MOSCOW — Russian Jewry ushered in the Jewish new year amid heavy security and an aura of fear that has gripped the country in the wake of several terrorist attacks.
With some politicians making remarks that could incite racial hysteria in Russia, some Jewish leaders expressed concern over a possible rise of ultranationalism.
Much of the hate speech this week has been directed at people from the Caucasus area of the Russia, people whom Muscovites often refer to as “Caucasians.”
“There is no secret that many Russians tend to blame all wrongs on either Jews or Caucasians,” said Pavel Feldblum, executive vice president of the Moscow Jewish Community.
“At different times, one of these two groups comes out on top in public consciousness. Jews do not have reasons to be happy when ethnic hatred is aimed against a different minority group.”
Accordingly, Russian President Boris Yeltsin stressed the importance of interethnic and interfaith peace in Rosh Hashanah greetings sent to Russia’s chief rabbi.
His message also condemned ultranationalism and extremism. “There should be no room on our soil for fascism and anti-Semitism,” Yeltsin wrote.
Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of Russia’s Communist Party, also extended holiday greetings to the Jewish community — a somewhat surprising development from someone who in the past has made thinly veiled racist and anti-Semitic statements.
Zyuganov placed second in the 1996 presidential elections and is expected to run again in elections slated for June 2000.
This year’s High Holy Day events in Russia were marked by an unprecedented level of security measures at Jewish institutions.
The hundreds who attended services at the Moscow Choral Synagogue passed through an airport-style security system installed earlier this year following a series of anti-Semitic attacks in Moscow.
The Jewish Agency in Russia canceled one of the largest holiday events in Moscow. The agency’s annual Rosh Hashanah reception, which usually brings together hundreds of Jewish leaders, was canceled after Yeltsin declared a day of national mourning Monday for the victims of two terrorist attacks.
More than 150 people were killed in two similar blasts — one in Moscow on Thursday of last week and another earlier in the month in the southern part of the country.
On Monday, another powerful blast razed an apartment block in southern Moscow, killing more than 100 people.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Russian leaders have described them as deliberate terrorist attacks. Officials have blamed the blasts on Islamic militants fighting Russian rule in the North Caucasus.
Russian federal forces have been battling to crush an armed Islamic revolt in its southern region of Dagestan since early August. The rebels are reportedly led by warlords from the southern Russia’s breakaway republic of Chechnya.
Moscow’s popular mayor and a likely presidential candidate, Yuri Luzhkov, promised that city officials would take decisive measures in Moscow against “guests” — an expression for dark-skinned people from the Caucasus area.
Luzhkov was quoted as saying that Moscow would set up special security measures that would include special checks of non-Muscovites who are currently residing in the capital.
Some experts believe that such measures could lead to “ethnic cleansing” of the Russian capital.
According to public opinion surveys conducted in recent years, people from the Caucasus — top the list of most-hated ethnic groups in Russia.
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