How to Donate to the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem
As many of you may know, the Domari community in Palestine is suffering alongside native Palestinians in the genocidal campaign headed by Israel.
Though we do not know much of the Domari's struggles in detail, I can only imagine it is the same extent as the Palestinians' struggles.
The Domari Society was founded by director Amoun Sleem in 2000 and since then she and her staff have done incredible things for the Domari, including providing resources and education to women and children.
On the Domari Society website, there is information on how to send donations via bank transfer, but considering that their main avenue may not be the most accessible to share and donate, I am making this post providing a step-by-step guide on how to donate to the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem.
This method works only if you have a PayPal and/or Xoom account (Xoom is owned by PayPal so if you only have PP, you can still donate.)
Step-by-Step:
Click this [link] here. It will take you to Xoom's page for sending money to Israel (Jerusalem is occupied by Israel, so it must be through them). Make sure you are signed in to either Xoom or PayPal.
Enter a minimum amount of 35.66 shekels (minimum 10.01 USD) to send. Click (Send Now) to progress to the next page.
3. Confirm information on screen and click (Next).
4. Select (Bank Deposit) and click (Next).
5. When selecting a bank, click (Other) and it will bring you to a page where you must enter the IBAN number of the bank you want to send money to.
The IBAN for the Domari Society's bank is IL040176380000002503877 (copy and paste this exactly).
Confirm that the bank is Mercantile Discount Bank Ltd and click (Next).
6. Enter in contact information. It is as follows:
First Name: Domari
Last Name: Society
Address 1: Shua'fat, Derech Shua'fat 10
City: Jerusalem
Phone Number: +97225324510
Email: [email protected]
7. Enter any information required and choose your payment option. On the last page, confirm the information listed and if everything is correct, click (Send).
Bank transfer may take a few days, but congratulations! You just donated to the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem. Know that your contribution will go towards the betterment of the Domari in Palestine.
Also, most information is found on the Domari Society's website, so if you wish to confirm that the donation is legitimate you can check the bank details here: [link]
Please share this whether you donate or not, it could mean life or death for Dom under occupation. May we all see a day where our people are safe. Te aven baxtalo šā¤ļøš
Happy international Romani Day! This year with the ongoing genocide against Palestinians i would like to draw attention to the Dom people in Palestine. The Dom and Roma people are not the same as the groups left India at different times and using different routes but they share similar origins and face similar struggles and oppression. There are estimated 2.2 million Dom people in the Middle East and North Africa. The Palestinian Dom people live in West Bank, Gaza and occupied Jerusalem. The biggest Dom community is in Gaza ā around 12,000-15,000 people were living there when the war started, but nobody knows how many of them are still alive.
The Domari Society is a non-profit organization based in Jerusalem aiming to improve the conditions of the Dom people, founded by Amoun Sleem who's interviewed in the recent article linked above. The Domari Society is unique for being founded and organized by the Dom community itself and has done incredible work such as providing education for children and women and preserving the endangered Domari language. The organization relies on donations to fund its activities and i recommend donating to them if you want to support the Palestinian Dom people in this particularly difficult time. Just raising awareness about the Dom and their situation is important too even if you can't donate
Yes and no. I, personally, am still active on Tumblr and I'm not abandoning this blog by any means, but current circumstances make it difficult for me to post regularly. Consider this blog as being on hiatus for the time being, but don't worry about it going away forever.
When I'm ready and have more time, expect scheduled/queued posting and fresh invite links for the Discord server. Until then, sit tight, and know that I'm not killing this blog.
I hope you don't mind, but I really need your input on something.
To start off, the majority of my dad's side of the family and our ancestors are romani (specifically, based on my research on our roots and history, sinti and perhaps lovari), and I've been aware of this since I was a child (followed by taking a DNA test years later). There are a lot of aspects/similarities of the culture that I can remember being present in my childhood, though I can't really say that all of it was there. The only thing that's completely out of the picture is any romani chib/language, and the rules we have is not exactly the same as usual traditional laws.
I know that I most likely could be didicoy, I'm just not sure if I even count having romanipen; whether you need all the aspects, or if trying to connect more with my heritage anyways is disrespectful or not, it's just frustrating and I don't want to harm anybody from it. I do want to look into the resources that you've been giving out from time to time, though again, I feel that it'll be pushing boundaries against the community if I'm not sure of where I stand in it all. I know that you might not know all the answers either, but I hope you understand where I'm coming from and I really appreciate all the help you've been giving to the community.
I'm honored that you're coming to me for this input and I hope I can alleviate your worries a bit with what I have to say.
