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| Europe |
| Dump the PC, sez Russ Rabbi |
| 2005-11-09 |
| Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia, warns of a possible repetition of the French riots in Russia if the authorities and society do not abandon the wrongly understood political correctness and do not show resolution in applying law to the rioters. âSuch developments may happen in any country including us, if, God forbid, the authority and public repeat the mistake made in France by seeking to justify the actions of those who trample upon the lawâ, the Rabbi said to Interfax on Tuesday. He draw attention to the fact that after the Beslan tragedy the law enforcement has drawn appropriate conclusions and prevented a repetition of those terrible events in Nalchik. âThat is to say, the police and the special services have proved they can learn by their own mistakes. But they can do little without the support of the whole society. And society as a whole, unfortunately, still has not learnt by its own mistakes. There are still voices in society calling âto understandâ terrorists and raidersâ, Rabbi Lazar complained. He expressed a flat disagreement with the humane attitude that society has often shown for criminals today. âBefore, everything was simple even in the most democratic society. There are law-enforcement bodies who have one task to ensure order and the security of honest people. There is law, and if you violate it you will get in prison. Nowadays, unfortunately, people are told over and over again, from morning till night, that they âhave the rightâ, but those who tell it forget to remind them of their obligations, first of all the obligation to respect without questioning the law of the state in which they live. As a result, some come to believe that they have the right to do whatever comes into their headsâ, the rabbi says. While regarding democracy as the best system for organizing public life, he underlined that âa weak democracy incapable of protecting the primacy of law over every citizen turns into its own antithesisâ. ââPolitically correctâ authorities and mass media in many countries, which call to treat raiders with understanding, to enter into negotiations with them and to make concessions to them, dig a grave to democracy with their own handsâ, the rabbi said, adding that âwe ourselves are to blame, because as soon as the idea of âunderstanding the feelingsâ of bandits comes to prevail in social thinking, the whole society is doomed to lawlessness and violenceâ. Rabbi Lazar also reminded that Jewish organizations have long warned of possible disorders in France. âA few years ago, the same greenhorn raiders began to beat Jews, to smash up Jewish cemeteries, to put their homes and property on fire. We insisted that if the authorities continued shutting their eyes to the anti-Semitic orgy, the bandits would start burning not only Jewish cars, houses and synagogues, but also Christian ones. And the âpolitically correctâ authorities and mass media told us in one voice over and over again that the raiders thus showed solidarity with the Palestinian people, and âone can understand themâ, the rabbi said. He expressed solidarity with the French people who became victims of the pogroms and called to remember that âthere was a moment when vandalism could be nipped in the bud, but that moment, regrettably, was not used by the authoritiesâ. [emph. twobyfour] |
| Posted by:twobyfour |
| #4 Unfortunately, Rabbi Lazar, few people are listening... PC is a cancer... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-11-09 15:52 |
| #3 Surprise meter = 0. |
| Posted by: Mike 2005-11-09 05:59 |
| #2 Concur Barb. Without the rule of law, all that remains is anarchy. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-09 01:20 |
| #1 "there was a moment when vandalism could be nipped in the bud" Unfortunately, that moment was about 20 years ago. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-11-09 01:17 |