Justifying the use of profanity emboldens the next person to use such language, just as justifying violence emboldens the next perpetrator; both words and silence carry political consequences and a price—the European Union needs to realize this - Shalva Papuashvili
Last week, reports emerged that an EU-funded concert was held featuring a musician who, due to their political stance, had cursed the mothers of over a million Georgian citizens—men and women, young and old alike. Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, wrote about this on social media.
As Papuashvili notes, the consequences of external incitement are also evident in a video released yesterday by Saakashvili, in which he curses and threatens the very public whose earlier abuse—according to Papuashvili—had been characterized by the EU delegation as an act of creative freedom of expression. Amidst the chorus of profanity—specifically, mother-insulting obscenities—voiced in unison by Aleksandre Kordzaia (aka Kordz) and Mikheil Saakashvili, we need to reflect once more on the nature of the situation we are facing.
Last week, news emerged that an EU-funded concert was being organized featuring a musician who, due to their political choices, had hurled mother-insulting obscenities at over a million Georgian citizens—men and women, young and old alike. The event was to be hosted by the Gori Art House, an entity that refers to these very same people as "slaves."
This sparked public outrage. While a segment of the "sect" criticized this indignation, expressions of regret also surfaced—acknowledging that mother-insulting profanity should not be a form of protest or self-expression, and admitting that hearing such obscenities in their own circles had never really been to their liking.
True, this regret was not voiced at the time, but even belated remorse is a step forward. If we have finally reached the point of acknowledging that such profanity is unacceptable and that political protest must have its limits, this realization could—and perhaps should—lead to further progress. The solution was simple and dignified: Kordzaia should have apologized to the public. She could have simply said that emotions got the better of her and that, amidst a political protest, she had crossed the line of human decency. After all, the process of catharsis—unusual for this sect—seemed to be heading in that very direction.
Yet, at that precise moment, the EU Delegation issued a statement effectively declaring that, for the majority of society, using profanity involving someone's mother constitutes freedom of creative expression (!)
The EU Delegation’s statement served to embolden the person who had delivered the insult, steering the sect—which had been on the verge of catharsis—away from the path of truth once again. Instead of taking a step toward an apology, the offender received political encouragement.
Remorse, responsibility, and respect for human dignity—values taught by Georgian culture—were supplanted by a stubborn refusal to abandon a flawed position, by dehumanization, and by aggression. It was confirmed once again that this is not a Georgian movement, but rather a campaign imported, coached, and incited from the outside. We see the consequences of external incitement in Saakashvili’s video from yesterday as well, in which the imprisoned dictator hurls insults and threats at the very public whose abuse the EU delegation had previously characterized as "creative freedom of expression." This is how unrebuked violence transforms into an emulated political symbol.
We witnessed this previously with the cases of Mzia Amaghlobeli and Zviad Ratiani, where the failure to condemn—and the political justification of—Amaghlobeli’s attack on a police officer created an environment conducive to subsequent violence against law enforcement.
Defending human rights does not require justifying a person's behavior. One can dispute the severity of a punishment while simultaneously condemning violence against a police officer. One can defend freedom of expression while simultaneously condemning the verbal abuse of citizens. This is precisely the consistency we expect from the European Union.
Justifications for verbal abuse are heard by the next person ready to hurl insults, just as justifications for violence are heard by the next potential perpetrator. Both words and silence carry political consequences and a price. The European Union needs to recognize this.
P.S. As I described earlier, a sect requires dogmas, priests, saints and martyrs, as well as its own calendar and rituals. A pseudo-religion also needs a hymnographer, and within the sect, Aleksandre Kordzaia eagerly stepped into that role.
Getting in proved easy, but getting out is far more difficult.
Who knows—perhaps the role of the sect’s chief hymnographer and reviler of the people no longer appeals to Kordzaia, yet the sect is unwilling to let its hymnographer go. Escaping its clutches is hard—especially when "Europe" itself has your back," writes Shalva Papuashvili.