|
On July 14, Georgian radical and extremist groups held a protest rally dubbed “The March of Georgians” on the Agmashenebeli Avenue, demanding the deportation of illegal migrants – Iranians, Arabs, Africans and others from Georgia. The following tendencies were revealed in covering the rally by Georgian media outlets:
- Racism
- Islamophobia, discrimination on religious grounds
- Xenophobia
- Migrant = Criminal
|
|
|
1. Racism against Migrants
|
|
|
Obieqtivi, Night Studio, July 11
Gia Korkotashvili, Our Homeland: “Now, you [referring to a police officer] are standing here and you have been ordered not to touch them… These Negroes are dragging our small girls by hair from one place to another… Only my neighbors have witnessed 15 thousand such cases; they beat them severely when they saw it, but why, for whose sake?”
Georgia and the World, July 21
Nika Korinteli, citing the letter of Andrey Alekseev: “We live in the reality, where the white Christian people have not got acquainted with each other well and are actively assimilating with other races. Thus, the most important stage of development has been omitted. It means that there is no racial harmony… Despite the dictatorship of tolerance, talks about racial war are becoming more and more active in Europe. The real reason is not that we are not familiar with Muslim culture, but we have yet to mature for mutual understanding… Germany is almost occupied by the Turks… Two white races will soon be extinguished. It is no secret for anyone that this process is already underway. However, non-white peoples of one religion also failed to understand each other. Instead, they managed to integrate into Christian countries. Multi-century confrontation is still underway between Japan and China, Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Moreover, even Christian counties hate each other. So, any talks about globalization are absolutely irrelevant here.”
|
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 7
Beso Barbakadze, journalist: “An Iranian has raped a six-year old boy in Akhaltsikhe. How should not we recollect that the 1659 uprising in Kakheti led by Bidzina Cholokashvili and Zaal, Duke of Aragvi started after the Persians raped a cleric? As it seems, a gene does its work. We do not say that the two countries should turn into enemies. But believe us that if similar fact had happened in Iran, a criminal would have been publicly hanged on the square in front of the people; and what about us… ”
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 12
Davit Mkheidze, author: “Tanzanian or Mozambique Negroes (it is paradoxical that those people, who built America on the bones of the Negroes, prohibited the use of the word “Negro” and introduced more “civilized” term – Afro-American) are my next-door neighbors, who bought the apartment from a native of Imereti [western Georgian region]. So, if I prefer to have that native of Imereti as the next-door neighbor, instead of those from Tanzania or Mozambique and this is fascism or xenophobia, then I am a fascist and a xenophobe.”
|
|
|
|
|
2. Islamophobia/Religious Discrimination against Migrants
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 10-16, Gigla Baramidze, United Democratic Movement: “There are tens of millions of similar xenophobes in Europe, who are fed up with African-Arabic immigration and Islamization! Thus, the March of Georgians was just part of European people’s movement and not ‘the Russian project’.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 31 – August 6
Elizbar Javelidze, People’s Assembly: “The March of Georgians is not “the Russian force”, but it is the Georgian national force! Entire Europe and America are fighting against increased Muslim immigration and “are they also Putin’s agents?! Look what’s happening in Adjara, Batumi! How Ottoman Turks are dominating there!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alia, July 24-30
Shota Apkhaidze, Caucasian Center of Islamic Research: “We do not want Georgia to be the country of sex tourism, to have child pornography, pedophilia, prostitution and smuggling here; I do not want my country to turn into the nest of radical Muslims, i.e. terrorists.”
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 3-9
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “The Muslims and other ethnic groups have already exceeded 51% of population in Frankfurt. And in this situation, it was high time to legalize same-sex marriage in Germany! Frankfurt is “the first swallow” – soon we will have the same situation in other big cities. Considering the fact that birth rate in Germany among Germans is extremely low, after several decades the number of Muslims will increase there so that German Federal Republic will turn into German Islamic Republic.”
|
|
Sakinform, July 13
Arno Khidirbegishvili, editor-in-chief: “We talk about drug dealers and rapists of young people, who defile our churches and act very defiantly in the streets of our cities, like masters instead of guests. Among those, whose faces are covered with hijab, unfortunately, we learn only post factum who is a terrorist, who is a Shahid or hired by the Islamic State…”
|
|
|
|
|
Kavkasia, Barrier, July 5
Guram Palavandishvili, philologist: “It [Turkey] is an occupant; it forcibly converts people to Islam; it enters through economic expansion; captures our streets and captures us, Georgia… Turkey is here; Russia and the United States are there; there are many occupants!”
