Russia: Nationalists Call for Jewish Ban

[Menydh]

Nationalists Call for Jewish Ban

The Moscow Times,
January 25, 2005

A group of nationalist deputies is calling for an investigation aimed at outlawing all Jewish organizations in Russia, accusing Jews of fomenting ethnic hatred and provoking anti-Semitism.

In a letter dated Jan. 13, about 20 State Duma deputies asked Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov to investigate their claims and, if they are confirmed, to start proceedings "on the prohibition in our country of all religious and ethnic Jewish organizations as extremist."

Arguing that Jews were to blame for anti-Semitism, the authors of the letter want Jewish groups outlawed based on legislation against extremism and fomenting ethnic discord.

"The negative assessments by Russian patriots of the qualities and actions against non-Jews that are typical of Jews correspond to the truth, indeed these actions are not random but prescribed in Judaism and have been practiced for two centuries," says the letter, faxed in part to The Associated Press by the office of Rodina Deputy Alexander Krutov.

Thus, it says, "the statements and publications against Jews that have incriminated patriots are self-defense, which is not always stylistically correct but is justified in essence."

The Prosecutor General's Office could not immediately be reached for comment on the letter, which Interfax said was signed by deputies from the nationalist Rodina and Liberal Democratic parties, as well as the Communist Party.


Russia's chief rabbi, Berl Lazar, said the deputies were either insane or "quite sane but limitlessly cynical" and were hoping to win support "by playing the anti-Semitic card."

With President Vladimir Putin planning to join events this week commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops, Russia's Holocaust Foundation head Alla Gerber said it was "horrible that as we're marking the 60th anniversary of this tragic and great day ... we can speak of the danger of fascism in the countries that defeated fascism."

She said that while the Russian state itself is no longer anti-Semitic, there are "anti-Semitic campaigns that are led by all sorts of organizations."

"The economic situation is ripe for this, an enemy is needed, and the enemy is well-known, traditional," Gerber said.

[Menydh]

Shock Over Petition to Ban Jewish Groups

The Moscow Times,
January 26, 2005

A senior rabbi and Israel's embassy on Tuesday criticized a group of nationalist State Duma deputies who accused Jews of fomenting ethnic hatred and called for all Jewish organizations in Russia to be banned.

The Foreign Ministry expressed regret about the matter and stressed that the Russian leadership rejects anti-Semitism.

In a petition, dated Jan. 13, some 20 Rodina and Communist deputies appealed to the prosecutor general to launch proceedings "on the prohibition in our country of all religious and ethnic Jewish organizations as extremist."

Echoing anti-Semitic tracts of the tsarist era, the petition's authors accused Jews of working against the interests of the countries where they live and of monopolizing power worldwide.

"It is possible to say that the entire democratic world today is under the monetary and political control of international Judaism, which high-profile bankers are openly proud of," it says.

Rabbi Adolf Shayevich said in a statement that the petition contained "lying facts and arguments, expressing the raving condition of animal anti-Semitism," and urged prosecutors to investigate it.

The Israeli Embassy said the petition espoused Nazi ideas, and lamented its appearance just days before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The embassy called on authorities to act against those trying to "inflame nationalist discord."

The Prosecutor General's Office said Tuesday that no investigation would be made because the petition had been retracted.

A woman who answered the telephone at the office of Rodina Deputy Alexander Krutov, who signed the petition, said it was "withdrawn" but refused to comment further.

Interfax quoted Krutov as saying that anti-Semitism was "minimal" in Russia.

The Foreign Ministry said the petition had "nothing in common with the official stance of the Russian leadership, which categorically rejects any signs of interethnic strife and xenophobia, including anti-Semitism."

The ministry said it was "especially regrettable" that the petition appeared prior to the Auschwitz liberation commemorations.

Jewish leaders have praised President Vladimir Putin's government for encouraging religious tolerance, but rights groups say authorities are failing to adequately prosecute the perpetrators of anti-Semitic and racial violence in Russia.

[Menydh]

Only Action Will Quell Xenophobia

The Moscow Times,
January 31, 2005

It is reprehensible that 19 State Duma deputies signed a petition accusing Jews of fomenting ethnic hatred and demanding that prosecutors investigate all Jewish organizations in Russia, even if the authors later retracted the letter. It is even more reprehensible that the Communist and Rodina factions, to which the deputies belong, refused to take any disciplinary action. Faction leaders have probably calculated that any punitive action against the signatories of the petition would alienate xenophobic voters who helped them get into the Duma last year. Ivan Melnikov, the deputy head of the Communist Party's central committee, likely had these voters in mind Thursday when he refused to pass any judgment on Vladimir Kashin and Albert Makashov, two of his party comrades who signed the petition. Speaking on the day when the world commemorated the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Melnikov asserted that they had "the full right" to express their opinion. Indeed, why would the Communists condemn Makashov, a retired general? After all, he is one of his party's best-known members and has won seats in one Duma election after another, despite his regular anti-Semitic diatribes.


Rodina, the nationalist bloc that rode into the Duma thanks to tacit but strong support from the Kremlin, by most accounts has also refused to condemn its deputies who signed the petition.

The Duma factions are not alone in cynically exploiting xenophobia in Russia, where anti-Semitism is second only to dislike for natives of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and foreigners of color in general. Nikolai Kondratenko, who attacked both Jews and natives of the Caucasus in his speeches when serving as Krasnodar governor, can attest to how being an outspoken xenophobe can help a politician's career in this country. He is now a senator in the Federation Council.

Fortunately, these officials do not decide the country's fate. Russia is a presidential republic, and President Vladimir Putin has regularly condemned anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Addressing a forum Thursday near Krakow, Poland, Putin said he is ashamed of the anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racial intolerance in Russia.

However, mere condemnation of this evil will not make it go away, as frequent hate crimes in Moscow and other Russian cities prove. Both the authorities and the public need to stop talking and start acting to end xenophobia. The country's future depends on whether its hundred plus ethnic groups will be able to live and prosper side by side.