Zašto ovu porodicu žele da izbace iz Srbije, odnosno iz Novog Sada u kome živi? Ne insiuniram, pitam, jer mi ovo sve izgleda čudno. Zbog čega bi se neko ostrvio na porodicu sa troje male dece?
Hello my name is Simon Wilson Philipino/American age 31, I’m a proud member of the Novi Sad community for over 3 years now, a business owner, a volunteer, artist & designer. I’m married to Evdoxia Seitanidou (Greek age 32) now for 8 years & we have 3 children Nathaniel age 6, William age 4 & Juliet age 2.
My wife and I are some of the founders of the Culture Exchange, a cultural center & Bike Kitchen here in Novi Sad. The Culture Exchange has been very active in the community offering a free Bike Kitchen, free workshops on bikes, art, crafts, sewing etc. free language courses in Serbian, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, German & English. We are also a venue for live music supporting many local artists. The concept of culture exchange is to create a community space geared towards social work that can run by itself without the need for government grants or other such support. So far the concept has worked well due to help from many volunteers & in the first year has reached a level of sustainability.
I’m writing this now as a member of the Novi Sad community which I believe has a wonderful, rich history of tolerance, openness & multiculturalism. I, my wife & children would love to see this continue & we hope to live in Novi Sad for many years to come as we continue to work to make this city a better place to live in.
The problem is now, for whatever reason, we have been targeted by factions in Novi Sad who are less open minded than most, who want to keep Serbia in the dark ages, through fear, xenophobia, homophobia, racism, fascism & the like. We have been accused of the most random & ridiculous things, & have received threats on our person & our lives. Despite complete transparency & openness in our dealings with the authorities & besides being a tax paying citizen of Novi Sad, with one of my kids going to public school here we have been given till the end of October to leave the country. With everyone from the police to our lawyers lying to us & bullying us, changing their story every day & trying their utmost to force us out of the country.
I have dedicated the last 4 years of my life towards Serbia & Novi Sad, living on next to nothing & working for free to help the peoples of Novi Sad. My business pays taxes & is a local Serbian business with a goal towards export creating a stronger Serbian economy & keeping the money local. I have fought with foreign companies & media to improve the Serbian name in the eyes of the west, defending Serbia at every opportunity.
I have traveled around the world to some 30-40 countries & lived in at least 10 & I have never previously experienced the corruption & intolerance that I have experienced here now in the last few months. We live in a troubling time in Serbia & the choice is yours every day to fight for your rights or to submit to fascism & intolerance. Recently a professor, husband & father was brutally beaten in our city by a group of homophobic youth. There is presently a trend in Novi Sad heading in a very bad direction, down a very dark path. Please spread the word & fight with us to keep Novi Sad the free & tolerant place we all hope in our hearts she is. We salute & appreciate any & all people in the police & media who are fighting to make their community a free & wonderful place to live.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”