Alia, July 17-23, Giorgi Macharadze, citizen: “It is a well-known fact that pedophilia is quite usual among Muslims; most of their women get married at the age of 12-15… Just recollect in which part of Georgia the Muslims of other nationalities live and find out at what age they start sexual relationships. Then you will not be surprised at pedophilia and violence among Asian Muslims.”
Source: Social network
|
|
|
3. Xenophobia against migrants
|
|
|
Rustavi 2, P.S., July 16
Emzar Kvitsiani, Alliance of Patriots: “[The March of Georgians] is not a homophobic [he means xenophobic] rally; if it were homophobic, windows would be smashed and burnt down like it happens in Europe. But here, we go and make them understand that we are Georgians and their [foreigners’] immorality is inadmissible here. Now we will show them it and the next rally will not be like this.”
|
|
|
Obieqtivi, Night Studio, July 14
Mamuka Areshidze, Alliance of Patriots: “Five days ago, a group of Indians, who live in one room at the Brothers Kakabadze Street, quarreled among themselves; they even beat each other; patrol officers came and said that they had no right to arrest them.”
Obieqtivi, Night Studio, July 19
Bondo Mdzinarashvili, host: “Unfortunately, foreigners arrive and occupy separate streets in Tbilisi, as well as in Batumi and we all know very well - because we have read something and seen something in documentaries - that just these so called cafes, restaurants and hotels are the shelters for foreign agents and they are ideal means for planting agents. So, the state institutions will have to work on this in order to prevent the creation of similar enclaves.”
|
|
|
4. Positioning migrants as criminal groups
|
|
|
Imedi, Kronika, July 6
Sandro Bregadze, Erovnulebi: “Raping of several small children, raiding of a churchyard of the Georgian Orthodox Church on the Marjanshvili Avenue…[It is necessary] to observe immigration legislation and to deport all illegal foreigners from the country; it is also necessary to tighten the immigration law, to bring it in line with European legislation, as well as to significantly tighten the rights to acquiring citizenship and residence permit in Georgia.”
|
|
|
Alia, July 3-9
Gia Korkotashvili, Our Homeland: “You know that most cafes located on the Agmashenebeli Avenue belong to the Turks and Arabs. Only few Georgians work there and they will not betray their own homeland; so we were informed by them that the owners of those cafes plan to smash the windows, start a quarrel so that to put the blame for destabilization on the participants of the rally. Their purpose is to portray themselves as being oppressed.”
Asaval-Dasavali, July 3-9, Jondi Bagaturia, Georgian Troupe: “The arrest of an Iranian pedophile in Akhaltsikhe has once again showed us that Arabic-Turkish-Chinese-Persian immigration has to be eradicated in Georgia. You see that mentally ill people are arriving here to hunt for our children!”
Sakinform, July 6
Arno Khidirbegishvili, editor-in-chief: “Europeans have turned into refugees in their own country – Germans and French are already thrown out from their own homes by refugees from Syria and migrants from other eastern countries, who rape and kill European women directly in the streets, in broad daylight. The same will happen in Georgia, which is already suffocating from Arab, Indian, Chinese and African migrants.”
