The answer of ACI Hyde Park to the injurious satements of some organizations
The answer of ACI Hyde Park to the injurious declarations made by the "Never Again" Association and Youth Helsinki Citizen's Assembly of Moldova
The International Civil Association Hyde Park declares itself against the injuries and plaints brought by the "Never Again" Youth Association and the Youth Helsinki Citizen's Assembly of Moldova, claiming that our association promotes an anti-Semitic book, and mainly the essay of the Romanian-Bessarabian writer Paul Goma, "Red week: 28 June - 3 July 1940, or Jews and Bessarabia".
Unfortunately, we received the statement of these organizations indirectly. The signatory organizations neither contacted nor consulted us concerning some explanations about Hyde Park's activity. This way, their opinion appears to be tendentious, inaccurate and misinforming. We are tempt to think that their statement is one of bad-will and we suspect it to be a part of the government campaign of discrediting the ACI HP, even if their statement is declared as being a non-political act.
We do not agree with statements that ACI HP understands the freedom of speech, the democracy and the civil society as an ethnic concept. We consider that those who condemn us for holding unionist opinions wrongly treat the freedom of speech and see it as an ethnic matter. Condemning anti-Semitism they prove strong anti-Romanian views. In the Regulations of ACI Hyde Park are clearly explained the goals of the organization and on curaj.net on every page it is specified that Hyde Park does not necessarily share the views of the authors.
Regarding the figure of Ion Antonescu, Hyde Park never pronounced itself officially, and the information from curaj.net are only the users' opinions which have the right to exist!
Paul Goma, a Honorary Member of our organization, Honorary President of Chisinau Writers' Union and Honorary Citizen of Timisoara is a writer who opposed the communistic regime. Paul Goma, having a sound civic and publicist activity, is considered by Hyde Park to be a symbol of courage, human dignity and fight for human rights. The link to his page is displayed on our web-site since it was launched and it is rather strange that it is noticed so late.
Paul Goma defines his essay "Red week: 28 June - 3 July 1940, or Jews and Bessarabia" as an "attempt to structure in two columns the bad deeds of Romanians against Jews and the bad deeds of Jews against Romanians". We thing that this book, see by some organizations as anti-Semitic is a researching essay, in which Paul Goma tries to explain, and not to "prove" or to "blame the Jews themselves", as is wrongly and superficially declared by these organizations.
We think that it is wrong to classify someone who dares to discuss a delicate subject as being anti-Semitic and disclaiming the given subject. Also, it is unprofessional and exceeds the competencies of Human Rights Organizations to resume a literary work of a writer to a thesis out of which, it seems, they created a belief profession. We hope that the signatory organizations will treat with more responsibility and with the same attention the abuses of the oppressive regime from Chisinau, inclusively the persecutions of Hyde Park members and supporters.
The International Civil Association Hyde Park, founded in 2003, promotes the right of freedom of speech and access to information. The site curaj.net is a territory where everyone can express freely and on every page it is specified that Hyde Park does not necessarily share the views of the authors. (It is important to mention that on curaj.net every user can post his opinion, and not only the administration of the site.)
ACI Hyde Park is opened to debates and discussions, we invite the "Never Again" Youth Association and the Youth Helsinki Citizen's Assembly of Moldova to a fruitful and opened dialog for clarifying the discordances.
Parascovia Topada June 25, 2009
President of ACI HP