Just from what you wrote, I think you're being genuine, and I'd say the fear of being disrespectful or pushing boundaries as a didicoy is normal. Like even now with me being more confident and sure of my want to reconnect I still fear of accidentally being an ignorant white didicoy who feels entitled to what I'm not owed.
Especially for a hyper-vigilant group like the romani diaspora, it can be intimidating and stressful wondering if you even can or should reconnect. It's okay, and honestly I think that says good things about your character for having this at the forefront of your mind.
That being said, reconnecting takes a lot but not every subgroup of roma is the same and a lot of differences between traditions and laws can be found. There are general rules, traditions, laws, etc. yeah, but the honestly beautiful thing about us roma is that we are so incredibly diverse due to the many countries we span across and our own life experiences. Even families within the same vitsa in the same country will have different cultural norms. This is why its encouraged to find your specific vitsa to reconnect to, instead of adopting the pan-romani cultural norms often seen online.
Speaking of online, it's not going to tell you everything, because the majority of what is posted about romani people is not from people who are most connected to the culture. There's really valuable information of course, but keep that nugget in your mind that they biggest way to learn and make an informed decision about connecting or not is by talking to other roma and even other didicoy.
Like, I started my server worried that it wasn't going to be what I wanted. I admittedly have a selfish desire to have my experiences as a didicoy validated and I wanted to have a group that I belong to. I knew it wasn't guaranteed but that desire was still there along with the fear that I indeed wouldn't be validated, but if that happened I would've still tried to take it as neutrally as possible and work on myself to be a better member.
Thankfully, the folks who joined in are immensely supportive and kind and I was left surprised just how similar, yet still unique, experiences we all share. In this time, too, I read Ronald Lee's book "Goddamn Gypsy/E Zhivindi Yag" and I had a realization.
Reconnecting isn't necessarily how "authentic" you are. There are 10-12 million roma alive today, with many more that chose not to disclose their race on censuses/are didicoy themselves. Like with that many people the possibilities for each person's life experience are virtually endless. It may be a trial and error process, but if you find the right people and have a genuine connection with them through both your heritage and your life experiences then it's so much easier to achieve that connection you're longing for.
My fears were in a vacuum for the most part, just my own self-imposed guilt and feeling like I didn't have a place no matter how hard I tried, rotating in my brain and discouraging me from taking the steps to encompassing my romani heritage into my identity. You may feel the same or similar, and if you do I highly suggest you talk to other roma/didicoy and start building those relationships. If you want as well, an invitation to the server is always available to you. I promise you won't be mistreated or judged, were all in the same boat there.
Bottom line, you're careful not to offend or overstep and I greatly respect that. Your experiences or lack thereof do not disqualify you from reconnecting to your heritage or even just talking to people as someone on the border. Care and respect should always be practiced by didicoy imo but I encourage people to actually get involved if they so choose. Despite our differences, the one thing that links all of us roma together is community and connection. We are nothing without our bonds and no matter who you ask, community is a big part of being romani. Whether you choose to reconnect or not is your choice overall, but if you sincerely want this then please don't rob yourself of opportunity out of fear.
A server for Roma and didicoy of all backgrounds to meet and form a community.
We are currently very bare bones and this is the first public invite, so please keep that in mind if you decide to join.
Currently, we are ONLY accepting Roma and didicoy (no gadje, no exceptions), and the invite is limited only to 10 uses. I doubt the server will remain small, but I much prefer slowly building up the user base instead of everyone rushing in at once.
But, anyways, if you are interested in being part of the Vitsa Didicoy Discord click [here].
Sorry to bother if you have already but would you mind showing some traditional romnai men's clothing? š
Considering I don't know if you're a gadjo or not, or your intentions, I won't just answer with a bunch of images, but I will point you in the direction to meaningfully do research and find your own resources.
If you're a gadjo and plan on using these references for yourself, simply don't. Romani clothing has been bastardized by gadje for centuries, the biggest example of this being the Bohemian style just ripping us off indiscriminately. It's best if gadje respectfully leave Romani culture to actual Roma.
If you're using this for a Romani character, that's fine imo, but seriously do your research and really ask yourself if having a Romani character is worth accidentally getting stuff wrong and being called out for it.
But anyways, you can find old pictures and artwork depicting Roma in traditional clothing, though it probably won't look like what you expect. Romani people, especially men who worked outside of the family, with gadje, are kind of experts of fitting in to avoid persecution.
Personally I'd look through RomArchive for photos and paintings. RomArchive is really good at labeling the vitsa the Roma pictured belong to when it's known, as well. (Vitsa is important, our culture varies a lot between vitsas and even between families). You can use RomArchive's search engine [here]. (You'll get the best results if you type one keyword at a time and choose the "Archive" filter.)
