cooperation with local Romani civil society to show their side of the story.

We are passionate about travelling far and wide on a voyage of discovery and ultimately broadcasting a proud, positive and, most importantly, genuine message.

We are always looking for partners and collaborators to enhance and prolong the award-winning series to ensure further success and, more importantly, so that Romani voices are heard by a worldwide audience through digital and satellite broadcast, TV commissioning as well as educational outlets.

If you would like to get involved with Mundi Romani then please contact us at mundiromani@gmail.com and we would be delighted to discuss ideas for the project.

Romedia Foundation

www.romediafoundation.org

GYPSY ROMA URBAN BALKAN BEATS

GYPSY YOUTH HIT WORLD STAGE

FROM MANILLA BULLETIN

Source URL:

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/352964/gypsy-youth-hit-world-stage

VIDEO http://youtu.be/cltFKaEvRyA


BELGRADE (AFP) – Ibrahim Gasi, his parents and brother live in a cardboard hut in a muddy Belgrade slum packed with scrap metal, but the young Roma singer has already starred on the stages of Montreal, Paris and London.

The 20-year-old Gasi, better known by his nickname Bibi, is the lead singer in a show highlighting the plight of the Roma, one of Eastern Europe's most discriminated-against ethnic groups.

''Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats'', starring Bibi and a dozen other Roma youth, tackles the casual racism they encounter in Serbia, a Balkan nation still grappling with the legacy of ultra-nationalist politics and the 1990s' wars that stoked longstanding ethnic tensions.

''How much longer will we take this segregation?'' sings Bibi in the Roma language. ''We don't ask for much, just a little respect and to be in touch.''

The Roma, often called gypsies, a racially charged and outdated term, are an ethnic and often transient group originally from India that has been persecuted for centuries and sent to Nazi death camps in World War II.

Despite laws protecting them in some countries, Roma still face daily discrimination.

''In a bus, I very often meet a group of youth who start insulting me that I am a gypsy,'' Bibi said. ''Even some kids in school that were friendly used to tell me 'You are gypsy, I can't hang around with you, my mum and dad don't let me.'''

At a recent Belgrade performance, singers and dancers from the show, known by its acronym GRUBB; challenge the audience about the stereotypes they often face.

''All Roma people are thieves!'' reads one message flashed onto a huge screen, as Bibi and his friends ask the audience if they have ever stolen anything.

More than half the people in the theatre sheepishly raise their hands.

''So, it is not only Roma people who are thieves,'' conclude the amateur actors, who fuse wild hip-hop dance moves and live brass music with traditional Roma songs.

Afterward, 16-year-old Nikola Milovancevic said he felt ashamed.

''When they say how we use expressions like 'You are fighting like gypsies' in everyday speech. We say that without a single thought that it can hurt someone,'' he said.

The show premiered in Belgrade last May and has since played monthly in the Serbian capital.

Its international success came with a London performance last summer, followed by a show at the Montreal international jazz festival that triggered standing ovations and sell-out performances.

'They have dignity'

The show is backed by RPoint, a British educational group that holds workshops to teach Roma kids to sing and dance -- but there is a catch.

''They have to go to school regularly and be good students,'' RPoint spokeswoman Aleksandra Radetic said.

Serbia has one of Europe's largest Roma populations, officially set at about 100,000 though the number is widely thought to be as much as five times higher.

Many, especially those living in slums, have never been registered or have no identity documents.

Few of the 86 percent of Roma who finish mandatory schooling at 14 make it to university level. In Bibi's slum, residents collect scrap metal to make ends meet.

Bibi said in one school he attended nobody wanted to be friends with him or three fellow Roma students.

''They didn't even obey teachers' orders to play sport with us in gym class. It hurt a lot,'' Bibi said, explaining why he first quit school at age 11.

With RPoint's support, he returned and now hopes to finish high school.

Hundreds of Roma children aged eight to 20 have taken part in RPoint's music classes in Belgrade and Serbia's other two largest cities, Nis and Novi Sad.

But it was only when Canadian theatre director Serge Denoncourt got involved that the project developed into the ''GRUBB'' show. After working with the kids for three years, Denoncourt said he was overwhelmed by their talent, and by their problems.

''They have dignity but they don't have anything to be proud of, now we have to give them something to be proud of,'' Denoncourt said.

Apart from plans to return to Montreal, a possible 2012 European and American tour is being discussed. Denoncourt said he is even in negotiations with Broadway.

For its young stars, the show is already changing lives.

Dancer Kristijan Demirovic, who lived in Germany for 12 years, said when he returned to Serbia people ''looked at me as if I was from Mars'', perhaps because he had developed a more confident attitude.

Check our their video on youtube.
http://youtu.be/cltFKaEvRyA