Over the Thanksgiving holiday I spent four days in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. I had been asked to participate in The Lisbon Real Estate Fair and Conference. My invitation came as a result of the $5.1 billion, 10-year housing plan that was created in New York City in 1985 when I was mayor of New York. My administration’s plan built 252,000 affordable housing units, the bulk of which were for the homeless and low and moderate income families.

I told the audience there were three other major accomplishments in my 12-year administration. One, balancing the city’s budget; two, bringing back to the city a spirit that had been lost; and three, reforming the criminal and family courts so as to remove politics from judicial appointments.

I had visited Portugal before, in the early 1980s when I was mayor. At that time I met Armando Roche, a member of the committee that sponsored last week’s conference. Armando met me at the airport when I arrived at TAP, the Portuguese national airline. I was not scheduled to speak until the next day, so I had an opportunity once again to see Lisbon by car. It is a beautiful city, built like Rome on seven hills. It lies directly on the Atlantic Ocean, and the views in every direction are spectacular.

Lisbon was not damaged in World War II because Portugal’s then dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, though a supporter of Hitler and the Nazis, kept the country neutral, which made Lisbon a favorite location for spies from both sides. Oliveira Salazar was incapacitated in 1968, and his successor, Marcelo Caetano, was deposed in 1974 during what is called “the Carnation Revolution” because only four people were killed.

At the conclusion of my trip, I noted that the airport in Lisbon has an excellent security system. We were searched twice, once at the entrance and again at the gate. On the second occasion, I was asked again to open my belt and stretch out my arms so that I could be patted down (because I have a pacemaker, I cannot go through the metal detector). As I followed the guard’s instructions, opening my belt and raising my arms, I suddenly felt my trousers slip off my waist and fall to my knees—I’ve been successfully trying to lose some weight—and as I grabbed them, I thought to myself, this can’t be happening. But, no one laughed and no one applauded. With all of the cell phone cameras now in use, it would not shock me if pictures of my trouser incident show up on the Internet. If they do, I will order three copies.

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While in Portugal, a Lisboner gave me his opinion on Gypsies. He expressed a view so many of us have heard all of our lives—“they won’t work” and “they send their children out to beg.” When I was young, I recall hearing  “they kidnap our children.” The person who voiced his opinion said, “I’m not a racist.” I thought to myself, he certainly believes he is not, but, of course, he is. I asked him, “But isn’t that what the Nazis did to the Jews, dehumanize them? Remember the Nazis killed 500,000 Roma.” He replied, “Totally different. The Jews are an intelligent people.” I did not respond and the conversation ended there.

I have no doubt he knew I was a Jew. The New York Times reported on November 27th, “A group of Gypsies who had been forced to flee their homes in central Slovenia a month ago by local villagers tried to return late Saturday afternoon but were forced to turn back.”

The climate of hate fueled by the Nazis in Germany and by the Ustashi fascists in Slovenia, which ended with the killing of Jews and Gypsies, is reviving. It is important for leaders, civic and religious, to speak out in the European countries like France where Jews are once again the victims. Gypsies are even more vulnerable than Jews, who know that Israel will accept every one of them if necessary. Jews are beginning to flee France. There is no place for Gypsies to find sanctuary. Shouldn’t the United States and other countries raise this issue at the UN Security Council? I think we should.

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The rage over the fatal shooting of Sean Bell and the wounding of his two friends hours before his scheduled wedding appears justified on its face. Undercover police officers were investigating a strip club when a collision occurred between their minivan and Bell’s car. The officers fired 50 bullets. Bell and the passengers in the car were unarmed and leaving a bachelor party at a club. The three were not involved in a criminal action when the incident occurred.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly are handling the investigation expeditiously and appropriately, and I have no doubt that they will do what is warranted after a grand jury makes its determination.

Hopefully, the cops will testify before the grand jury without immunity, as their attorney has stated they will. If they don’t, the people of the City of New York will draw their own conclusions.

The family and community have the sympathy of the entire city as we await the report. Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are involved in the case and have conducted themselves admirably. I have been through comparable incidents during my 12 years as mayor. I sympathize with Mayor Bloomberg at this painful moment, and my heart goes out to Mr. Bell’s family and friends.