And honestly a good rule of thumb for researching anything for the first time is to check the sources on Wikipedia's page for it. Yes, Wikipedia has its issues and I don't trust them to inform people about Roma fully, but if you look at the sources Wikipedia uses, you're more likely to find more in-depth information on the topic you're looking for. Wiki for Romani dress [here].
Be informed and be respectful, those are my only caveats for you receiving this information if you are a gadjo. Thank you.
Hello! Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could explain what didicoy means?
Iām half Romani, but raised away from my culture and most of my Romani family, and it is not a word I have ever heard my mother use
A didicoy refers to a Romani person who is mixed and/or was raised away from Romani culture and do not have Romanipen.
Didicoy can also be used to describe non-Romani travellers/nomads, but many people such as myself use it to describe ourselves better than just "Romani", because to many it implies that we were raised in the culture or have Romanipen.
Today is June 19th, the American holiday commemorating the ending of enslavement of Black Americans. I want to give all of my best wishes to Black gadje and Afro-Romani alike, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Just wanted to come on a send a quick message to my gadjekane followers. Thank you for taking the time to learn about Romani culture and rights. It should be the baseline in my opinion for people to know the truth about us, but in this current world I know misinformation is spread far more than real information. Your knowledge helps us, though, as you can now teach anyone who is misinformed and start correcting the misconceptions about Romani people on a small basis. Of course, grand strides are also needed when ensuring rights for Roma, but if both big and small efforts are made then our progress will skyrocket.
Good evening, I was wondering if you had any good sources for people trying to learn/reconnect to Romani culture? Iāve been trying to learn more lately as my great grandmother left Europe during ww2 and was only allowed to keep her new children (in our current country, the one she fled to) if she didnāt tech them her language, religion or anything really (same with her new husband who was a refugee from another country). Wouldnāt even tell grandma what country she was from to narrow it down, but we recently found out about her eldest kid in Denmark. Would you know of any reputable resources I could access?? Thereās a lot of bull shit floating around the internet and Iād hate to be misinformed
I'll start this by apologizing ahead of time for the length, as there is so much information that I feel is important when you are wanting to reconnect with Romani culture. Also, I'm not an expert and a didicoy myself. I do not have Romanipen and do not speak for all Romani. I am just someone who wants to help Roma and didicoy alike with their struggles.
First thing to understand is that Roma are not a monolith (obviously) and that our culture, religious practices, food, clothing, music, art, etc. all varies from vitsa to vitsa and even family to family. There are similarities of course, but never assume that just because one vitsa does one thing that means that its universal. A lot of gadje that try and write Romani characters get this wrong.
Some of our biggest similarities, though, are what keep us together across vitsas, especially our language, our oppression, and our Romanipen. Romanipen is a serious thing, often dictating whether you're "truly" Romani or a gadjo. Whether or not someone has Romanipen is based on whether they speak Romani Chib, were raised in a Romani community, follow Romani laws and traditions, know Romani history and oppression, etc. Because of the importance of Romanipen, some vitsas do not consider didicoy (Roma who were raised in gadjekane society and do not have Romanipen) as Roma and consider them to be gadje. This does not mean didicoy can never be accepted back, but it does mean that there is a lot of work that goes in to reconnecting with the culture.
So, where can you start? In my opinion the easiest way to start learning is through Florian Tacorian. He's Kalderash Romani and he talks about Romani culture, language, traditions, and oppression, including rating characters that represent Romani people in fiction. He's very digestible for gadje and didicoy to learn from. His YouTube channel is found here:
History and Culture | š·š“š¦š²šā¤ļøš
Once you feel comfortable with the info you learn from him, you can delve deeper by reading books about the Romani experience. Many Roma have written their experiences and history into published works (I'll link a list later in the post), but one that I've personally read from is Ian Hancock. He's Romanichal from Britain and he now teaches linguistics and other subjects at the University of Texas in Austin, TX.
Ian Hancock's works:
Ian Hancock has 39 books on Goodreads with 2934 ratings. Ian Hancockās most popular book is We Are the Romani People.
I suggest: We Are the Romani People and Pariah Syndrome
And here's a compiled list of Romani authors if ever you want to extend your knowledge to other experiences:
Furthermore, I truly believe that advocating for Romani Rights and learning from current events is half of learning about Roma as a whole. Our oppression is on-going with public opinion of Roma being wholly ignorant at best and vehemently hateful at worst. Reconnecting should also be spearheaded by a desire to uplift Romani voices and to advocate for equal rights. To be more educated on current Romani events, the European Roma Rights Centre is the best place for it.
