Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin

Sunday, November 24, 2013

The blood libel that reawakened racism in Europe

The wave of kidnapping accusations brought against the Roma is in line with hundreds of years of racism, discrimination, neglect and poverty.

By Asaf Ronel  

Hareetz | Oct. 30, 2013

The affair of Maria, described by the Greek media as "the blonde angel", has unfolded in a manner that is a far cry from the story weaved by the newspaper headlines decrying a Roma ring that kidnapped children for the purpose of sex trafficking.
The little girl's biological mother, also a Roma, was located in Bulgaria and told how she had given her daughter to the adoptive parents of her own free will because of financial distress. The Greek authorities have not yet decided what to do with the girl, whose adoptive parents are still under arrest, but the entire affair points at a serious problem of racism in Greek society.
Such severe accusations against a Roma couple and an entire ostracized minority group would not have arisen without the fierce hatred of foreigners in Greece. The same xenophobia also characterized the behavior of the police and other authorities involved in the affair, who hastened to assume the worst possible about the parents, and also leaked details to the press.

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