Alia, July 10-16
Levan Javakhishvili, journalist: “Illegal migrants, most of whom are criminals, because they stay in Georgia illegally, started ravaging in the country just under this government [Georgian Dream]. The country is full of illegal Arabs, Iranians, Chinese, Pakistanis, though Georgia has diplomatic relations with these countries… Thus, it is not a country, it is a chaos, where all aliens can arrive and stay illegally.”
|
|
|
Sakinform, July 19
Tamar Iovashvili, Union of the Unemployed: “They [the participants of the March of Georgians] were the people, who cannot look calmly at the outrage of foreign criminal elements. Most of them are the residents of the Near East countries as well as Turkish citizens.”
|
|
Alia, July 24-30
Shota Apkhaidze, Caucasian Center of Islamic Research: “The demands of the March [of Georgians] are clearly defined. The question is that those foreigners, who stay on the territory of Georgia, should not turn our country into the nest of criminal activities!”
|
|
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 10-16
Goga Bidzinashvili, a resident of the Agmashenebeli Avenue: “I hope, we will avoid the situation similar to London, when the Arabs demanded the British to get out from London. The worst of all is that Georgia has turned into the destination for cheap sex tourism.”
Obieqtivi, Night Studio, July 8
viewer: “I get angry when I see those women wearing hijabs. I can hardly refrain from committing a hooligan act and beating them. I address the government – do not lead us to such condition; otherwise, bloodshed will be unavoidable… People are dying and should we fill the country with Arabs and Indians? These Indians – it was shown on TV last year – are in the lead worldwide by depravity and raping. Do we lack Arabs and Turks?”
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 31-August 6, Temur Shashiashvili, Tetrebi (The White): “My friends called me from Turkey and told me that if the Turks and their businesses face some problems in Georgia, they may leave not a single Georgian alive [in Turkey]. If the government does not fulfill its obligations, people have the right to stage a revolt, if it is necessary. And we should rise up. In Kharagauli, the Chinese almost form the majority of population; they laugh at us, saying that the Mayor of Kharagauli will soon be a Chinese. We are being destroyed, people!”
Sourze: Alia
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 21
Bakur Svanidze, journalist: “It is clearly not short-sightedness to call a historical friend the country [Turkey], which has captured the greatest part of your indigenous territories, destroyed and defiled the Georgian monuments located there, forced Georgian population living there to change their religion and prohibited the Georgian language there; it is conscious enmity towards your country, your homeland.”
|
|
|
|
|
Kavkasia, Barrier, July 5
Koka Morgoshia, Alliance of Patriots: “Russia is an occupant, and so is Turkey.”
Asaval-Dasavali, July 24-30
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, chairman of the Rights Defenders Union: “It is absolutely clear what the Turks have premeditated – to create their enclave in Batumi and Adjara, then to demand holding a plebiscite, and join Batumi and Adjara to Turkey! And what will stop it? It has only one answer - opening a joint Russian-Georgian anti-terrorist center in Batumi!”
|
|
Hate Speech/Calls for Violence
|
|
|
Alia, July 24-30
Shota Apkhaidze, Caucasian Center of Islamic Research: “I promise the Embassies of the United States, Russia and Turkey – such bastards [referring to Tatia Dolidze] will be physically destroyed on the territory of Georgia.”
|
|
Discrimination on Religious Grounds
|
|
|
Alia, July 17-23
Editorial board: “The question is about the so called groups of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who left a lot of people in the streets through usury.”
Marshalpress, July 20
Miranda Lagidze, Support and Justice: “Everybody knows well that Jehovah’s Witnesses are financed from abroad, the United States and they have a lot of money at disposal; I think, they use this money for seizing the properties of Orthodox Georgians. It is a group, a gang, who has struck a sham deal with notaries, intermediary offices and they invest money wherever it is possible…”
Source: Alia
|
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 26
Dimitri Lortkipanidze, Democratic Movement – United Georgia: “[Liberal] ideology tries to turn a human being into an inanimate object dependent on reflexes, who will be only a total consumer. “I want”, “I wish” come to the forefront – so, here we have a philosophical doctrine expressing egocentrism, which acts in various directions – from the issue of abortion and euthanasia to propagandizing drug addiction, etc. Just through these means they make children confront their parents. Then this confrontation reaches its peak and finally we face the reality, where a parent is actually excluded from the process of bringing up a child. So, the latter’s consciousness fully moves into their hands and thinking skills are being developed in a child under the “liberal” ideology principles dictated by them.”
|
|
|
Obieqtivi, Night Studio, July 8
Gia Areshidze, journalist: “The Bacchanalia created in the West and the so called civilized world in connection with the marriage - there are a number of issues, which should not be shared.”
