How Does One Say Douchebag in Belarusian?
Apparently at some point, Borat became the President of Belarus.
“This is a Jewish city, and the Jews are not concerned for the place they live in. They have turned Bobruisk into a pigsty. Look at Israel – I was there,” the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said during a live broadcast on state radio in his country.
On Thursday, he was severely rebuked by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Belarus’s ambassador, Igor Laschenya, has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a harsh protest.
Last Friday, Lukashenko held a special press conference broadcast on state radio. The president of Belarus made blatant anti-Semitic comments and attacked the State of Israel.
Addressing the miserable state of the city of Bobruisk, Lukashenko said: “This is a Jewish city… I call on Jews who have money to come back to Bobruisk.”
In response, Livni harshly condemned the anti-Semitic comments. “The role of leaders is to fight anti-Semitism, which is raising its ugly head in various parts of the world, not encourage it. The anti-Semitism reflects first and foremost on the society in which it appears and on its leaders,” the foreign minister said.
Israel’s ambassador to Belarus, Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh, said in an interview to a newspaper in the country: “The expressions of the president bring up the anti-Semitic myth that presents the Jews as neglectful people, dirty, and smelly. From his remarks, the president made out as if the city’s affairs and budget are in the hands of the Jews rather than the authorities.”
Ben-Ze’ev added that he very much hoped that one day the city and social services in Belarus would reach the standard of service in Israel.
In other Borat-related news, those wacky Kazakhs have been up to no good here in Israel.
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: Uncategorized
Clearly, this guy is no rocket scientist.
There aren’t many Jews living in Bobruisk these days. It used to be a Jewish city once, but it’s been a long time since.
Lukashenko is a cretin. He was a chairman of a kolkhoz near Mogilev (a God-forsaken provincial hole even by the Belorussian standards) he rose to power through unabashed populism of “if you vote for me, bread prices will never rise again” and who remains in power for one reason only; because Russia subsidizes his regime. His authoritarianism is fairly low on blatant atrocities (opposition members do have a tendency to end up in jail or disappear, but on the scale of Saddam, Idi Amin or Pinochet, it’s small change). He says and does the weirdest stuff at times, however.
800,000 Jews from Belarus were killed in the Holocaust. There are 25,000 left. Given the statement of Lukashenko, it might be time for the remaining Jews to make their way to Israel.
Stan
This guy is a moron. Noone can take him seriously…it really is as if Borat was Prime Minister!
Belarus must be a backward country. Usually in the west, or the US etc, the jews are blamed for living in the nice neighborhoods.
I guess you just can’t win.
There once was this “moron”, Adolf Hitler…
Lukashenko needs to be called on for making those statements.
There are still many Jews living in poverty, especially the Ethiopian Jews. I would urge people to donate to their nearest Zionist organization that can help these people out.
this year is the 103rd year since my great-grandfather left a small town in what is now Belarus to come to the US — and, not a week goes by that I don’t remember how grateful I am to him!
The Jews, Again…
Israellycool:Apparently at some point, Borat became the President of Belarus.The result, however, isn’t funny….
Did…
Did I read that wrong or did the guy insult Jews and demand that they bring their money back to his city?