fuck yeah gogol bordello!

golden-zephyr:

Hate violence is defined as violence committed by an assailant against a victim because of the assailant’s bias against the victim’s presumed membership in a nationality, political group, religion, sexual orientation, skin color, subculture, or other marker of social status. In the Czech Republic, Romani people are the most frequent victims of hate crimes, followed by ethnic Czechs, foreigners, Jewish people and Muslims. Other groups targeted here include anti-racist activists, the disabled, and gays and lesbians.

The forms of this violence vary. Less serious forms include graffiti or verbal assault, while the more serious ones may rise to the level of felonies: Arson or terrorist attacks, persecution, physical assault, rape, threats, and violent demonstrations. According to police statistics, around 300 such cases occur in the Czech Republic per year. However, these statistics represent just a fraction of the incidents that actually occur - roughly 10 % of all of the cases that take place in this country. The incidents unaccounted for either involved no direct victim, were never reported to police, or took place without police correctly identifying their bias motivation.

There are many reasons why people do not report such incidents. The most frequent reasons are the fact that victims may prefer to forget the entire incident, their fear of revenge, their previous bad experiences with the criminal justice system, their unfamiliarity with the legal system, and their efforts to settle less serious incidents out of court. Hate crime is punished through the imposition of longer sentencing should it be proved that a perpetrator committed either a general felony (arson, assault) motivated by some of the biases recognized by law, or that the criminal actions in and of themselves constituted bias hatred. The state also criminalizes behavior which endangers social cohesion in a significant way along the lines of ethnicity, gender, religion, and political or subculture groupings.

The question is often asked whether the most predominant hate incidents committed are verbal assaults. The statistical composition of hate crimes shows that police most often investigate incidents which do not involve physical assault, but active work on behalf of a hate movement, graffiti, and verbal assaults. In 2011 the police solved only 21 cases of hate-motivated grievous bodily harm compared to 96 cases of the crime of support and promotion of a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms.

There are two possible explanations for this. Either the real number of hate crimes involving physical assault in the Czech Republic is significantly lower than in Western Europe and the USA, or the Czech police have greater difficulty in solving such cases than their counterparts elsewhere. The key question which must be clarified when solving hate crimes is the perpetrator’s bias motivation. It is more difficult to prove this motivation with respect to physical assault than it is to prove it for verbal assaults committed through graffiti, speeches, and websites. Czech Police President Lessy has also warned of the ongoing abuse of the so-called “tab system” for evaluating police officers’ job performances, whereby officers who solve a greater number of crimes are considered the most successful. Understandably, criminal acts which are more difficult to investigate, such as physical assaults motivated by hate, take a longer time and more effort to solve, which means officers working on them will not be able to close as many cases as other officers do.

It is generally assumed that the perpetrators of hate crimes are almost exclusively neo-Nazis or promoters of similar hate groups. However, this is not true. Academic and scientific research shows that only 10 - 20 % of hate crime perpetrators are also hate group activists.

What does this mean? Primarily, it means the real threat of hate crime is posed by members of the general population, and that therefore the police’s preventive and repressive activities should be focused on them. The vast majority of hate crimes are perpetrated by men (of the 320 people who committed hate crimes last year, only 14 were women). The average age of the perpetrators is 25. In this context, we must warn against the courts taking a perpetrator’s youth into account when setting sentencing and underestimating the dangerousness of his or her behavior. Police psychologist Ludmila Čírtková does not consider it appropriate for the behavior of such perpetrators to be excused by the assumption that they will “grow out of it”, or that they acted out of youthful indiscretion. Last year 28 % of all hate crime perpetrators were recidivists, as were more than half of the perpetrators of hate violence.

With the help of NGOs, a new law in the Czech Republic will ensure a better position for hate crime victims. The state’s approach to hate violence is improving little by little, primarily thanks to the influence and activities of NGOs and international organizations. Bias motivation has been part of Czech criminal law for more than 50 years, but not all groups of persons threatened by hate violence are protected. Attacks motivated by ethnic, national, political, racist or religious hatred are criminalized more harshly. People living with disabilities and people attacked because of their age or their sexual orientation are not as well protected.