Georgia and the World, July 21
Iza Tamazashvili, author: “As for those European values both ruling and opposition parties are obsessed with, it is interesting, whether Georgia with its traditional values wants to have “a common European family,” where countries are ruled by representatives with non-traditional orientation. Maybe, the followers of this idea want to sleep together with European homosexuals.”
Georgia and the World, July 26
Nika Korinteli, journalist: “Today we need to reject everything that is outdated, including national traditions, orthodoxy and share so called western values – protect the rights of homosexuals, respect foreigners and not utter even a word if we deem ourselves not as the legal owners of the soil shed by our ancestors’ blood, but as the personnel oppressed by foreigners. Just through establishing these values, the West tries to achieve its main goal in Georgia and not only in Georgia.”
|
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 6, Asaval-Dasavali, July 10-16,
Giorgi Razmadze, archpriest: “The new draft constitution does not say anything about the Georgian Orthodox Church and the people. It only reflects the ideas of their father, [Gianni] Buquicchio, and everything has been done to protect the interests of homosexuals and their supporters, instead of people.”
Source: Georgia and the World
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 17-23, Basil Mkalavishvili, cleric: “Our government has chosen the path of overseas people, from where the depravity, homosexuality, lesbianism and other harmful habits of profanity are flowing. Their goal is to mock at honesty and decency. They promote alcoholism, drug addiction, betrayal, enmity, and destroy spirituality. Just due to NATO’s efforts, tens of Orthodox cultural monuments were destructed in Greece.”
Georgia and the World, June 21
Guram Gamtsemlidze, archpriest: “Generally, liberalism means tolerance and when you tolerate homosexuality, robbery, drug addiction, it is equal to the beginning of turning a person into a beast. Chaos and tolerance is no democracy; it brings no good either to a person, or the country; it destructs a person and also destructs the state.”
Georgia and the World, July 12
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, chairman of Rights Defenders Union: “There are quite powerful globalist forces in the today’s world, whose main goal is to deprave the mankind. All means of propaganda are used to assure the people that sins do not exist at all; according to them, any forms of deviation and immorality represent the norm and it should be accepted as normal.”
Alia, July 24-30
Lado Sadgobelashvili, Free Generation: “What did Open Society Georgia Foundation bring to Georgia? Sodom, depravity, idolatry to the green paper [referring to U.S. dollar]; traditions, religion, history have been forgotten; centuries-old enemies are declared as brothers.”
Source: Social network
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 3-9, Dimitri Lortkipanidze, United Democratic Movement: “I address Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili: while you are thinking about sex reassignment surgery for a transgender person, 18 000 applications sent by people, whose rights have been violated and who are waiting in vain for their rehabilitation, have been accumulated in the Prosecutor’s Office. What have these people done to you? Do not their rights need protection? One more issue – spiritually akin nations suppose that democracy is a dictatorship of the minority. Do you also think so?”
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 17-23
Sandro Bregadze, Erovnulebi: “In Georgia, liberasts do not make up more than two percent of the population, but with their money, mass media and governmental support, they have been dominating over 98 percent of our population during past 15 years. But it can no longer continue, because the March of Georgians was an uprising of Georgian dignity against liberast ideology, propaganda of homosexuality and enemies of Georgian church.”
|
|
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 3-9, Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “They [Equality Movement] brought two small girls like angels to their own office, gave them LGBT flags, recorded it on video and uploaded to social network. So, this sect stuffs the heads of these children (and generally all children) with nonsense like “pederasty is good!”.. Okay, it is one thing when Levan Berdzenishvili or Khatuna Gogorishvili are waving this sectarian-Satanist flag in the Parliament building, but when they make the children do the same, it is already a culmination of immorality and a disaster.”
