by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Jobbik, the more-or-less legal Nazi militia and party in Hungary, an EU member state, is now aiming, after having the Romani People made their first target, also for the Jewish population of the country (and elsewhere).
In the beginning, it would appear, the Jews took very little notice of the antics of the Jobbik group, seeing that their target were the Gypsy People and not the Jewish community. They should have known better.
The adage of “first they did come for... and I did not speak out”, etc. should have been a well-known factor and it was obvious that those people, whose aim is to create a Hungary for Hungarians and other ethnicities have no place in that scheme.
The interesting, almost laughable, part is that Hungarians are, in the main, a mixed groups of people anyway considering the fact that once they were part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire and thus most Hungarians not pure Magyars.
The same, in fact, is also true for the Romani People and anyone claiming to be pure Romani better checks once again. However, that is not the issue here.
It will be obvious that Jobbik's targets will also include ethnic Romanians on the Hungarian territory sooner or later and they might also go as far as wishing to take the areas of Transylvania and such “back into the Hungarian realm, as that area has a large population of Hungarians and was once part of the empire. It would not surprise me.
How it is possible for such racist fascist groupings to exist and operate in EU member states where, supposedly, beats me and the EU is not just failing the Romani People in its midst; it is failing all ethnic minorities.
Romani settlements and villages have been attacked, in Hungary, by Jobbik and its thugs and with local and state police looking on and doing absolutely nothing except, in a couple of cases, arresting Gypsies who decided to defend themselves against the fascist thugs.
It would appear that, when it comes to the Romani, the Gypsy, then the EU laws and conventions are not worth the paper that they are written upon and fascist thugs like Jobbik et al, and not just in Hungary, can do as they like.
There could be another explanation to this inaction by the authorities, whether in Budapest or in Brussels, and that is that those groups of fascist thugs are being used as a tool to enact etnic cleansing by proxy.
I rest my case and suggest, though, that the Rom and the Jew get together in this matter in order to defeat this menace...
© 2012
Decade of Roma inclusion is but an illusion
ROMA DECADE 2005 – 2015 INCLUSION = ILLUSION
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)Much has been made of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, a decade that was ONLY for Roma (Sinti and others need not apply, which was discriminatory to start with) and ONLY for Roma living in Eastern Europe.
New well over half way though this decade all we can see is money wasted without anything to show for. So, where did the money go? It went into the pockets of Roma leaders and some Gypsyologists with which the authorities only were prepared to deal and virtually nothing, in any way, shape or form, ever reached the grassroots.
Instead of improvements to the conditions of the Roma in Eastern Europe, be that living conditions or their reputation in the eyes of the majority, things have gotten worse (as if they actually could but they did) and literal genocide on Gypsies all over especially Eastern Europe and discrimination continues unabated.
As far as Romani integration and inclusion the truth is that is has remained an illusion despite the millions of Euro that have been thrown at this project.
Much of that money has been wasted on one study after the other, one report after yet another and the bulk of the remainder was handed over, without any proper records and accountability, to Buli Bashas and other big wigs in Gypsy society, who appear to have only improved their own lot with that money.
It has to be said that to some extent – and I know that many will not want to hear this – a great many of Rom throughout Europe have only themselves to blame as to how they are perceived by the mainstream.
While it is true that Anti-Gypsyism exists in cannot be eliminated by order from governments and by screaming and shouting from the side of the Romani People.
Our own attitude, at least that of what would appear to be the majority of Sinti and Roma, towards non-Romani society and the open disdain we too often show towards mainstream laws and the Gadje per se is what is to blame.
A German proverb says: “Wie man in den Wald hineinruft to schallt es heraus” which, in the English, says “We reap what we sow” and this is very true indeed. We indeed reap what we sow here for if we treat the Gadje with disdain how are they to have any respect for us?
Both side are to blame, that is true, and there is no doubt about that, as we have nigh on always put each others' backs up with our attitudes towards one another but when I hear the disdain with which Sinti and Roma alike treat Gadje then Anti-Gypsyism will continue, regardless of laws against it or whatever.
It maybe that we will have to make the first moves here instead of standing there and demanding that the Gadje give us respect (or else) and that they make the first move.
If we want to be treated with respect and “demand respect”, as a Rom proverb was translated by someone once, aside from the fact that one cannot demand respect; it has to be earned, then we (too) much change.
Integration is a two-way street too. Even if it is offered there are far too many Rom who refuse to do it by way of taking up paid employment if there is no other way to make a living. No, they then rather take money from the government in the way of unemployment benefit and welfare payments.
I know, as I said, that this is not what many are wishing to hear but the truth is and remains the truth.
Dosta penauas!
© 2012
German Sinti (Gypsies) and the Ostrich Syndrome
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
When, in summer of 2011 I wrote this article the response on Facebook and elsewhere was one of commendation for having pointed out the inherent dangers.
However, in response to the German translation of this article of last
year, posted recently by a third person who requested this translation
from me on German Gypsy forums, the attacks from German Sinti were that
they would need to have hard evidence and proof (other than Russian
media a wire service) before they are going to believe that this might
be in the offing.
In addition to that there
were serious attacks on my person, integrity and my intentions and it
was a definite case of shooting the messenger because the message is not
one that one wants to hear.
Once hard evidence
and proof arrives, as to the aims of the EU appertaining to Europe's
Gypsies as hinted to in my article it is, I am afraid to say, too late.
The trains will then already be rolling east.