European Roma Rights Centre:
ERRC.org - European Roma Rights Centre - Challenging Discrimination Promoting Equality
Next, the most desired part of reconnecting I'd say, is learning Romani Chib. The reason you may not see easily accessible lessons for Romani Chib is because it is closed, meaning only Roma are allowed to learn it. This doesn't mean lessons for didicoy don't exist and there are resources available to learn Romani Chib. Personally, I'm learning American Kalderash from Ronald Lee's books. Even though I'm not Kalderash (at least to my current knowledge), it is still a useful dialect to learn, especially if you live in North America and want to converse with other American/Canadian Roma.
Keep this in mind, pretty much each vitsa has its own unique dialect and, based on the region, each dialect may have different loan words from the country that that vitsa resides in. Ronald Lee will not teach you how to speak every dialect, but, if you get the ground work in and talk to more and more people, you may be at least able to understand what someone from a different vitsa is saying using context clues and thus build your own vocabulary.
Link to Learn Romani by Ronald Lee:
Link to it's sister book, Romani Dictionary (English - Kalderash) by Ronald Lee:
Lastly for this section, community is a huge thing for Roma, it's the biggest thing that has kept us alive through being exiled, persecuted, enslaved, and assimilated completely in the over 1,000 years we've been out of India. It's also something that many didicoy have a big problem with, considering the points above on how hard it is for didicoy to be accepted by Roma. It's not impossible, nor is it hopeless however.
Some Roma will take pity on you because you didn't choose to be raised a gadjo, some Roma will see you as an aspect of racism and be defensive, some won't care and treat you on the basis of your character instead, and some will just ignore you. Again, Romani people are not a monolith and 10-12 million minds all with different lives will have incredibly varied opinions.
It is key to keep this mind and most importantly, to be neutral about this internally. You did not choose for your ancestors to undergo persecution, you did not choose to be raised in the dark about your heritage, and you did not choose to be born with mixed blood.
The best you can do when approaching the community is to be respectful, but engaged. As a didicoy you both can't be entitled to practice every aspect of the culture, but you also can't be too afraid to try what you're allowed to. If you are unsure of your place, ask. If you have a question about a practice, ask. If you are interested in aiding and actually being a cog in the community, you can also just ask. "No" is not a bad word and understanding why you're rejected if and when you are is a good mindset to have when you're trying to build trust in the community, too. On the flip side, if you are presented an opportunity to practice within the culture, take it. If there are Romani events in your area with an open invitation, visit and actually experience first-hand. Talk to people, tell them your intention and if you are genuine, you'll get farther than you might think.
As for online communities, I suggest starting with r/Romani on Reddit. There are a lot of posts from didicoy asking about where to start, like you. Read the comments on those posts and you'll see a lot of advice from Roma with all different experiences. And don't gravitate towards the advice that makes you feel good, just the advice that makes logical sense to you.
r/Romani:
Again I'm sorry that this is not only so long, but also that it took so long to get out. When answering these questions, I try to help with any aspect that I can, but I still want people to engage with the community themselves. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you find the answers you've been looking for.
We are all in this together. Te aves baxtalo šā¤ļøš
May 5 is the Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. (Also known as Red Dress Day.)
Show your support and pass on your strength by wearing red on May 5, and raising awareness. And if you have never read the Reclaiming Power and Place report, you can do so here.
Additionally, while the day is typically centred in Turtle Island, let us also not forget our international cousins, especially in Palestine and Sudan.
Today is also the total solar eclipse across North America and it was very cool to see for myself.
But in the Romani context, this day is important for us to celebrate our culture, learn about our history, and to advocate for Romani rights across the world.
If you arenāt Romani but still wish to observe this day, then I invite you to visit the website for the European Roma Rights Centre where various articles can be found on Romani life, as well as the various forms of oppression we are subject to. Itās a very valuable resource for learning about Romani Rights.
Another valuable source of information that is more easily digestible are the shorts and videos made by Florian Tacorian on YouTube and TikTok. Heās Kalderash from Romania and his videos shed light on daily life for Roma, our traditions and culture, as well as how our culture is perceived by outsiders and misrepresented.
Take this day as an opportunity to learn and appreciate our culture, as it makes you a better ally when advocating for our equal rights.
As for my Romani siblings across the world, things are getting better and I personally see gadje changing their views on Roma as they get more educated, even in real life. Stay vigilant and stay safe, but have faith in your neighbors and be proud of who you are.
Appreciate your post about domari but please use Romani instead of G, itās tended to be viewed as a slur/disrespectful amongst those group of people! (Coming from someone who has Romani family)
Have a good day!
I understand where you're coming from but 1) I'm Romani and 2) the actual organization name is the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem. I'm the last person to disregard people who are uncomfortable with slurs and other derogatory language but, there are still plenty of Roma in the world that refer to themselves as gypsies.
Gadje should still never call us that though and should only refer to us as Romani/Domari/etc.
