Madonna - Hindu & Jewish Leaders Applaud Madonna For Roma Comments

Hindus and Jews have come out in support of MADONNA after she was booed and jeered by thousands of fans at a show in Romania on Wednesday night (26Aug09) when she protested the treatment of Roma gypsies in the country onstage.

The pop superstar was playing to a sell-out crowd of 60,000 in Bucharest as part of her ongoing Sticky & Sweet world tour when she paused to address issues of discrimination in eastern Europe, urging fans to fight prejudice against the travellers.

Madonna told the audience, "I've never been to Romania before and I am happy to be here. But I found out that there is a lot of discrimination against gypsies in eastern Europe and that makes me very sad, especially because we believe in acceptance, gypsies, homosexuals, people that are different. It makes me very sad. Everyone must be treated the same, don't forget that."

But her attempt at unity was met with boos from the hostile crowd.

However, Hindu and Jewish leaders in her native America have applauded Madonna's efforts.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed and Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich have joined forces to commend Madonna for at least trying to get a message across.

A joint statement from the two religious leaders reads, "Romania and Europe should apologise for the blatant show of prejudice shown towards Roma brothers and sisters when Madonna spoke against Roma discrimination during her concert in Bucharest.

"The alarming condition of Roma people is a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as these people face social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalisation, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse and racist slogans.

"It's like an undeclared apartheid... The Roma issue should be one of the highest priorities of the human rights agenda of Europe and (the) world."

Zed and Rabbi Freirich are now urging other celebrities to take Madonna's example and use their status to highlight "the apartheid conditions faced by about 15 million Roma people in Europe".

The Roma people migrated to mainland Europe from India in the 11th century; they are believed to have their roots in the Indian subcontinent.