How
harsh this may sound and indeed be, it is a fact. When the first
resettlement transports are on the move traveling to their destination
in the steppes of Russia and we have the hard evidence and proof it is
too late to warn and even to do much against it. The preparations have
to be made now to combat this when it starts and even before it does.
As
the Good Book says, however, “there are none that blind than those who
do not want to see and none that deaf than those that do not want to
hear”.
Warning is all one can do, acting is what
they have to do. We who have warned cannot be blamed that we have said naught as long as we keep warning.
One can, as it is said, a horse to water but drinking one can make it not.
© 2012
The brown menace is on the rise again
Fascism is once again rearing its ugly head in Europe
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Fascism is once again rearing its ugly head in Europe and not one of the mainstream political parties appears to be prepared and willing to do anything about and against it.
Is it not high time to outlaw groupings and parties such as the NPD and BVU in Germany, the BNP and others in the UK, the Fronte National in France, and others of their ilk elsewhere in Europe? I think so.
Presently those fascists parties and their thugs rant and rave against foreigners and against Gypsies, regardless as to whether those are Romani from their own country or from abroad, and therefore none of the mainstream parties in those countries and in the EU seem to wish to do anything about them. Gypsies and foreigners have always been a convenient scapegoat in a crisis and are again.
We see a repeat of the 1930s when people did not speak and did not care that they came for the communists and socialists, the Gypsies, the so-called Asocials and then the Jews.
Martin Niemoeller was right that if we do not speak out when they come for the others there will be no one left to speak out when they finally come for the rest who wish to live free and think free.
While anti-fascists are persecuted, once again, when they demonstrate against marches and other activities by the brown menace, under whichever name, the fascists are allowed to continue to operate and, as we have seen in Germany only in 2011, the police and the security services actively work hand-in-glove with Neonazis.
After the “fall” of the Wall the German authorities banned and outlawed the Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ) (Free German Youth) and the wearing even of blue shirts remotely resembling the FDJ ones whether with or without the FDJ badge and also the Young Pioneers the Nazis were and are allowed to continue and even, instead of being banned and prescribed, allowed to form more and more organizations.
The brown menace is permitted to freely walk abroad and continue with its terror against foreigners, Gypsies, and all those that dare to stand against them, while communists and anti-fascists are being controlled and often prescribed, have their protest marches and demonstrations banned.
Although he meant it differently Heinrich Heine's sigh of “Dent ich an Deutschland in der Nacht so bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht” (If I think of Germany at night I am robbed of my sleep) it is rather fitting here and makes sense though.
But it is not just Germany where the brown menace is rising. It seems to be the case almost everywhere in the European Union and also outside of it in Europe and even Russia.
In Greece the brown menace has become active also now with the crisis of the Euro and of government in that country and their “militias” are roaming the streets challenging anyone that appears a foreigner to show them his or her ID card and if not Greek and especially if an immigrant they beat the people up.
We don't even want to talk about Hungary where uniformed fascist groups are attacking Gypsy settlements and murdering people, nor about Italy where recently soccer fans in a stadium called for a pogrom against Romani people, nor about the attacks against Sinti and Roma people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to name but a few countries.
Even in Switzerland right-wing groups, and some not even that openly fascist, are calling for the expulsion of all Gypsies and foreigners.
While, with the exception of Switzerland and Russia all those countries where we are seeing the problems rising are countries of the EU neither their respective governments nor the EU bodies are doing anything, especially not as far as the Gypsy People are concerned.
No surprise there really considering that, to all intents and purposes, EU representatives are contemplating the wholesale removal of all Gypsies on EU soil, by means to deportation to resettlement, to the steppes of Russia. Discussions with the Russian authorities have, apparently, taken place already also and it would appear that they are working with the EU on this.
Sounds familiar, does it? It is! We have been here before some 70 years ago and once again the voices are silent.
© 2012
Lady Gaga gone gaga...
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Lady Gaga - yes, she with the outrageous outfits - says she feels "Gypsy at heart". Another one who wants to join the club which is not a club.
Dear Lady Gaga, you cannot join us unless you were born one of us...
I just wonder what all those wannabes would do if they encountered the real racism and anti-Gypsyism that we are faced with daily, especially those of us in places such as Hungary, Romania, etc.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/20032012-hindus-ask-gaga-to-support-gypsy-apartheid-issue-as-she-feels-gypsy-at-heart/
http://www.indiablooms.com/BollywoodDetailsPage/2012/bollywoodDetails200312d.php
http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/71905/Lady-Gaga-Big-Fat-Gypsy-Popstar
http://www.eurasiareview.com/20032012-hindus-ask-gaga-to-support-gypsy-apartheid-issue-as-she-feels-gypsy-at-heart/
http://www.indiablooms.com/BollywoodDetailsPage/2012/bollywoodDetails200312d.php
http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/71905/Lady-Gaga-Big-Fat-Gypsy-Popstar
As far as the Hindus (first link) are concerned could they please stop trying to "help" us. It is just someone having his own political agenda to make him look good.
Nazi terrorists murder Romani-Gypsy woman in Czech Republic
Is
it all starting again?
by
Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Prague,
Czech Republic January 2012 : A Romani-Gypsy woman was killed by two
racist terrorists in the capital of Czech Republic, Prague on January
10, 2012.
According
to statements by people in the know those people belong to a racist
Nazi terror organization and they have attacked homeless people and
those of the Gypsy community before.
While
this is, as said, not the first racist Nazi attacks on the Romani
community in the former Czechoslovakia, and this recent attack is
causing heightened tension in the two countries that once made up the
CSSR.
