Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2007 (19. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)

2007-01-05 / 2. szám

News of the American Hungarian Federation The Condemns Latest Minority Rights Violations By Romania: Sanctions Against Hungarian Professors At Babes-Bolyai University For Promoting Bilingualism The American Hungarian Federation, founded in 1906 as an umbrella organization representing a cross­­section of the Hungarian American community, has supported democracy, human and minority rights and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe. The situation of the Hungarian community living in Romania has been and is of concern to the Federation. (Romania’s population is 21 million, out of which 1.5 million are ethnic Hungarians or 6.6% of the population.) Although Romania joined NATO and will be accepted into the EU, the irrefutable record demonstrates that its laws and practices fail to conform to European and Western standards relating to human and minor­ity rights. A few examples of Romania’s less than exemplary record will suffice. More than a decade after the collapse of Communism, Romania has yet to fulfill its promises to its ethnic Hungarians. While Bucha­rest lavishly funds the Orthodox Church that is engaged in a church building spree, it has returned to the rightful Hungarian owners only a tiny fraction of the more than 2000 religious and communal properties illegally seized from them during the Communist era. Romania daily flouts the constitutional guarantee relating to the right to an education in the mother tongue. Romania has even failed to restore the independent Hungarian state university in Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvar or adopt a Law on National Minorities. It virtually treats the legitimate request for autonomy of the Szekelyland as an act of treason. An egregious violation of human rights occurred last month when two Hungarian professors - Peter Hantz and Lehel Kovács - were expelled from Babes-Bolyai University for placing parallel Hungarian inscriptions below Romanian language signs at the so-called multicultural institution. It should be noted that although university officials had decided to allow the placement of bilingual signs by January 10, 2006, they stonewalled until Professor Hantz sought to implement the university’s decision. Romania should be publicly and privately encouraged to build a tolerant society by respecting the rights of its Hungarian and other minorities and the rule of law, thereby converting promises into deeds. This would promote genuine democracy in Romania and defuse tensions caused by discrimination and intoler­ance. The first step in this long-awaited process would be for Babes-Bolyai University to immediately reinstate the two professors, place the bilingual signs at the institution and establish autonomous Hungarian faculties at the University. Washington, D.C. Saddam Hussein Executed in Iraq December 29, 2006 - Saddam Hussein, who ruled Iraq with ruthless force and led his people into three devastating wars while pursuing his goal of dominating the Arab world, was executed by hang­ing. He was 69. The event brings to mind other Christmases: December 25, 1989, when the dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu was executed and we all felt as if we had received an unexpected Christmas present. And December 13, 2003, when Saddam was captured and America was dancing with joy. ined, including two of his sons-in-law, and used poison gas to wipe out whole vil­lages in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. He granted construction contracts to favored Arab tribes, while depriving whole categories of people — such as Shiite Kurds — of their citizenship rights. Such violence and manipulations may have established a semblance of stability. But they also built up a sense of entitlement by Sunnis and resentments on the part of Shiites and Kurds that fueled violence by death squads, militias and insur­gents once the U.S. invasion of 2003 toppled his regime. Hussein fostered a grotesque cult of personality around himself as the embodiment of the Iraqi state and all of Iraqi history. As he, consolidated absolute power in the 1980s, his face and figure went up all over the country. Here was Hussein on horseback. There he was in Kurdish costume. His like­ness adorned the walls of every cafe, bank and government office. Hussein’s initials were inscribed on the stones used to rebuild ancient archeological sites. “With our souls and blood, we will sacrifice for you, Saddam,” schoolchildren, old women and office workers chanted whenever Hussein arrived. Although when he received his sentence, he declared himself a “martyr”, the people on the streets of Iraq now chant their relief and contentment that evil sometimes does get its just reward in this world. Whether as president of Iraq, a self-proclaimed leader of the anti-American insurgency or rambunctious courtroom defendant, Hus­sein cast a large shadow over world events and the nation that he controlled for most of the last 40 years. Though never an army officer, he frequently wore military uniforms and styled himself as a fearless strategist and warrior. The wars he started cost more than 1 million lives, but he never won any of them and lived in constant fear, seldom sleeping in the same palace two nights in a row and employing look-alikes to foil assassination attempts. Nearly four years after U.S.