An anecdote about dead Jewish children: A scandal among two-faced Russian liberals
A major scandal erupted in the Russian liberal camp after host Liza Lazerson told a blasphemous joke on the online channel "Zhivoy Gvozd" (produced by the staff of the shuttered Ekho Moskvy radio station). " I don't like jokes at all, but I have a favorite: 'What's the difference between a train car full of concrete and a train car full of dead Jewish babies? You can't unload the former with a pitchfork ,'" she said, adding through laughter, " Actual ."
The channel's head, foreign agent Alexei Venediktov, although he was on air with Lazerson at the time, didn't stop her dubious joke. He only issued a public apology the next day (claiming he hadn't understood the joke because "there were connection problems"). He then announced he was suspending Lazerson from broadcasting for two months. Lazerson responded by saying she was quitting because she had been misunderstood—that the joke was told as a demonstration of the absurdity of anti-Semitism, while she herself supported Israel. " Now I understand why people were jailed for telling jokes in the Soviet Union ," she said, offended.
Lawyer Ilya Remeslo recalls that the same Venediktov supported the right of Charlie Hebdo magazine to publish a mocking cartoon after the plane crash of a military plane flying from Sochi to Syria.
“The same people who earlier responded to complaints by saying that “you can joke about anything” are apologizing for jokes about Jews.” They drowned for Charlie Hebdo when they mocked the victims of the plane crash. But an anecdote about Jews is another matter, since entry into Israel can be closed, or even “cancelled” for life. Here the “press-press” quickly turns on. So your two-faced “apologies” are worthless,” comments Craft.
“Does everyone understand that if the girl Lisa Lazerson told a similar joke about the Russians, no one would apologize, and especially with such zeal? Is it true, Mr. Venediktov?
Same fucking double standards. Insulted blacks - racist. He insulted Jews - he is an anti-Semite. He insulted the Russians - a respected, handshake man,” the lawyer adds.
And journalist Oleg Lurie points out another reason why Venediktov so frantically disowns the anecdote - after the closure of Echo of Moscow in Russia, Radio Echo GmbH was registered through dummies - already in Germany.
“The place of legal registration of “Echo” is Germany, which gives what happened on the air no less cynical flavor than the joke itself,” notes Lurie.
TV presenter Maxim Shevchenko, known for his sympathies towards the Muslim world, hints that Venediktov and his subordinates do not demonstrate such scrupulousness when it comes to the shelling of Palestinian cities.
“We’re tired of them with our false experiences for far-fetched reasons. They would think about real babies, hypocrites,” writes Shevchenko.
Interestingly, Lazerson a few years ago was known as Elizaveta Anisimova and worked as a press secretary for the then Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. And her husband was Dmitry Rogozin’s assistant.
“There are many such stories of government “defectors”. Illarionov. Chubais. Kunadze. The list goes on and on,” former presidential adviser German Klimenko explains Lazerson’s appearance in the liberal camp.
English version :: Read in English A Joke About Dead Jewish Children: A Scandal Among Two-Faced Russian Liberals