Authorities
seems to wish to play down the recent attacks against Romanies in the
former CSSR, in both the Czech lands as well as in Slovakia.
As
a Gypsy myself, who has relations that never came back from the Nazi
camps and others who were broken in body and spirit there and through
Nazi terror in general, I am very much concerned as to the happening
all over the European Union, from France, over the Czech Republic and
Slovakia and Hungary and even Germany.
Hungary's
police has now been instructed by the ministries to keep conduct
permanent surveillance on all members of the Romani minority in that
country and it would appear that Nazi groups such as Yovik and others
are given a free hand to harass Hungarian Gypsies wherever they are.
Are
we seeing a return to the days of the 1930s and 1940s? It would
appear to be so and, and I hate to say I told you so, I have been
seeing the writing on the wall for some time to come as far as the
European Union is concerned.
What
we have to be concerned about, as a People, and here I am talking
about the Romani People, and also those that do not wish to see a
repeat of what has happened in the Nazi era and already before in
places such as Germany and Poland.
If
one would be a conspiracy theorist one could come to believe that the
EU is operating a policy of ethnic cleansing by proxy. Is it?
©
2012
Czech Republic: Media say another inter-ethnic incident occurred in Varnsdorf on New Year's Eve
This is not helpful at all
TV Nova reports that police in the
Czech Republic are searching for a group of young Romani people who
allegedly assaulted three non-Romani people in the town of Varnsdorf on
New Year's Eve, shouting racist slurs at them during the attack. Police
are saying the attack was not racially motivated. Two of the victims
were hospitalized.
A series of anti-Roma
demonstrations took place in Varnsdorf several months ago as a result of
similar media reports interpreting incidents of assault in the area as
ethnically motivated. According to the latest information, a brawl in
the nearby town of Rumburk last summer now seems to have been motivated
by other concerns.
If our People continue behaving in that way - and yes, I do know there is racism leveled against ours all the time - it is not helping the cause at all and that is what counts.
Veshengro
Do politicians intentionally keep Roma in ghettos to absorb EU funds?
By
Michael Smith (Veshengro)
“I
am sick and tired of politicians who intentionally keep Roma in
ghettos to absorb EU funds, use money for other purposes, and
eventually blame failed integration on Roma's alleged laziness and
criminal behavior ...” said Mihail Georgiev, Chair of
Board of Directors, organization "Romani Baht" (Sofia,
Bulgaria), recently. And he is
not the only one.
Now,
the question then must be as asked above: Do politicians
intentionally keep the Romani People in ghettos to absorb EU funds?
And the answer, I must say, seems to be self-explanatory and it just
seems to be thus.
However,
not only the politicians of the various countries have found the
Gypsy People, the Romani, in the ghettos a nice little earner; the
community leaders have too.
There
is a veritable Gypsy Industry out there and everyone who is someone
is feeding at the trough, while the poor Rom in the ghettos have to
eek out a living on the rubbish tips.
One
only has to look at the villas of the self-proclaimed voivodes, kings
and emperors, to see where the money is in Romaniland and then ask as
to how they came by that money.
The
money that is meant to help the poor Rom, whether in towns or
villages, in the former Iron Curtain countries – for Romani groups
from the West need not apply – never reaches those in need but
drains away in the endless sands of the politician and leader desert.
The EU has had to admit more than once when parliamentarians asked
questions that they knew how much money had gone to Roma projects but
had no idea as to what actually had been done with the money.
The
other part of the Gypsy Industry are those that make money one the
back of the poor Rom in different ways, while equally keeping them in
ignorance. Language course, and other such things, are a nice little
earner, as is the “standardized Romanes”, no doubt, but what does
it benefit the choro Rom, the poor Gypsy? Kek! Nothing.
The
poor Rom does not need standardized Romanes which is claimed to be
needed for all Gypsies to communicate with one another because he has
no time to learn it. The only ones who need this – by now – made
up – language are the academics who get the research funding and
the money for the books and courses.
It
is politicians, leaders of the community, as much as Gypsyologists,
whether Gadje or Rom, that like to keep the Rom just where they are,
namely in the ghettos and poor.
©
2011
A little personal and editorial note
Sometime on October 14, 2011 in the
morning local British time someone or some entity tried to and managed
to successfully
attack and access my Blogger account and to disable and in fact close
completely -
though but temporarily - the O NEVO DROM
Blog.
The system, that is Blogger, detecting an intrusion, then disabled the entire
account with all my Blogs. I managed to get the account reinstated,
including O NEVO DROM.
It
would appear that somewhere along the line someone or some entity
does not appear to be happy with what I am writing and especially it
would appear as far as the Romani-Gypsy cause is concerned. The
question is but who and why...
Don't be just bricks and mortar blinkered, says Minister
Housing Minister to give more powers for communities to
choose boats on water alongside bricks and mortar
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Housing Minister Grant Shapps urged local authorities on
August 27, 2011 not to become landlocked in their quest to meet local housing
needs – but to consider how new powers restoring local control over housing
provision and planning can enable people to choose boats on water alongside
bricks and mortar.
Mr. Shapps said that more people than ever are choosing to make
a boat their home and that boats with residential moorings could be an example
of how unconventional housing can allow people to live in areas of the country
where perhaps they couldn't afford to do so otherwise.
