Progrom mood in Dagestan
In Russia, Muslims are hunting Jews
October 29, 2023, 8:51 p.m
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The war in Gaza is causing ugly scenes in Russia’s predominantly Muslim republics. An angry crowd storms an airport and a hotel in Dagestan because there are supposedly refugees from Israel there. The authorities are alarmed, and Putin is also concerned about tensions between religions.
Because of the Gaza conflict, anti-Jewish attacks are increasing in Russia’s Muslim-dominated North Caucasus. In Makhachkala in the Republic of Dagestan, a crowd of people forced their way into the airport in the evening because a plane from Tel Aviv had landed there, allegedly carrying refugees from Israel. Numerous people also ran onto the airfield. The airfield was temporarily closed and incoming aircraft were diverted to other airports, the state aviation regulator Rosawiazija told the Tass agency.
On Saturday, a crowd of angry people surrounded a hotel in the city of Khasavyurt, Dagestan, because of a rumor that refugees from Israel were being housed there. The state agency Ria confirmed this incident. According to local reports, several dozen men broke into the hotel to check the passports of hotel guests. The police sealed off the hotel.
The situation is made worse by the fact that the evacuation flights for Russian citizens from Tel Aviv land in the North Caucasus, namely at the airports of Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody and Sochi. In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Russian Muslims stand by their Palestinian brethren.
Putin meets religious leaders
In Nalchik, tires were set on fire next to a Jewish cultural center under construction on Sunday, the Ria news agency reported. According to the security authorities of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, the building was daubed with extremist slogans. According to photos, it said “Death to the Jews.” In the republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, demonstrators called for the local Jewish population to be deported.
The head of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, called on the population not to be incited by extremists who wanted to destabilize the situation. “Because of the fakes spread by our enemies, some very young people were on the verge of violating the laws,” he wrote on Telegram.
The region’s Islamic clergy also made it clear: “Anti-Semitism has no place in the multi-ethnic North Caucasus.” President Vladimir Putin met with the heads of the religions represented in Russia last week because of the violence in the Middle East. He called for peaceful coexistence between peoples and religions in the large country. According to estimates 17 to 20 million Russian citizens are Muslims.