Hate crime has been designated a serious phenomenon through an order issued by the Police President to certain police psychologists. Hate crime victims are to be approached with increased sensitivity and the psychologists’ presence is directly indicated in some cases. A shift toward improving the position of hate crime victims has also been designed by the new law on crime victims, which defines the victims of physical violent hate assaults as “particularly vulnerable victims” and, like the victims of sexual crimes, makes it possible for them to receive special treatment on the basis of their particularly traumatizing victimization. In future, this law should entitle hate crime victims to compensation, free legal aid, and a whole other catalog of rights.

The In IUSTITIA civic association has been providing aid to the victims of hate violence in the Czech Republic for three years. Thanks to its cooperation with news server ROMEA.cz, people who have been subjected to hate attacks can seek help by calling a free hotline. In 2011 In IUSTITIA assisted 35 hate crime victims.

Klára Kalibová, In IUSTITIA, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA

and-the-story-goes-like-this:

Just saw Gogol Bordello in Toronto! Man, those crazy gypsy punks NEVER fail to blow my mind!

followers y u no submit. D:

(via leylahur)

golden-zephyr:

Remembering the Porajmos (Roma Holocaust)

golden-zephyr:

yuugen-reflections:

I’ve thought about this often, because the word ‘gypsy’ and its connected stereotypes of Roma and Sinti (and travellers in general) are so prevalent in popular culture that its really hard to avoid seeing/hearing of them. I can only imagine how hurtful those sterotypes and the racism they fuel are to Roma and Sinti, because even as an outsider it makes me feel ill just to look at the gypsy tag on tumblr. 

I feel like the word gypsy even existing just makes it easier for people to be judgemental and refer to stereotypes, because those stereotypes are based on hearsay rather than actual first hand knowledge by way of talking to Roma and Sinti people. I mean I had to correct my own family members when they made racist remarks about British Roma. My family who have always told me that we have ‘gypsy blood’. Though clearly having no idea what that actually means.

I don’t know, I guess people who are intent on being prejudemental will find a way of doing so. If it’s not talking about skin colour, it’s something else. But I’m really tired of seeing people using the word ‘gypsy’ to refer to some romantic ideal that they probably could follow if they actually wanted to, but in truth prefer it as an idea in their head than as reality.

The fact is, people like the idea of living a life of freedom, and romanticise the travelling life because the reality of actually being a free person and relying on what you can carry in a trailer and make with your own hands would actually be too much hard work for most people. that’s why the stereotype is so pervasive; if Roma and Sinti people were accepted by mainstream society as simply other human beings that live in the modern world, with actual rights and real problems that need to be addressed, then everyone else wouldn’t be able to disregard the romanticised travelling life as a part of history that is impossible in the modern world. The oppression of Roma and Sinti is inextricably linked to state control; we are told what to think and how to live, and any successful alternatives to that threaten the carefully constructed lies perpetuated by the state and corporations that benefit from consumerism. All prejudgemental statements have their beginnings in a similar place. Stereotypes are supposed to be lies, and deep down most people know they are not true. But unfortunately most people also don’t care, because they actually want lies. For the same reason that people watch the news channels every day just to hear about things that make them upset, angry and afraid.

This is very well written and very much appreciated.

golden-zephyr:

lisipuska:

golden-zephyr:

flower-cream:

My life would be COMPLETE if Eugene Hutz jumped on my car! Fucking LOVE Gogol Bordello! I remember when I saw them live- it was right after my dad’s cancer surgery was done. They ended the show with ‘Through The Roof ‘N Underground’ and ‘Undestructable’. By then end tears were streaming down my face because I felt like Mr. Hutz spoke to me. He came up to me and shook my hand and said “thank you for coming, I’m glad you enjoyed the show, and things will get better”. Such a polite man.

I don’t know how I feel about Eugene Hutz and Gogol Bordello these days. I understand what he’s trying to do and I greatly appreciate his film (Pied Piper of Hutzovina - avialable on Hulu via the link) which explained much of his reasoning behind the whole “Gypsy Punk” thing… and I know that he’s part Roma…

I just can’t get over the whole … minions of white “Gypsy” girls who want to marry him and who think that their “officious seeing eye” tee-shirts make them “Gypsy”.