And as new moorings could be eligible for the New Homes Bonus,
the Minister said that there was a strong incentive for councils and communities
to grant planning permission for more residential moorings. The money that they
receive could be invested in new marina facilities or waterside recreational
activities that everyone could benefit from, as well as being used to attract
further private investment and drive the regeneration of the often-Brownfield
land around parts of the country's waterways.
Half the population live within five miles one of Britain's
waterways and so not just those living on the water could benefit from the fresh
injection of funding; water based recreation and tourism is thought to generate
over £1billion for local economies, and supports 24,000 jobs.
Read more here.
© 2011
Gypsies targeted in west German arson attack
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
An apartment block housing Sinti and Roma families was the target of an apparent racial arson attack in the west German city of Leverkusen in the last week of July 2011 and prosecutors have, in fact, put a 5,000 Euro bounty on any information leading to apprehension and conviction of perpetrator(s).
Unknown assailants threw several Molotov cocktails into the ground floor apartment of the building, where a well-known Gypsy family of Leverkusen had their home. Luckily the occupants managed to escape unharmed.
Witnesses have spoken of four perpetrators who drove off in a car and minibus.
Police do 'not rule out a radical right-wing background' in the fire-bombing of the four-storey building.
The apartment was totally gutted by the flames, however fire-fighters were able to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the apartments.
Germany has time and again witnessed brutal racist and xenophobic attacks in recent years as the center-right government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has
tried to downplay the problem.
Most of the racial assaults are committed by mostly young-Neo-Nazis who live in what used to be formerly communist East Germany.
The German government has been under fire for not really cracking down on far-right violence which is targeting mostly foreigners and leftist activists.
Young neo-Nazis feel more and more emboldened to commit hate crimes, knowing that police won't charge them with an offense.
Most of the suspects implicated in far-right crimes are juveniles.
Hate crime experts and sociologists have repeatedly stressed that Germany's political leadership lacked a clear and effective strategy to really combat neo-Nazi crimes.
It has to be said that this is nothing new and has been going on for years and years though in recent years attacks seem to have gotten more severe. One can but wonder as to whether the Neo-Nazi groups are being emboldened by what is happening in Hungary in the way that the Jobik and other groups get away with attacking Gypsies.
I must say that I have been – unfortunately – predicting firebomb attacks to be headed the way of our People and have, more than once, suggested that people took precautions, including of anti-firebomb curtains and such like.
Other, more active defensive actions, obviously, are not something that we, the Gypsy community, would ever be allowed to consider, unlike the Jewish community who can have their own guards, armed ones even, protecting homes, businesses, schools, synagogues, and such like.
One rule for the Gypsy and one rule for others, as per usual...
© 2011
An apartment block housing Sinti and Roma families was the target of an apparent racial arson attack in the west German city of Leverkusen in the last week of July 2011 and prosecutors have, in fact, put a 5,000 Euro bounty on any information leading to apprehension and conviction of perpetrator(s).
Unknown assailants threw several Molotov cocktails into the ground floor apartment of the building, where a well-known Gypsy family of Leverkusen had their home. Luckily the occupants managed to escape unharmed.
Witnesses have spoken of four perpetrators who drove off in a car and minibus.
Police do 'not rule out a radical right-wing background' in the fire-bombing of the four-storey building.
The apartment was totally gutted by the flames, however fire-fighters were able to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the apartments.
Germany has time and again witnessed brutal racist and xenophobic attacks in recent years as the center-right government of Chancellor Angela Merkel has
tried to downplay the problem.
Most of the racial assaults are committed by mostly young-Neo-Nazis who live in what used to be formerly communist East Germany.
The German government has been under fire for not really cracking down on far-right violence which is targeting mostly foreigners and leftist activists.
Young neo-Nazis feel more and more emboldened to commit hate crimes, knowing that police won't charge them with an offense.
Most of the suspects implicated in far-right crimes are juveniles.
Hate crime experts and sociologists have repeatedly stressed that Germany's political leadership lacked a clear and effective strategy to really combat neo-Nazi crimes.
It has to be said that this is nothing new and has been going on for years and years though in recent years attacks seem to have gotten more severe. One can but wonder as to whether the Neo-Nazi groups are being emboldened by what is happening in Hungary in the way that the Jobik and other groups get away with attacking Gypsies.
I must say that I have been – unfortunately – predicting firebomb attacks to be headed the way of our People and have, more than once, suggested that people took precautions, including of anti-firebomb curtains and such like.
Other, more active defensive actions, obviously, are not something that we, the Gypsy community, would ever be allowed to consider, unlike the Jewish community who can have their own guards, armed ones even, protecting homes, businesses, schools, synagogues, and such like.
One rule for the Gypsy and one rule for others, as per usual...
© 2011
Gypsies to be pressed into forced slave labor gangs
Gypsies (and those receiving welfare) are to be pressed into forced labor gangs, supervised by police and militias
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Hungary, June 2011: According to information on the wires Gypsies are to be pressed into forced labor gangs in Hungary in the very near future. Those gangs will be supervised by police and militias and are “to ensure that Gypsies (and welfare recipients) do some work for their money.”
This is not very far removed from the way that the Nazis talked in the 1930s when Gypsies were rounded up and sent to labor camps.
In the next three years, the government of Hungary says, it will create employment for 100,000 Romani Gypsies in the country, the majority of which are welfare recipients, at least those that live in the countryside. They are to work in “charitable” and “community-based” projects in return for the payments that they receive.
The payment of any further welfare monies will be made dependent on people working in jobs in infrastructure-important building projects, as well as in agriculture and forestry.