Sakinform, July 28
Editorial board: “Sakinform warns Tbilisites to be more careful when offering their apartments for rent in order to prevent LGBT persons from turning these apartments into the areas of depravity or prostitution. As the defense lawyer of one fined apartment owner told us, such cases take place in Tbilisi frequently and the court, as a rule, backs tenants, regardless of their sexual orientation and the purpose of renting the apartment.”
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 3-9
Giorgi Gigauri, journalist: “Tamar Tedliashvili, an independent member of the Gori Sakrebulo [local council], registered a legislative initiative on renaming the central square of the city (Stalin Square) as the European Square. I will not be surprised to hear that this woman is an LGBT activist and that she took an active part in the May 17 gay parade.”
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 21
Beso Barbakadze, journalist: “It is not ruled out that the blood bought in the blood bank belonged to a person with non-traditional orientation and we transfuse this blood to our children… And what happens next, in particular the changes ongoing in a youngster’s body, will frighten us and our children too; actually, we will not even guess what’s happening with the minds of our children.”
|
|
|
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 6
Giorgi Razmadze, cleric: “Now, they have started talking about civil partnership; then they will talk about marriage; then these so called same-sex couples will be able to adopt a child… So, you see what abnormality it is.”
Georgia and the World, July 21
Guram Gamtsemlidze, archpriest: “This is illness. Homosexuals are ill, both spiritually and physically. There are a number of scientific studies, which confirm that a lot of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, emerged in people with such deviations. So, I repeat once again: it is illness and how can their blood be used in blood transfusion?! What discrimination and rights do we talk about?! Who will protect those people, who may be given the blood of ill people?!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 10-16
Guram Palavandishvili, Society for Children’s Rights: “We were made to adopt the antidiscrimination law, under which homosexuals have the right to teach children at schools! Moreover, they plan to introduce a subject at schools – “Sexual Education” and mostly pedophiles are its initiators!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Georgia and the World, July 12
Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, chairman of the Rights Defenders Union: “Today Georgia is Sodom and Gomorrah. There is nothing sacred, with the exception of separate persons, in the country, where the majority of mass media, the entire political spectrum are sunk in the swamp of depravity.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asaval-Dasavali, July 3-9, Merab Shatirishvili, writer: “In Russia, all TV channels organize funerals for their favorite public figures and worthy people; in Georgia, (almost) all TV channels popularize homosexuality and they neglect the memories of honorary people. I feel envy about dying in the country, like Russia!”
Sourse: Alia
Georgia and the World, July 7
resident of Vladikavkaz: “Where is the Caucasus? You spare no efforts to please homosexuals and lesbians. No such things happen in our country, either in Chechnya, or in our country. If such persons appear here, our people will settle scores with them. And you invite them to televisions and applaud them.”
Alia, July 17-23, Giorgi Macharadze, citizen: “Are the parades of homosexuals and other sexual minorities, which demand legalization of various deviations, civilization and useful for the country, and the March of Georgians, which demands punishment and deportation of illegal criminal foreigners – darkness and shameful? Human rights are protected only if the victims are the representatives of sexual minorities and foreigners, or if the case is directed against a Georgian man.”
Source: Social network
|
|
|
Obieqtivi, Night Studio, July 28
Bondo Mdzinarashvili, host: “In the early 2000s, for example, when the first “feminists” appeared, it was a novelty. Today, this feminism and holding certain rallies does not trigger any reaction. It is perceived like ‘a group of some unsatisfied women came out’. Probably, those women, Clara Zetkin and others, had also been unsatisfied in its time.”
Alia, July 24-30
Shota Apkhaidze, Caucasian Center of Islamic Research: “Is it normal, when a certain greenhorn [referring to Tatia Dolidze] decides Georgia’s fate in the UN? She reportedly receives about USD 170 thousand from the budget of Georgian people.”
|
|
|
See full collection of examples of discriminatory statements at the website: www.notophobia.ge
|
|
|
|
|
|
Newsletter was developed by Media Development Foundation (MDF) within the frameworks of the Promoting Integration, Tolerance and Awareness Program in Georgia, supported by USAID and implemented by UNAG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Opinions and ideas provided in this newsletter are those of the Media Development Foundation (MDF) and do not represent the official position of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the UN Association of Georgia.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
