Dagestan: antisemitic crowd storms airport
Several people have been injured in antisemitic riots in Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan. An angry crowd stormed the airport there on Sunday evening after a plane from Tel Aviv landed. Commentators speculate on the reasons for the heated atmosphere in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus republic.
A consequence of neo-imperialist ambitions
Wprost blames the Kremlin's policies for the growing antisemitism:
“The resurgence of Russian imperialism inevitably goes hand in hand with the fuelling of deep-seated antisemitic prejudices. These are not only tolerated but even nurtured, if only to maintain control over Russian Muslims.”
Russia dangerous for Jews once more
Die Welt also blames Moscow:
“From the Kremlin's point of view Jews are once again becoming a disloyal minority, agitators, oppositionists and enemies of Russia. Whether or not the man in the Kremlin himself is an antisemite is irrelevant. What counts is what he does. To achieve his political goals he has unleashed a wave of hatred against Jews the likes of which Russia has not seen in decades. Already last year, the Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt resigned and fled the country. He called on Russian Jews to emigrate. ... It's happening again - Russia has become dangerous for Jews.”
Enormous potential for hatred
This will not be the last such incident, author Anatoly Nesmiyan writes in a Telegram post picked up by Echo:
“Over the years an all-encompassing hatred has become established in the country. ... Now the state faces an insolvable problem: on the one hand, it would simply be dangerous to stop the propaganda of total anger against everything because the whole ideology of aggression and terror is based on it. Stopping it would lead to a complete loss of control. ... On the other hand, it is very risky to fuel this atmosphere further because embittered people who have accumulated a huge potential for hatred will seek a way to vent it. Yesterday's outburst will inevitably be repeated elsewhere.”
A shocking disgrace
Dagens Nyheter expresses concern about the rising tide of antisemitism, not only in Dagestan but also in Sweden:
“Last weekend, when a crowd on Sergel's Square thought they were showing solidarity with the Palestinians by chanting antisemitic slogans, the [neo-Nazi] Nordic Resistance Movement joined in. It's hard to imagine two societies that have less in common than Sweden and Dagestan, but even in Sweden the authorities are now being forced to take very concrete measures to protect Jews from violence. What a shocking disgrace.”