Can I bargain with the Mayor?

I condemn attacks that killed a security guard at a synagogue and a participant in a freedom of speech event in Copenhagen on Saturday. I am shocked by the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen on the weekend. While such attacks affect us all, they have a particularly strong impact on the daily lives of Jewish people; now is the time to stand together against these crimes based on hatred, including those based on anti-Semitism. Government must   take all appropriate efforts to meet the security needs of Jewish communities.  Such attacks are a strong reminder of the need to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms – including the freedom of speech – and for effective responses to all bias, discrimination and violence targeting different communities. Saturday’s shooting followed the killing, on 7 January 2015, of 12 people in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo Magazine, of a police officer on the next day, and then of four people during an attac...

Fortunately, seventy years ago, the “Zigeunerlager”, or “Gypsy Camp”, at Auschwitz-Birkenau, was closed. Some 23.000 Roma and Sinti were murdered. This liquidation didn’t finish with racism in Europe. Today, many political leaders speak with racist rhetoric in public discourse. They don’t refrain from scapegoating Roma and Sinti communities. Then, this attitude can fuel anti-Roma sentiment in society. Those political leaders must understand the important role of leadership in combatting these attitudes. Public discourse still perpetuates old negative stereotypes against these people. In a number of countries in the Europe, Roma are portrayed as criminals or social outsiders. The crucial role of the media in constructing and perpetuating these negative images has recently been confirmed by a comprehensive study in Germany. These stereotypes must be countered, both to bring justice to the victims of the Roma and Sinti genocide, and to create a better future for Roma today. Publ...