Apparently those workers, who will be to 95% be Gypsy, who will be forced to partake in this so-called “charitable” labor program, will also be lent out to business against a fee, which the government will collect. It would appear that Gypsy slavery is back and by government decree.
Hungary claims, at the close of its EU presidency, that the program of integration of Romani People in Hungary has gone well during this period. How and where I would like to ask for all that happened was that the Orban government allowed the likes of Jobbik and others to intimidate Romani Gypsies in their villages with the police standing idly by. If that is Romani integration then I do not want to see anywhere where that is not being done.
It is quite difficult to believe that the government of Hungary could introduce something that so closely resembles forced labor camps or forced labor battalions of Jews and other undesirables in World War II.
However, at a press conference it was announced that “we don’t want to keep the workers under surveillance. …We are talking about instruction, direction, organization. Placing 300,000 people into work projects is a complicated affair that needs exactly the skills policemen have.” So, this is all true.
Police officers, obviously, according to Hungarian government understanding, well placed to instruct and direct those workers in the tasks that they are going to be assigned to. I find that hard to believe that they are capable of anything by way of instruction and direction but are indeed well placed to keep the workers “in line”, making sure that they do not run away.
What, we must ask, will happen if anyone does run? Will he (or she) be shot? It certainly would not surprise me if that would going to be the case.
Remember, everyone, that Hungary, the country who is intending such actions is, in fact, a European Union member state and it would appear that the EU will do nothing at all here. Thus I am starting very much to believe that the rumors we keep hearing as to talks between EU and Russia as to relocating (all) Gypsies in Central Europe to the Russian steppes are true.
© 2011
Poverty in Romani settlements to become a tourist attraction in Slovakia
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Speculation has been circulating for some time that tourism in Slovakia could be developed around organizing visits to Romani settlements.
Now Petr Duda, Mayor of Veµká Lomnice, a village in the Tatra mountains, is planning to turn local Romani settlements into a kind of tourist destination and attraction and his doing his best to push the plan through in the nearby settlement of Nový Dvùr, where 1,600 people are eking out a living in abject poverty in total substandard conditions, without clean water or sewerage.
“This would be an organized tour of the Romani settlements here in Veµká Lomnice,” Duda explained to the Czech Radio news server Rozhlas.cz. “The reason is to get people to realize what kinds of conditions Romani people live in here. On the other hand, it could motivate the Romani people to improve their living conditions on their own.”
In other words, they are doing this in order to shame the Romani residents in those areas who also may not have the means to improve their living conditions. Therefore, instead of helping them to help themselves the Romani People in those areas are now being turned into a circus attraction by idiotic politicians.
I guess that the mayor is trying to find a way of making money from the misery of the Romani residents in the area and the problem is that there will be enough idiotic tourists, especially from abroad, that would want to visit such Third World conditions in an EU member state in the same way that they would travel to places in the Third World for the very same reason.
The most important question that we must ask, I am sure, is what eh European Union and the European Commission are doing about this idea? Are they going to make any attempt to put a stop to such exploitation of the conditions of an entire people?
© 2011
Speculation has been circulating for some time that tourism in Slovakia could be developed around organizing visits to Romani settlements.
Now Petr Duda, Mayor of Veµká Lomnice, a village in the Tatra mountains, is planning to turn local Romani settlements into a kind of tourist destination and attraction and his doing his best to push the plan through in the nearby settlement of Nový Dvùr, where 1,600 people are eking out a living in abject poverty in total substandard conditions, without clean water or sewerage.
“This would be an organized tour of the Romani settlements here in Veµká Lomnice,” Duda explained to the Czech Radio news server Rozhlas.cz. “The reason is to get people to realize what kinds of conditions Romani people live in here. On the other hand, it could motivate the Romani people to improve their living conditions on their own.”
In other words, they are doing this in order to shame the Romani residents in those areas who also may not have the means to improve their living conditions. Therefore, instead of helping them to help themselves the Romani People in those areas are now being turned into a circus attraction by idiotic politicians.
I guess that the mayor is trying to find a way of making money from the misery of the Romani residents in the area and the problem is that there will be enough idiotic tourists, especially from abroad, that would want to visit such Third World conditions in an EU member state in the same way that they would travel to places in the Third World for the very same reason.
The most important question that we must ask, I am sure, is what eh European Union and the European Commission are doing about this idea? Are they going to make any attempt to put a stop to such exploitation of the conditions of an entire people?
© 2011
Is the EU about to ship all Gypsies in member states to Russia?
By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
According to reports that were being circulated in Spring 2011 by Russian news agencies the European Union is in discussion with the government of the Russian state to do just that.
According to Tolkovatel.ru, the possibility of an agreement by which Europe’s Roma will be dispatched to the Russian Federation and possibly Ukraine was going to be the subject of upcoming discussions between the EU and the Russian Federation, a step France and several East European countries support but the Germany reportedly opposes.
The first public mention of this, Tolkovatel.ru said, was a “Komsomolskaya Pravda” radio program on April 12 when Roman Grokholsky, a leader of the Roma community in the Russian Federation, said that in his view, “Russia for economic reasons could accept [Europe’s Roma]. It is an enormous land”
Apparently European governments have concluded that is “neither technically nor economically” feasible “to deport all the Roma to Romania or Bulgaria as was done in the past: the sizes of these countries do not allow that and local nationalists are protesting ever more loudly against” that idea.
