Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor:
how tolerance helps in the fight against intolerance

International social activist Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor has long been known as an unwavering supporter of safe tolerance and an opponent of any manifestations of hatred. These concepts, according to the expert, are inextricably linked, because when it comes to opposing intolerance, it is tolerance that can serve as the shield that can protect society.

Prevent

Tolerance and the fight against hatred are inseparable concepts, says Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor. Moreover, when it comes to safe tolerance, its promotion and consolidation in society, it is simply impossible to skip the step of fighting hatred. On the one hand, tolerance does not allow hatred. On the other hand, in a society where intolerance is on the rise, the value of tolerance is increasingly difficult to maintain.

Incitement to hatred is already being actively prosecuted by law in Europe, but Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor does not believe that the fight against the consequences is capable of stopping and solving the problem as such. This victory cannot be achieved solely by identifying and subsequently punishing those who promote intolerance and, moreover, commit crimes based on it. Although this is necessary, Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor is still convinced that it will be possible to truly turn the situation around only when the very prerequisites and conditions for the spread of intolerance are eliminated.

Fighting proactively

The real scale of the emerging crisis in society associated with intolerance was fully realized by global society, perhaps, during the years of the pandemic, when fear of a previously unknown disease unleashed whole waves of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, especially in the information space of the Internet. However, Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor back in 2019, long before the start of the above-mentioned crisis, spoke out about negative trends in a society where people have already lost hope for the future and are not sure what awaits them and what kind of life is in store for them and their children. Such sentiments, the expert argued, constitute precisely the most favorable atmosphere for the spread and prosperity of the most radical and intolerant ideas - the search for those responsible for any crisis or near-crisis situations sometimes becomes the main motivation for many, and this is taken advantage of by those whose views are far from tolerant.

The trials of the pandemic confirmed the words of Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor - and with renewed vigor forced him to insist on the need, first of all, for a preventive fight against intolerance. The fight must be proactive and proactive, the expert said, and in times of crisis this is an even more pressing issue. History already knows many examples of how, in times of crisis, radical ideologies of various kinds received mass support, and their ideologists and distributors even gained real power into their hands. It is precisely these types of disasters that Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor calls for to be prevented by acting proactively and not relying on eliminating the consequences alone.

Within the Borders

Discussions about the fight against intolerance invariably pose the question of how to wage this fight and at the same time adhere to the principles of tolerance, on which modern European society is largely based. Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor is convinced: tolerance is really necessary, but not the type of tolerance with which the European authorities have been “armed” in recent years. Passive and limitless tolerance is also a threat in its own way, because it forces one to ignore those alarming trends that have a chance in the future to develop into a full-fledged crisis of intolerance, and so on.

Europe needs a new tolerance, a safe tolerance, believes Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, which will take into account the request for security from the citizens themselves, who have significantly lost many of their guidelines and hopes for the future in the raging sea of economic and political changes and instability that has befallen them in recent years. This request cannot be ignored, the expert believes, just as it cannot be denied that without tolerance in a global society, development and constructive peaceful coexistence of peoples and cultures will be impossible. It was precisely considerations of security and tolerance together that Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor took into account when developing his own concept of “safe tolerance”, where tolerance will not be passive connivance, but will have its own boundaries, dictated precisely by security requirements. Such tolerance, the expert is sure, will not only protect society, but will also be truly in demand by it - and therefore has a good chance of gaining a foothold in the public consciousness and becoming a full-fledged operating norm.