OPINION: As Jews, We should stand up for Roma rights
By Daniel Macmillen, activist and writer
Given this occasion, it is perhaps worth reflecting a bit about Jewish-Roma relations in the past and their state today.
At first blush, there is an instinctive sense of kinship between these two groups, emanating from a number of cultural resemblances and historical coincidences.
Both Jews and Roma share Eastern origins, have maintained ancient customs and traditions, and place essential emphasis on family and community life.
Both developed their diasporic cultures in contexts of unease and hostility, and accordingly, Gypsies have a term for non-Gypsies (Gaje), just as Jews have one for Gentiles (Goyim).
Laws of ritual purity play fundamental roles in both societies, from kashrut in Judiasm to marimé in Romani culture.
There is also a rich history of co-habitation and interaction. In the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, Jews, Gypsies and Turks lived together in an inter-ethnic quarter at the turn of the 20th century. Shtetls such as Ştefăneşti in Romania were constantly visited by Roma traders and blacksmiths.
In Hungary, Jewish musicians played so frequently in Roma orchestras that composer Franz Lizst called these bands Jüdische Zigeunerkapellen (Jewish-Gypsy orchestras).
In pre-WWII Bessarabia, Gypsy musicians played at local Jewish festivals and balls.
Perhaps most saliently, there is also a painful shared past of persecution and suffering, characterised by wild prejudices, ostracization, xenophobia, scapegoating, pogroms, ghettoization, and genocidal horror.
Read more on http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/
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