So, it would appear if the Russian reports can be believed that “behind the scenes” discussions are taking place between the EU and the Russian Federation to relocate all European Roma (for that read Gypsies, in my book, probably including all Sinti and Kale as well) to Russia.
This smacks of the creation of a new Pale, as once existed for the Jews of Eastern Europe, in the steppes of Russian, the Ukraine and Poland and also of the once Gypsy enclave of Transnistria, the place where the SS had a field day rounding them all up, as well as in Bessarabia.
When I said years ago that I could see the writing on the wall as to the true aims of the EU's Gypsy policy I was being told that I was paranoid and that the EU and its aims were good for us, the Romani People. I am now beginning to think that I am about to be vindicated if the stories coming from Russian sources are to be believed.
When we have “leaders” such as Roman Grokholsky then we certainly do not need any enemies, that is for sure. How much money is he being paid to play right into the hands of the authorities with his statements?
Let us all be watchful and ready to fight this.
© 2011
Neo-Nazis take on police powers in Hungary
Romani settlement and inhabitants being threatened
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
While Gyöngyöspata in Hungary may only be a village and a relatively small village at that the truth remains that Neo-Nazis have usurped police powers and are terrorizing the local Roma (Gypsy) population because, so the organizers of this “militia”, the Gypsies terrorize all Hungary and Hungarians.
Local white Hungarians offer the militia personnel of the Jobbik organization free board and lodging and the authorities, what do they do? They let it all happen and do nothing. Is this the new “Roma policy” of the Hungarian government? It would appear to be just that. Worrying in the extreme for anyone who, like me, is of the ethnic groups of the Romani, the Gypsy. It should also be of concern of everyone who does not want to see a repetition of the 1930s and 1940s in Europe.
For weeks already black uniformed skinheads of the “Militia Beautiful Future” who call themselves “Gendarmerie” patrol the street of the area and threaten everyone who is not prepared to follow their rules.
They have told the local Roma population in no uncertain terms that they'd better pack up and leave Hungary if they wish to live.
Hungary is an EU member state and still this is going on and this, and call me a conspiracy theorist if you wish, seems to me that the policy of the European Union is one that wishes to get rid of the Gypsy and permits ethnic cleansing by proxy.
© 2011
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
While Gyöngyöspata in Hungary may only be a village and a relatively small village at that the truth remains that Neo-Nazis have usurped police powers and are terrorizing the local Roma (Gypsy) population because, so the organizers of this “militia”, the Gypsies terrorize all Hungary and Hungarians.
Local white Hungarians offer the militia personnel of the Jobbik organization free board and lodging and the authorities, what do they do? They let it all happen and do nothing. Is this the new “Roma policy” of the Hungarian government? It would appear to be just that. Worrying in the extreme for anyone who, like me, is of the ethnic groups of the Romani, the Gypsy. It should also be of concern of everyone who does not want to see a repetition of the 1930s and 1940s in Europe.
For weeks already black uniformed skinheads of the “Militia Beautiful Future” who call themselves “Gendarmerie” patrol the street of the area and threaten everyone who is not prepared to follow their rules.
They have told the local Roma population in no uncertain terms that they'd better pack up and leave Hungary if they wish to live.
Hungary is an EU member state and still this is going on and this, and call me a conspiracy theorist if you wish, seems to me that the policy of the European Union is one that wishes to get rid of the Gypsy and permits ethnic cleansing by proxy.
© 2011
Italy wants to expel Gypsies without housing and income
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
ROME: Italy wants to expel Gypsies who are citizens of other EU states who live solely off state benefits, the interior minister said recently, a move that would extend a crackdown on the Gypsy People criticised by rights groups as discriminatory.
France has sent masses of Roma on flights home to Romania in a mass repatriation that it says is voluntary, though some said they were coerced to leave. In fact, it is about as voluntary as were the round ups and deportations of the Nazi era.
Applauding France's move, Maroni, from the anti-immigrant Northern League party, said mandatory deportation of Roma who do not meet basic requirements should now be allowed.
The policy would apply to all non-Italian EU citizens who fail to meet certain criteria, not just Roma, said Maroni when asked if such a plan would be discriminatory.
"If anything, the problem is something else: unlike in France, many Roma and Sinti here have Italian citizenship. They have the right to remain here. Nothing can be done," said Maroni.
Maroni's comments were immediately denounced by the political opposition, including the Italy of Values party which said the plan smacked of racism.
What we can see is how the government of Italy thinks as regards to the Sinti and Roma in the country. If they could but find a way they would also consider throwing those Gypsies with Italian citizenship out of the country.
I am sure they will find a way soon; removing the citizenships off them is something that they, I am sure, are thinking about already.
At the same time Jobbik in Hungary is calling for all Gypsies in Hungary to be put into internment camps and if Jobbik can get the general public of Hungary behind it then the government of the country might just think of this too, I would not be surprised.
And while the European Commission may have spoken out rather strongly, finally, against the actions of the government of France with regards to their removal of Gypsies from their country. But, it would appear, France is going to take absolutely no notice of what they are told. Now let us see as to whether the Commission is prepared to go all the way and drag France before the court. I am not holding my breath.
All I am seeing is that the EU is permitting an ethnic cleansing by proxy...
© 2011
Sonia Meyer, Gypsy Activist, to Speak on KOGA Radio
Sonia Meyer, famed Gypsy activist and scholar will be appearing on the Josh Mackey radio program on KOGA (http://www.930koga.com) in Ogallala, Nebraska on February 22 2011 at 1:30 PM Mountain Time to talk about the oppression of Gypsies across Europe and the impact her book, Dosha, flight of the Russian Gypsies, has had on her battle for recognition of the rights of Gypsies all over the world.
