An article on the Roma camp in Lesbos, Greece and its horrid conditions.
Sad.
At the beginning of the 20th century, in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, more than a third of the population was Jewish. The series Le Bracelet of Fire, directed by Giorgos Gikapeppas, has been released on February 4 on the public television channel ERT and from January 25 on the Ertflix group platform and retraces for the first time the history of a family of Thessaloniki through the darkest events of the 20th century.
However … The first episode, at the 37th minute and 45th second has a “Gypsy”, called Angelis is saying:
I stole, I stole (past continuous)
But it is allowed for the Gypsies to steal.
God gave us this right.
And he “explains” that the Romans gave an order to a Gypsy to forge the 4 nails to crucify Jesus. But when the Gypsy found out it was to crucify Christ he swallowed one. From then onwards God gave the Gypsies the right to steal.
This later tale is one that Roma told in Western Europe (but not in Greece) as the reason for their continuous travels (and originally as to why they claimed to be pilgrims).
In any case, that is a bunch of stereotypes…
The first restaurant with Romani cuisine will open in the centre of Thessaloniki in February! Its name will be Amalin and is the culmination of years of effort by the Roma Women’s Association of Dendropotamos.
Amalin will be the 1st Non-Profit Romano Restaurant in the city, in which women from the settlement of Dendropotamos will cook and serve. “It was a lifelong dream for us. The Association has been fighting for 20 years for inclusion and the promotion of good practices. What could be better, then, than to highlight the traditional Romani cuisine” said the head of the effort, President of the Dendropotamos Roma Women’s Association, Giannoula Magga, speaking on TV100’s Check in events show.
A photographic reportage among Greek Roma. With an amusing note, the usage of “balamos” for non-Roma.
A Greek court has decided to release from custody the police officer who shot and killed a 16-year-old Roma man in Thessaloniki on December 5 after a chase over an unpaid gas bill, Greek media reported.
The policeman has been banned from leaving the country. The court of first instance in Thessaloniki approved the proposal of the investigation to release the 34-year-old police officer, Kathimerini newspaper reports, despite the opinion of the prosecutor’s office.
The young 16 years-old Roma who was shot by the police in Thessaloniki died and was buried on Thursday in the presence of more than 1’500 mourners.
May he rest in peace.
A long article about the shooting of a young Rom in Thessaloniki last week, and about the recurring police violence and racism against Roma and generally minorities in Greece, this with almost impunity.
It also highlights that the Roma are there since the Byzantine Empire (true, but most of the original Greek Roma are now in Turkey due to the population exchange in the 1920, and the current Roma are mostly Vach Roma who escaped the slavery), and it highlights the dire situation in which they are.
They are badly regarded in Greece and considered by many to be criminals.
This is bad.
A news article with an inciendary headline “Roma burned businesses, raided cafes and beat citizens
Western Attica is a battlefield” following the manifestations after the shooting of a young Rom in Thessaloniki. Yes, there were riots, shops got ransacked, but this was definitively not all Roma.
Bad journalism, unfortunately with a goal, namely to portray Roma as violent, dangerous and criminal.
A Rom was murdered yesterday near Athens following a fight in a Roma camp. This time it was not the police and is unrelated to the latest protests.
But it is not good for the Roma community to have these kind of headlines.
Roma leaders in Greece have appealed to calm following riots in major cities in Greece following the shooting of a young Roma in Thessaloniki. At least 10 police officers were injured during the riots in Athens with protester also commemorating another fatal shooting by the police in 2008.
There were manifestations in Athens, Thessaloniki, and other Greek cities following the shooting of Kostas Frangoulis, a 16-year-old Roma in Thessaloniki. He was severely wounded by the Police after allegedly failing to pay a €20 (£17) fuel bill at a petrol station. These manifestations took place on the eve of the commemoration of another shooting of another teenager killed on Decembe 6th, 2008 by an officer in Athens’ Exarchia district. Last year, another young Rom Nikos Sampanis was fatally shot in a car chase near Athens. There is a clear pattern of violence here.