­­led forces toppled his Baath Party regime and a little more than three years after he was caught hiding in a hole in the ground near his hometown, his death further shuts the door on an era of secular Arab nationalism, now being eclipsed throughout the Middle East by Islamist ideas and leaders. Hussein took with him to the grave a trove of secrets. The former Iraqi leader allegedly ordered assassinations abroad and used his country’s vast oil wealth to curry favor with Middle Eastern governments while main­taining undercover dealings with intelligence services throughout the region and the West. One famous photograph shows Hussein in 1983 shaking hands with Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former Defense secretary who served as an informal envoy to Baghdad at a time when the United States was aiding Iraq in its eight-year war with Iran. For his country, now con­vulsed in civil war, Hussein’s most lasting and damaging legacy was the way his selective patron­age and brutal violence divided Iraqis along lines that continue to haunt them. Hussein moved rivers to reward Sunni Arab villagers loyal to his government and drained swamps to punish Shiite Mus­lims who rose up against him. He moved rebellious Kurds from the northern city of Kirkuk while sélling cheap land in the city to Arabs to reward loyalists and upend the ethnic balance of the country’s oil-rich north. He imprisoned tens of thou­sands, ordered the killings of political enemies, real and imag-Január 5, 2007 AMERIKAI Magyar Hírlap BÁL!! Úgy táncoltunk, mintha az életünk függne tőle... „DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE” - ezt a difiét adták a rendezők, dr. Pekarovics Zsuzsa és dr. Béres Attila, az immár harmadik éve ismétlődő, és rohamosan hagyománnyá váló Hungarian-American Synergy Jótékonysági bálnak. Ma már szinte hirdetniük sem kell ezt a pompás, izgalmas és elegáns eseményt, mert aki egyszer ott volt, az nem felejti el, milyen kellemes és emlékezetes élményben volt része. A bálnak olyan tiszteletbeli fővédnökei voltak, mint városunk pol­gármestere, Antonio Villaraigosa, és a Magyar Köztársaság washing­toni nagykövete, Simonyi András. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kalifornia kormányzója is üdvözletét küldte (jobban tette volna, ha síelés helyett ő is a bálba jön, ott nem törött volna el a lába...) A kék alapon hópelyhekkel díszített báli műsorfüzet mindjárt a hazai báli szezon téli hangulatát kelti. A címlapot úgy alakították ki, mint egy receptet: a doktor bácsi (néni) mindenkinek azt írta elő, hogy évente legalább egyszer, este hattól éjjel kettőig, a Regent Beverly Hills Hotel Grand Trianon Báltermében ropja a táncot, mert az gyógyítja a testet és a lelket. Nos hát, mi megfogadtuk a jótanácsot, és még vagy kétszáz más honfitársunkkal együtt elmentünk a bálba és hajnalig táncoltunk. A férjem, Julius, a titoktartás nagymestere külön Nobel-díjat érdemelne ezért az alakításáért, mert mint utóbb kiderült, mindezt két törött bor­dával csinálta végig! Kitűnő volt a vacsora, színvonalas a műsor, és megérdemeltek a kiosztásra került díjak. Pekarovics Zsuzsi doktornő halványkék, csip­kés, krinolinos báli ruhája pedig egy filmsztárnak is becsületére vált volna. Az ízletes vacsora főétel-választéka kecskesajttal és spenóttal töltött csirkemell vagy Filet Mignon portói szószban volt, fénypontja pedig egy grillázs-kosár háromféle fagylalttal és friss gyümölccsel. Finom borok fokozták a jó hangulatot, miközben Gáti Kati, az ismert színésznő sorra jelentette be a műsorszámokat. A magyar huszárok bevonultak, a Beverly Hills Cotillion táncolt. Dr. Robert Wendt Bob herceg belépőjét énekelte korhű kosztümben. Jevgenyij Miljavskiy, a 2006-os Los Angeles-i Liszt Verseny győztese zongorázott, Rosalie Cole pedig - ha már az egész este a táncról szólt - a My Fair Ladyből az „I could have danced all night” című számot énekelte. A zenét Mandel Róbert DJ szolgáltatta. A báli nyertesek: 1. Székely fonó előadás / Maxim András $ 3500.00 2. Magyar Ifjúsági Sportnap / 8. és 49. Cserkész Csapatok $2000.00 3. Huszáregyenruha / Első Calif. Huszár Regiment $ 1000.00 Életműdíj: az idén hirtelen és idő előtt eltávozott Varga Tibor kapta, és Óss Enikő vette át (az átadott vásárolt szobor címe Lladro: Imagnitation, a Beverly Hills-i Lladro Gallery-ből) 1956-os _díj: Dr^ Pekarovics Zsuzsa (mint az 56-os szellem továbbvivője). A bál fővédnökei voltak: Gyémánt Pártolók: Jancsó Julius és Zsuzsa, Genentech, Califor­nia Care Source Arany Pártolók: Andrew Friedman, Konkoly László és Éva Ezüst Pártolók: az Ontarioi Független Magyar Református Egyház, Bíró Leslie és Elli, Szoboszlai Sándor, AAA Interconnect Care, Total Home Care, Hámori George és Bobbi, Havasi Sándor és Marilyn Forndney, Safety One Security Inc. Hozzájárulok: Pfizer, Roche, Pintér László és Elizabeth, Mihály Zoltán és Klára, Elliott Friedman, Ternovszky Zsuzsa. A tombolán Herendi porcelánok, finom borok és ajándék utalvá­nyok kerültek kisorsolásra. Gratulálunk a rendezőknek a remekül sikerült bálhoz, amelyről még sokáig beszélni fog Los Angeles és környéke magyarsága. Talán egészen addig, amíg el nem jön a következő bál napja, amely Valentin Bál lesz, 2008. február 9-én. Jancsó Zsuzsa ARCOK A BÁLBÓL Dr. Győri Róbert és felesége Marika AMERICAN Hungarian Journal ......... ........ v . '■........................ ' ....'.l.l...—...

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