Citizens Against Hatred The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Over the course of centuries, the Bulgarian people have refused to follow the prophets of hatred. They consciously built their Liberation on the categorical ·Instruction” of Vassil Levski: ·Bulgarians, Turks, Jews, and the like shall all be equal in every respect, be it faith, nationality, civic relations, or anything at all.” Before they even had an independent state, the Bulgarians had offered shelter to Jews running from faraway terror. After the Liberation, they did not exact revenge upon the Turkish population remaining in the country. They accepted Armenians seeking refuge as their brothers. They even stood up against Hitler in order to save their Jewish compatriots. Two generations later, masses of them refused to take part in the so-called ·Revival Process” of forced name-changes of the Muslim population. In contrast to many other nations in the region, Bulgaria had no fratricidal wars with its own during the 1990s. But today, hate speech has penetrated ever more powerfully through the curtain of indifference. Elected to Parliament, in order to work in the interests of the entire nation, politicians from the Attack Coalition have taken it upon themselves to divide the nation into Bulgarians and ·nonBulgarians” - Turks, Gypsies and Jews. Attack’s leader, Volen Siderov, has promised to ·return Bulgaria to the Bulgarians” by the means of ·degypsification” and ·deturkification.” During his election campaign, Siderov made the following pledge: “...At last, Bulgarians will have their own representation in Parliament. It won’t just be full of queers, Gypsies, Turks, foreigners, Jews, and all other types, but there will be only, exclusively, Bulgarians!” His public statements are overflowing with unlawful epithets such as ·the international Jewish elite,” ·fag-lesbo meeting places,” and ·terrorists from the Gypsy ghettoes.” Without a doubt, Volen Siderov and his Attack Coalition have been able to attract support because they point out the imperfections in the Bulgarian state and society’s efforts to construct a modern, diverse, just, developed society. But the words one uses to characterize a problem also provide a definition of the solution one proposes. Dividing the Bulgarian nation into ·Bulgarians” and ·non-Bulgarians” is a sufficiently calculated warning of the looming danger: that of tumbling down into the dark chasm of mutual hatred. Hate speech in itself serves to barbarize societal mores, stimulates violence and tears apart that fragile veneer of civilization that is the only thing that fosters the attainment of peace, development and prosperity. People who hate each other live in poverty and violence. We, the undersigned Bulgarian citizens and organizations, in step with Vassil Levski’s program of ·brotherhood for all, without looking to faith or national origin,” declare, that we decisively and uncompromisingly reject hate speech, which is a disgrace to our country and its history. We shall undertake every effort against hatred and national divisiveness, and we call on all our fellow citizens and civil organizations to join us in these efforts. We shall utilize every opportunity to work, alongside public institutions, for the achievement of a civilized solution to the problems arisen from widespread hate speech and national divisiveness. In the first place we shall turn to the judiciary, and we shall demand that the civil courts prosecute hate speech and declare, via the authority of their judgments, that Bulgarian law forbids such speech. We invite all citizens and organizations who wish to join the Citizens Against Hatred campaign to contact us. Contact person: Margarita Ilieva, 3592 943 4876, 359 887 416523, margarita.ilieva@gmail.com. Citizens Against Hatred Civil Coalition - Initiative Committee: Evgenii Daynov, political scientist; Georgi Lozanov, media expert; Mihail Nedelchev, literary critic; Yordan Popov, Sturshel newspaper; Georgi Dyulgerov, film director; Alexander Kyosev, literary theorist; Georgi Mishev, writer; Teodora Dimova, writer; Dimitar Bochev, writer; Antonii Todorov, political scientist; Anri Kulev, painter; Prof. Tzocho Boyadjiev, philosopher A list of coalition members is given on the next page
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