Embassy of the United States

Issues in Focus

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Embassy Officers Jeff Jordan, Chargé Jeff Levine, Dan Koski, and Steve Weston donating blood in support of the International Roma Day (Embassy photo by Jon Martinson)

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Embassy Officers Jeff Jordan, Chargé Jeff Levine, Dan Koski, and Steve Weston donating blood in support of the International Roma Day (Embassy photo by Jon Martinson)

The Embassy's Activities in Support of Tolerance

The U.S. Embassy is committed to promoting tolerance, believing strongly in speaking against hate speech and any manifestations of racial, ethnic and religious bigotry, and homophobia.

Below are noted some of the Embassy's public activities in support of the conviction that society must not tolerate discrimination against any minority group. Also attached are some of the Embassy remarks from these events.

Remarks and Statements

• Chargé Levine's Remarks at the Gay Pride Festival Opening (August 30, 2009)
• Deputy Chief of Mission's Remarks on the Hajdúhadház Desegregation Case (January 1, 2009)
• Opening Remarks at Stephen Feinberg's Holocaust Teachers Seminar (December 9, 2008)
• Remarks at the Jewish Religious Community Headquarters in Debrecen (November 13, 2008)
• Remarks at the "Campaign for Roma Law Enforcement" Open Press Conference (November 10, 2008)
• Statement on the Violence During the Gay Pride Parade on July 5, 2008
• Remarks at the National Memorial Holocaust Site (Balf, Hungary; June 17, 2008) (pdf file) 
• "My thoughts on visiting Auschwitz on May 1, 2008"
• Remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the New Headquarters for the Roma Self-Government of Budapest (April 22, 2008)
• Remarks at the Local Closing Conference for Roma Integration Program (March 30, 2007)

Public Activities

• Jazz Night to Promote Respect and Dialogue in Hungary (October 16, 2009)
• Joint Statement Expressing Support for Budapest Pride Festival (August 30, 2009)
• Roma Fellowship Program (August 28, 2009)
• Embassy Helps Rock against Racism (August 11, 2009)
• Teaching Tolerance through English (August 1-15, 2009)
• Chargé Levine Commemorates the Roma Holocaust (August 2, 2009)
• Chargé Levine Visits Roma and Friends Summer Camp (July 28, 2009)
• Luncheon for Rabbi Arthur Schneier and Hungarian Religious Leaders (July 23, 2009)
• Hungarian Roma NGO recognizes U.S. Embassy Employee (June 26, 2009)
• Embassy Links Minority Police Spokesmen from U.S. and Hungary to Share Job Insights (June 24, 2009)
• Serenades and Celebration: Chargé Delivers Tolerance Message at Gypsy Festival (May 30, 2009)
• Public Affairs Officer Michael Hurley Opens Film on Jewish War Heroine at Central European University (May 20, 2009)
• Chargé Levine Commemorates the Hungarian Holocaust Remembrance Day (April 16, 2009)
• Embassy Officials Roll-Up Their Sleeves to Support International Roma Day (April 8, 2009)
• Public Affairs Section Celebrates International Roma Day (April 8, 2009)
• John Farrell Builds Bridges of Peace and Hope with Students in Budapest (03/25/2009)
• Tolerance Video Competition Awards Ceremony Attracts Overflow Crowd (03/20/2009)
• Best Practices Shared at International Symposium against Anti-Semitism in Budapest (03/19-20/2009)
• Prominent Civil Rights Activist and Advocate of Peaceful Social Change Visits Hungary (02/17-21/2009) 
• Embassy "Tolerance Tour" Reaches Over 1,000 Students (02/2009)
• Embassy Outreach Trip to Hajdúhadház (01/08/2009)
• Embassy Conducts Successful Outreach to Teachers on Holocaust Education (12/09/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Meets with Roma MPs (12/02/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Commemorates Jewish Victims of the 1956 Revolution (11/20/2008)
• Daniel Pearl Commemoration Promotes Tolerance (11/17/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Leads Successful Outreach to Debrecen (11/13/2008)
  (Visit to the Debrecen Jewish community to denounce violence and intolerance in the wake of a recent attack against the Jewish community there.)
• Ambassador Foley Speaks out on the Need for Tolerance (11/11/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Emphasizes HIV/AIDS Prevention and Tolerance for Students (10/12/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Welcomes Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis (09/15/2008)
• Chargé d’Affaires Commemorates the Roma Holocaust (08/02/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Commemorates the Roma Holocaust (08/01/2008)
• Embassy Sponsored Summer Youth Camp, "Roma and Friends," Promotes Tolerance (07/31/2008) 
• Ambassador Underscores the Importance of Education and Respect for Cultural Diversity at Roma Youth Camp (07/25/2008) 
• Ambassador Foley Honors the Memory of a Rescue Operation of Hungarian Jews in WWII (07/24/2008) 
• Ambassador Foley Promotes U.S. Commercial Ties with Hungary (07/23/2008) 
  (Met with the Mayor of Békéscsaba and expressed her concern about Magyar Gárda activities in the area.)
• Ambassador Foley Meets with the Prime Minister’s Commissioner for Roma Affairs, MP László Teleki (07/16/2008) 
• Embassy Reaches out to the Roma Community in North-East Hungary (06/21/2008) 
• Ambassador Foley Encourages Competitiveness and Promotes Tolerance in Western Hungary (06/17/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Meets with Minority Rights Ombudsman (05/30/2008)
• Celebrating Diversity: Photo Exhibit of Native Americans (05/28/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Celebrates Tolerance with AISB Graduates (05/25/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Re-emphasizes "Never Again" in Visit to Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (05/01/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Attends the Opening of Roma Self-Government Headquarters (04/22/2008)
• Ambassador Foley Visits International Youth Summer Camp in Hungary (08/16/2007)
• Ambassador Honored by the Roma Minority Government (07/02/2007)
• Roma Program in Borsodbóta Celebrates Education Achievements (03/30/2007)
• Carl Lutz Memorial Unveiled in front of U.S. Embassy (12/13/2006)

Publications by the U.S. Department of State

• Annual reports on Human Rights Practices and International Religious Freedom
• Freedom of Faith: Religious Minorities in the United States
• Human Rights in Brief
• Nonviolent Paths to Social Change
• Sixty Years: Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Related Links

• Teaching Tolerance - A project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
  -- Teaching Tolerance Magazine
  -- 10 Steps to Take Action
• People & Places: Offering a Place for Everyone
  Web portal by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP)
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
  Education resources on non-Jewish victims:
  -- Sinti & Roma: Victims of the Nazi Era
  -- Homosexuals: Victims of the Nazi Era
  More links at the USHMM web site
• Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education
• The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota
• March of the Living International
• Remembrance and Beyond: United Nations Outreach Program
• International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
• European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)
  

Last updated: 10/21/2009