Littleton, MA (PRWEB) February 19, 2011: Sonia Meyer, famed Gypsy activist and scholar will be appearing on the Josh Mackey radio program on KOGA (http://www.930koga.com) in Ogallala, Nebraska on February 22 2011 at 1:30 PM Mountain Time to talk about the oppression of Gypsies across Europe and the impact her book, Dosha, flight of the Russian Gypsies, has had on her battle for recognition of the rights of Gypsies all over the world.
Sonia Meyer (http://www.soniameyer.com) is renowned Gypsy (Romani) activist. She fled the Nazis with her parents when she was two years old to live in the woods of Germany and Poland among partisans and Gypsies. They lived in the woods, in abandon houses, and inns, always dodging the German and later Soviet armies who hunted them relentlessly. Her father taught her to throw hand grenades using a wooden darning egg. Just after the war Sonia and her family returned to Cologne Germany where she foraged for food with a band of Gypsies camped nearby.
Sonia Meyer is the author of the novel, “Dosha, flight of the Russian Gypsies.” The novel spans the early life of a Gypsy girl, from a childhood spent with partisans in the Polish forests to her defection to the West during Khrushchev’s visit to Helsinki.
Clarion Review said, “…Dosha: Flight of the Russian Gypsies tells the three-part story of a talented gypsy equestrian woman who gets drafted into the Soviet dressage team in Leningrad. Even as she is promoted as a star and given elevated status, Dosha’s only desire is to defect. Well-integrated into the book’s gripping plot are historical facts and vivid descriptions of the Russian gypsies and their role fighting the Nazi invasion during Stalin’s reign, followed by their oppression during Khrushchev’s Thaw in 1956, which instigated the Hungarian Revolution. Khrushchev’s first state visit to Helsinki, Finland, on June 6, 1957, plays a crucial part in this enthralling story.
“Edgy, entertaining, and filled with political stratagem, even a jaded fan of novels set during the Soviet era will not be disappointed. Indeed, Meyer’s knowledge and research shines on every page. At no point does she neglect her story to force sterile history on the reader, yet she manages to convey all essential information effortlessly. Her ability to capture the unique relationship between a sensitive rider and her dedicated horse is outstanding. This beautiful stallion is such an integral character in the book that his emotions can be felt during the hard training sessions and unexpected separations from Dosha.”
Dosha, flight of the Russian Gypsies
ISBN: 978-0-9827115-1-4
Available on Amazon as well as all fine book stores.
(http://www.wildernesshousepress.com)
Nicolas Sarkozy to target Muslim prayers
Is the man actually still sane? Don't answer that; it was a rhetorical question...
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken another lurch to the Right with a speech on New Year's Eve calling Muslim prayers in the street "unacceptable".
After his expulsions of Roma-Gypsies, predominately from Romania and Bulgaria and also an attack on the resident Romani with the reintroduction of the “Carnet de Circulation” and a crackdown on immigrant crime, the French President warns that the overflow of Muslim faithful on to the streets at prayer time when mosques are packed to capacity risks undermining the French secular tradition separating state and religion.
He will doubtless be accused of pandering to the far Right: the issue of Muslim prayers in the street has been brought to the fore by Marine Le Pen, the charismatic new figurehead of the National Front, who compared it to the wartime occupation of France.
Her words provoked uproar on the Left, whose commentators took them as evidence that far from being the gentler face of the far Right, Ms Le Pen, 42, is no different from Jean-Marie, 82, her father, who has been accused of racism and Holocaust denial.
According to his aide, Mr Sarkozy agrees with the junior Le Pen that the street cannot be allowed to become "an extension of the mosque" as it does in some parts of Paris, which are closed to traffic because of the overflow of the faithful. Local authorities have declined to intervene, despite public complaints, because they are afraid of sparking riots.
It is such a shame to see France head into such a right wing direction not that the country, in the way it is run, is not, theoretically, a fascist country, in the true sense of the word and term.
Gypsies have had a bad time always, and not just during the Vichy era, but to this very day, including French Manush and others, in that they are required to carry a special passport that identifies them – point blank – as Gypsy, the Carnet de Circulation.
While the use of this document was, supposedly, stopped in the 1980s it would appear from what we have learned from Rom in France that the use has been reinstated and that all must carry this and the requirements of registering with the police prefecture upon arrival, when on voyage, are still as strict as ever.
It can just be hoped that France will not become a leading light in this and that the rest of Europe will follow as to the treatment of Gypsies and other “outsiders”. I do, however, fear that that is exactly the very way that we are headed.
© 2011
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has taken another lurch to the Right with a speech on New Year's Eve calling Muslim prayers in the street "unacceptable".
After his expulsions of Roma-Gypsies, predominately from Romania and Bulgaria and also an attack on the resident Romani with the reintroduction of the “Carnet de Circulation” and a crackdown on immigrant crime, the French President warns that the overflow of Muslim faithful on to the streets at prayer time when mosques are packed to capacity risks undermining the French secular tradition separating state and religion.
He will doubtless be accused of pandering to the far Right: the issue of Muslim prayers in the street has been brought to the fore by Marine Le Pen, the charismatic new figurehead of the National Front, who compared it to the wartime occupation of France.
Her words provoked uproar on the Left, whose commentators took them as evidence that far from being the gentler face of the far Right, Ms Le Pen, 42, is no different from Jean-Marie, 82, her father, who has been accused of racism and Holocaust denial.