I used to love what I thought he stood for and his music (I still really like his music), but I don’t think I have any desire to see him live anymore. I have a chance to go this week, but it just makes me feel queasy.

I don’t know… I’m sure there’s a post here somewhere…

I still love him. I don’t think he can help what his fans do, what they buy and wear. I personally don’t wear the shirts that explicitly say “Gypsy Punk” on them, but others do, of course. I wish he would say something more about Roma, anything, but I never see it. And I think, because of all the people in his band, his message comes out more as “Us immigrants gotta stick together” (which as an east European immigrant, I like, but in accordance to his original attempted message, isn’t as useful). Perhaps he is still finding himself, his music, what he’s doing. No-one knows but him.

True, you make good points (as always) phenjora—but like you I wish he would say something more about Roma or about the situation in Europe. I get the immigrants thing too, of course, and I know he can’t control his fans… I think though, that he could present it all better, you know?

I get that he wants to improve the image of Gypsies and Gypsy music… but, I’m not sure exactly what he’s doing anymore…

golden-zephyr:

For all those wishing to be ‘gypsy’ they should realize the amount of shit I’ve had to put up with lately.

I’ve received (in the past 3 days) over 50 pieces of hate mail—here and in my personal email.

My email account was hacked.

At least half of the emails have praised the death of one of my relatives or called for my own “slow” death at the hands of white supremacists.

The other half of the emails have deliberately accused me or my friends of lying, thieving, “whoring”, or other stereotypical “gypsy” crimes.

I have received hand-written notes on my windshield.

I have received hand-written letters.

The address of this blog (and others) has been posted on supremacist websites (such as a hate forum on 4Chan, Stormfront and others).

….

Are you really sure you want to be a gypsy?

I get hatred for being proud and speaking out for the human rights of my people…

and you expect praise for saying you want these things?

read this because of all the reasons.

it’s not gogol bordello related but seriously you guys this is important.

golden-zephyr:

This is happening in Bulgaria today: thousands of Roma lack identity cards because to get the ID card they need to demonstrate a fixed address, or demonstrate that they have a house or have a certificate of living in a rented house. The lack of identity cards prevents them from leaving their neighborhoods as the police fine them for not having an ID, which also denies them access to social services. They cannot get a job, and even their children cannot go to school because they cannot prove their identity (parents are required to get the card for their children, but they need a card themselves in order to do so).

;~;

golden-zephyr:

I’ve seen more and more of this; the “I was a gypsy in a past life” or “I want to be a gypsy” posts. They irritate me so much.

This week I’ve received so much hate mail it’s been unbelievable. I found my blog posted on White supremacy forums. I have been advised to change my email address and delete my blogs.

I won’t do those things.

I won’t hide. I don’t care if I get attacked. I don’t care if people try and use my past against me. I am Roma. I am Romni. I was born with these genes, this blood, these songs in my heart. I am fucking PROUD.

I don’t tell fortunes. I don’t read cards, leaves, or auras. I don’t wear feathers in my hair or long dresses. I don’t own a crystal ball. I don’t curse people.

The gypsy tag is full of romanticized bullshit that whitewashes my people into a single, unified stereotype. 

I am so tired. I don’t trust anyone, especially gadze. I say I won’t delete my blogs or hide—but I am so tempted just to walk away… from everything. I am so tired of seeing little white girls with flowers in their hair calling themselves gypsies. Taking away from the pain and hatred I receive on a daily basis.

You know what’s worse? I even have passing fucking privilege and STILL I’m hated, simply because I’m a REAL GYPSY.

Even worse than that, is those girls. They can turn around and say “oh, I was just kidding” and take out the flower and put on their hipster pants.

I can’t stop being a gypsy. Unless I stop existing.

I am so tired. Elation has turned to bitter sadness…

While my brothers and sisters in Europe face facist and white supremacist violence and oppression, little girls in the US are pratting around actively longing to be a gypsy.

And it makes me feel sick.

THIS