FOLLOW-UP PROTESTS AGAINST RACIST BOOK

[Stoimen]

Sarenge,

Second half of October 2012 we posted the page below on Khetanes. It is from a book by Professor Géza Jeszenszky, a historian, also a welknown Hungarian politician and internationally active.

In Professor Jeszenszky's book, that students at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary, are required to study(!), Roma are called mentally ill.

Quote from the book: "The reason why many Roma are mentally ill is because in Roma culture it is permitted for sisters and brothers or cousins to marry each other or just to have sexual intercourse with each other." This so-called Romani practices are linked to poverty and crime.

 

The quote can be found on page 273. In this blog also the other pages from the chapter can be read. See further below and click right to enlarge the text!

 

The book by Professor Jeszenszky, current ambassador for Hungary to Norway, provoked worldwide protests. Also World Artists Initiative "Khetanes" sent letters of protest, to the author, the Corvinus University, the Hungarian Embassy in Norway, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

This blog is meant to update you on the answers and new letters or steps. The International Romani Anti-Defamation League, part of Khetanes, takes a lead, but all Khetanes members are invited to join and to co-sign!

 

Thank you!

[Stoimen]

G%C3%A9za%20Jeszenszky.docx (http://api.ning.com:80/files/nURSphUPYxJe2xnexgScOTTjMxrL62PnnslbNW...*janZTyQMyFTOgveUu2uNfC-4M0PWyWvBA/GzaJeszenszky.docx)

G%C3%A9za%20Jeszenszky%20HUN.docx (http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2174605162?profi...)

Amale,

Here once again the links to the letter of protest in English and Hungarian!

[Wlavira Turczineck]

Quero assinar essa carta.

Wlavira Turczineck, professora e bailarina / Brazil

[Stoimen]

Amale,

Most replies so far have come by e-mail. It is becoming an impressive list.

In a couple of days we will send our letter to a number of addresses and keep you informed about all steps to be taken and about all reactions we receive.

Right now we research the way book has been used in university classes. We will keep you updated! Many thanks!

Els

[Stoimen]

Today, 31 October, we are over 40 signatures now, and more are expected to come. That is a could result, as we only started last Monday and did not have time to translate the message in the most current languages here.

We keep you informed!

[Viola Hinz-Hassan Pour Razavi]

Super, das freut mich, da ist ja schon einiges zusammen gekommen!!!

[Stoimen]

FIRST PROTEST AND REACTIONS;

31/10/2012 - University teachers, students and researchers on Tuesday protested against remarks by Geza Jeszenszky, Hungary's ambassador to Norway, which they think "stigmatise" the Roma minority. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Jeszenszky cannot be blamed for prejudice for his lines.
Over 100 people signed the statement concerning a textbook used at Budapest's Corvinus University (BCE), in which Jeszenszky suggested that "the reason why many Roma are mentally ill is because in Roma culture it is permitted for sisters and brothers or cousins to marry each other or just to have sexual intercourse with each other".

The statement said that the textbook's conclusion was not scientifically supported and insisted that the community of BCE could not "accept pseudo-scholarly claims disguised in the cloak of science, especially not those harshly stigmatising an ethnic group."

Jeszenszky has rejected accusations of racism. In a statement, the diplomat said that "as a teacher, minister and ambassador" he has always supported cases of persecuted ethnic or religious communities.

He admitted that he was not an expert on Roma issues, and said that a 15-page chapter in his textbook on the community was based on other authors. "Not even a biased Roma civil rights activist could find fault with my handling of the subject; hundreds of Hungarian and foreign students have used my book and found it useful," he said.

Jeszenszky added that the issue of mental disabilities among the Roma are usually attributed to the community's closed nature and the resulting frequent marriage between brothers and sisters. Due to his assignment in Oslo, the seminar has not been advertised for two years and the textbook did not go to bookstores, he added.

On Tuesday, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Jeszenszky had written his remarks as a university teacher rather than as Hungary's ambassador. The statement said that though the contested remarks "could be misunderstood", Jeszenszky's life achievement and his latest publications all demonstrate that he is committed to minority rights and cannot be charged with prejudice.

In the meantime, organisers of a Holocaust conference in Oslo suggested that it would be "prudent" of Jeszenszky to stay away from the event.

Head of the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities Anton Weiss-Wendt told MTI that the conference was supported by the Hungarian, Swedish and Israeli embassies in Oslo, and noted that Hungarian Holocaust expert Professor Laszlo Karsai was one of the guests invited. Karsai, however, declined to participate, and referred to Jeszenszky's "biased and racist" remarks in the textbook, Weiss-Wendt said.

Weiss-Wendt quoted Jeszenszky's email to the centre, based in Norway, saying as the Roma community was "inbreeding" and "suggested that Roma as a people have little idea of the dangers posed by incest", he said.

"These and similar comments are deemed uninformed, if not offensive, in this country," Weiss-Wendt added.

In a telephone interview to commercial TV channel ATV on Tuesday evening, the ambassador said that if he were to publish his textbook now, he would consider how to quote the contested sentence, if at all. He insisted that it had been a direct quote from medical papers.

Jeszenszky said that the chapter in question attempted to present "the real weight of the problem" and that it suggested his "understanding for the Roma", the author's desire to improve their situation.

The ambassador said he was sorry if any readers found his lines offensive, but said that not only the contested passage but the whole chapter or the entire book should be read.

Link: http://www.politics.hu/20121031/uproar-over-ambassadors-comments-on...

[Stoimen]

Amale,

Today we have 49, maybe soon 50 Members of Khetanes who sign our letter of protest. Taken into account the message I just posted here, our letter needs to be sent the sooner the better. By the way, we DO have the whole chapter, not just this page. Page 273, published on Khetanes, fits very well into the context of the whole chapter, that puts the blame on Roma.

To be continued

[Viola Hinz-Hassan Pour Razavi]

Dear Els, yes this would be important to send it asap. Did you see that Wlavira Turczineck, professora e bailarina / Brazil will also co-sign?

All the best to all

Viola

[Stoimen]

Yes, she is there too!

[Stoimen]

LETTER SENT!

 

Tonight our letter of protest in Hungarian or English was sent to:

Professor Zsolt Rostoványi, Rector Corvinus University Budapest

Professor László Zsinka, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Corvinus University

Professor Zéga Jeszenszky, Hungarian Ambassador to Norway, Professor at Corvinus University

Hungarian Embassy to Norway in Oslo

LIBE Committee of the European Parliament, Brussels

Juan Fernando López Aguilar, chair of the LIBE committee

Mrs Kinga Gál, vice-chair of the LIBE committee

Mrs Sophia in 't Veld, vice-chair of the LIBE Committee

Johannes Laitenberger, Chef de Cabinet of President Jose Manuel Barroso

Martin Selmayr, Chef de cabinet of Commissioner and Vice-President Viviane Reding

Vladimír Sucha, Director Culture in the Cabinet of Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou

Mrs Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights



All received the text as a pdf file with a personal salutation.