The protesters shouted slogans such as “Stop the murderous police”.
A 16-year-old Roma boy was shot by the police in Thessaloniki, Greece, after he allegedly filled his vehicle at a fuel station and drove off without paying. The young man is in hospital in critical condition and the policeman sho shot him has been suspended.
There was a protest march in the city, organised by leftists and anarchists which degenerated with some of the protesters smashing shop windows and throwing Molotov cocktails at the police. This is not good.
The shooting of a Rom by the police is not the first case in Greece unfortunately.
Dr. Paul Isaac Hagouel, president of the Roma Genocide Committee at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) spoke to APE-MPE on the occasion of the Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day on August 2nd. Himself the son of an Auschwitz survivor, explained that “the oblivion of the Roma and Sinti Genocide perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes about the Roma which, in turn, fostered discrimination and unfounded and at the same time harmful hatred of the ‘other’ – Anti-Gypsyism”.
Thus, the IHRA, a transnational organization, constituted by a combination of experts and top diplomats from the member states, recommended the creation of the Commission on the Genocide of the Roma in 2007. This interdisciplinary IHRA Committee aims to raise awareness of prejudice against Roma and Sinti and highlight the link between the history of persecution and the current situation in Roma communities which, continue to experience the manifestations of stereotypes, prejudices and, quite often, (racial) hatred.
An article on the aftermath of a recent police killing of a young Rom near Athens.
Thessaloniki Appellate Court judgement of 31 January 2022 reversed the decision of the lower court not to evict Roma families from the “Tsairia” area of Thermaikos Municipality near Thessaloniki. In February 2020, following the initial trial for eviction by the Mayor of Thermaikos, Roma won a reprieve.
Let’s now see what happens.
The European Court of Human Rights accepted the application of the Roma who are facing eviction following the reversal of an earlier judgement on appeal. In fact the court asked Greece to halt the eviction and asked whether alternative lodging solutions are available.
Let’s hope.
Tsirpas, the Greek PM, met Roma representatives. According to him, his government made good progress on Integration…
Well, lots remain to be done…
– Greece’s gypsies should not be viewed as second class citizens: Greek PM. In: Greek City Times. 09.04.2019. https://greekcitytimes.com/2019/04/09/greeces-gypsies-should-not-be-viewed-as-second-class-citizens-greek-pm/
Testimonies of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the war. Greece expelled Moslems and Turkey expelled Christians. Among the Moslems in Greece were most of the local Roma – for example the Sepečides – who are now living in Izmir.
– Roma people tell of ancestors’ 1923 ‘population exchange’ stories. In: Daily News. 13.03.2019. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/roma-people-tell-of-ancestors-1923-population-exchange-stories-141853
An article about a small town in the North East of Greece with a large Turkish speaking Moslem minority which comprises Turks, but also Roma and Pomaks, the latter being Slavs converted to Muslim religion.
– A Komotini, la minorité musulmane sert de baromètre des relations gréco-turques. In: Euronews. 04.02.2019. https://fr.euronews.com/2019/02/05/a-komotini-la-minorite-musulmane-sert-de-barometre-des-relations-greco-turques
The type of articles you don’t need: In the Ukrainian press, a report of a fight between Roma in the Transcarpathian village of Podvinohradov after the “election of a Roma baron”… And then the report of a new “Gypsy camp” will be created in Kyiev, and finally also a report of a shooting at a Roma camp in Greece (we reported on this).
So, all good news about Roma and of course, they are dangerous.
– ЧП на Закарпатье: группа ромов устроила массовую драку, причина впечатляет. In: Politeka. 08.08.2018. https://politeka.net/news/society/697312-chp-na-zakarpate-gruppa-romov-ustroila-massovuju-draku-prichina-vpechatljaet/
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