"The Communist chief has also complained that there are too many 'non-Russians' (coded language for Jews) in influential posts in government, business and the media."

Geoffrey York, The Globe and Mail, July 15, 1999

 
Toronto, Canada, Thursday, July 15, 1999

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Russia's leaders blamed in rise of anti-Semitism

by Geoffrey York

Tolerance for racist attacks, speeches puts country on path to fascism, some say

A STABBING attack on a Russian-Jewish leader has raised new fears that Russian politicians are inciting violence against Jews by allowing their followers to express virulently anti-Semitic sentiments.

Police said the latest attack was committed by a 20-year-old man with a swastika tattooed on his chest who walked into Moscow's Choral Synagogue on Tuesday and repeatedly stabbed the Jewish leader with a large hunting knife.

Leopold Kaimovsky, the 52-year-old director of the Jewish Cultural Centre at the Moscow synagogue, was in grave condition yesterday after a six-hour operation to close several wounds. He was stabbed in the face, stomach, knee, thigh and shoulder. His assailant was reportedly carrying three knives when he entered the synagogue.

Jewish officials said the young man shouted anti-Semitic threats after he was detained at the synagogue. "There are 50,000 of us," he yelled, according to one witness. "We will kill you all. We will carve you all up."

In a jail-cell interview broadcast later on Russian television, the young man said the stabbing was a "political act" against the "evil" of Judaism.

He denied belonging to any political organization. However, a U.S. State Department spokesman said yesterday that the attacker was a member of a Russian extremist group. The U.S. spokesman condemned the stabbing as "a cowardly act of terrorism."

The attack has reignited the debate over whether Russian politicians are helping to incite the growing wave of violence at Jewish sites across Russia. At least seven fires and bombing attacks have taken place at synagogues and Jewish sites in Moscow, including the Choral Synagogue, since 1992.

Many observers believe that some of Russia's most prominent political leaders, including Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, who heads the largest faction in the Russian parliament, are encouraging the violence by failing to condemn anti-Semitic speeches by their parties' members.

The most notorious example is Albert Makashov, a Communist member of parliament and retired general who has called for Jewish "bloodsuckers" to be rounded up and executed. Thousands of Communists have rallied to his defence, and Mr. Zyuganov himself has accused "Zionists" of "operating stealthily" in a secret plot to take over the world.

The Communist chief has also complained that there are too many "non-Russians" (coded language for Jews) in influential posts in government, business and the media.

The Russian Jewish Congress called yesterday for a ban on election candidates who make anti-Semitic comments. The stabbing attack could lead to pogroms against Jews, it said. "Today knives are being used, tomorrow smoke will be seen rising from the crematoria."

Russia's Chief Rabbi, Adolf Shayevich, said the stabbing attack is a direct result of the impunity that is apparently enjoyed by extremist politicians such as Mr. Makashov and neo-Nazi leader Alexander Barkashov, who openly call for violence against Jews.

"Their fascist ideology can be openly expressed at public meetings and gatherings, they instigate people to look for the enemy, and they are not punished," Mr. Shayevich said in an interview yesterday.

"The people in power don't react to it. That's why the young people are so easily brainwashed. So I think the ideologists like Makashov and Barkashov should face trial together with this guy [the arrested suspect]. They should bear responsibility for this incident."

The rabbi said he had received a telephone warning yesterday that Mr. Barkashov had ordered hundreds of his followers to launch terrorist attacks on Jewish property.

Another Russian-Jewish leader, Gedalia Zakgeym, said the growing wave of anti-Semitic attacks is inspired by "people in power or close to power" who wield influence in Russian politics and the media.

"These guys are looking for an enemy. Times are hard now, especially for young people. Many are unemployed, or their parents are unemployed. It's easier for them to think that it's not their fault if they can blame Jews for taking all the important posts," he said.

Anti-Semitism is increasingly visible on the streets of Russian cities, where Communist and nationalist demonstrators routinely carry anti-Semitic placards and distribute anti-Semitic literature.

In March, a synagogue in Siberia was vandalized and the initials of Mr. Barkashov's neo-Nazi group were painted on its walls. In May, a bomb exploded outside the Choral Synagogue while dozens of Jews were attending a service inside. On the same day, a bomb exploded at another Moscow synagogue. Jews are sometimes attacked or verbally abused in the streets, Jewish leaders say.

The exodus of Jews from Russia has increased sharply. Emigration of Russian Jews to Israel has more than doubled in the first half of this year, and nearly a third of the emigrants cited the rise of anti-Semitism as a factor in their decisions to leave Russia.

Recent opinion polls suggest that as many as 10 per cent of Russians are aggressively hostile to Jews, while another 15 per cent are passively anti-Semitic and a further 30 per cent are worried about Jewish influence in the Russian government.

At the same time, however, 43 per cent of Russians are critical of their parliament for its refusal to condemn Mr. Makashov's attacks on Jews, a poll found.

Jewish groups around the world have condemned the stabbing attack at the Moscow synagogue.