According to his aide, Mr Sarkozy agrees with the junior Le Pen that the street cannot be allowed to become "an extension of the mosque" as it does in some parts of Paris, which are closed to traffic because of the overflow of the faithful. Local authorities have declined to intervene, despite public complaints, because they are afraid of sparking riots.
It is such a shame to see France head into such a right wing direction not that the country, in the way it is run, is not, theoretically, a fascist country, in the true sense of the word and term.
Gypsies have had a bad time always, and not just during the Vichy era, but to this very day, including French Manush and others, in that they are required to carry a special passport that identifies them – point blank – as Gypsy, the Carnet de Circulation.
While the use of this document was, supposedly, stopped in the 1980s it would appear from what we have learned from Rom in France that the use has been reinstated and that all must carry this and the requirements of registering with the police prefecture upon arrival, when on voyage, are still as strict as ever.
It can just be hoped that France will not become a leading light in this and that the rest of Europe will follow as to the treatment of Gypsies and other “outsiders”. I do, however, fear that that is exactly the very way that we are headed.
© 2011
The Government has adopted guidelines for the policy on Roma
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The Government of Finland has, on December 9, 2010, adopted a “Resolution on guidelines to promote Finland's policy on Roma.”
The Resolution, so say speakers for the government, is a strong message from the Government of Finland that it considers the policy on Roma important and is committed to the implementation of the National Policy on Roma.
The Government will initiate intensified measures to enhance the inclusion of the Roma population at local level and to investigate their housing conditions.
The Government also wants to improve the status of the Romani language and to increase the opportunities of the Roma children and adolescents for social participation and pursuing hobbies. Furthermore, an international strategy will be drawn up to influence policies on Roma.
According to the Resolution the Government Ministries will implement the measures that are assigned to them in the National Policy on Roma within the framework of the appropriations available to them.
The implementation of the measures will be monitored. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will set up a monitoring group for the National Policy on Roma to evaluate the implementation of this cross-sectoral Policy. The first monitoring report will be submitted in 2013.
The Resolution is based on Finland's first National Policy on Roma that was published in December 2009. The objective is to promote the inclusion and equality of the Roma in various spheres of life. The National Policy on Roma comprises a total of 10 policy guidelines and 147 measures, which several administrative sectors are responsible for implementing.
The goal is that Finland will be a forerunner in promoting the equal treatment and inclusion of the Roma in Europe by 2017.
And while this sounds all very good, what really stands out in contrast to this is the recent policy of – basically – rounding up foreign Roma on the streets of Helsinki as unwanted beggars.
Does the inclusion, which we can but hope to just mean integration and not, like in France, more or less forced assimilation, only apply to the Finish Kaale or also to Romani from other countries who wish to make Finland their home, whether on a permanent or only temporary basis? This is a question that must be borne in mind and asked here.
Source: Press release 389/2010
© O NEVO DROM 2011
The Government of Finland has, on December 9, 2010, adopted a “Resolution on guidelines to promote Finland's policy on Roma.”
The Resolution, so say speakers for the government, is a strong message from the Government of Finland that it considers the policy on Roma important and is committed to the implementation of the National Policy on Roma.
The Government will initiate intensified measures to enhance the inclusion of the Roma population at local level and to investigate their housing conditions.
The Government also wants to improve the status of the Romani language and to increase the opportunities of the Roma children and adolescents for social participation and pursuing hobbies. Furthermore, an international strategy will be drawn up to influence policies on Roma.
According to the Resolution the Government Ministries will implement the measures that are assigned to them in the National Policy on Roma within the framework of the appropriations available to them.
The implementation of the measures will be monitored. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will set up a monitoring group for the National Policy on Roma to evaluate the implementation of this cross-sectoral Policy. The first monitoring report will be submitted in 2013.
The Resolution is based on Finland's first National Policy on Roma that was published in December 2009. The objective is to promote the inclusion and equality of the Roma in various spheres of life. The National Policy on Roma comprises a total of 10 policy guidelines and 147 measures, which several administrative sectors are responsible for implementing.
The goal is that Finland will be a forerunner in promoting the equal treatment and inclusion of the Roma in Europe by 2017.
And while this sounds all very good, what really stands out in contrast to this is the recent policy of – basically – rounding up foreign Roma on the streets of Helsinki as unwanted beggars.
Does the inclusion, which we can but hope to just mean integration and not, like in France, more or less forced assimilation, only apply to the Finish Kaale or also to Romani from other countries who wish to make Finland their home, whether on a permanent or only temporary basis? This is a question that must be borne in mind and asked here.
Source: Press release 389/2010
© O NEVO DROM 2011
Guilty until Proven Innocent
Guilty until Proven Innocent is the 35th part of the award-winning news documentary series “Mundi Romani - the World through Roma Eyes” and was shot in September 2010 in France. Since July 2010, the French government's policies on the expulsion of Eastern European Roma have fed an unprecedented media frenzy in Europe and beyond. Rarely had the world heard so much about the Roma. Rarely had so many prejudices and oversimplifications been mirrored in public speech about the state of affairs. Mundi Romani uncovers the roots of the issues at stake, brings to light damning evidence of institutionalized racism in Europe and presents one of the biggest media stories of 2010 as seen through the eyes of the Roma.
New film available at: http://www.mundiromani.com/videos/?video[video][item]=80
Budapest, December 13, 2010.
Source: Romedia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
