Modern Russia has once again become full of undisguised anti-Semitism. Reports about anti-Semitic rally in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria grabs the headlines, the main demand of which is to expel Jews from the region. Footage of how an angry crowd stormed the Makhachkala airport on Sunday evening, outraged by the arrival of a passenger plane from Israel, cannot but cause concern.
A day earlier, an anti-Israeli rally was held in Cherkessk, the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, demanding that Israeli refugees not be allowed into the region, as well as the eviction of Jews living there. In Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, attackers set fire to a Jewish cultural center. It is possible that the wave of hatred will continue to spread across the Russian Federation, where Muslims live. Therefore, due to the increased threat, representatives of the Jewish community are already calledto leave the territory and evacuate.
Escalation in the Middle East appears to have caused an increase in anti-Semitism in Russia, although Russian anti-Semitism and hatred of other nations have deep historical roots here. If you look at Russian history, you can see that every time the political fate of the country was in danger, the government tried to find the culprit and lay the discontent on the Jewish community. This happened both during the tsarist times and at the end of the Stalinist regime, and perhaps we will see such a course of events today. Anti-Semitism has always been the most important, mandatory part of Russian chauvinism. Russian propagandists and modern ideologues, in particular Dugin and Prilepin, hated Jews and considered them the main source of evil. Therefore, it is right to say that anti-Semitism is the norm for Russians. The fact that Russian anti-Semitism and hatred of other peoples have a systemic and deep-rooted nature was also emphasized by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while commenting on the incident at the Makhachkala airport.
Let us recall that the greatest and most terrible stage of anti-Semitism, which was called the Holocaust, was conceived and planned by the Nazi-German regime led by Hitler. At the time, such a policy was based on the belief that German Jews allegedly betrayed Germany during the First World War and therefore should bear responsibility for its defeat. During the Second World War, 6 million Jews became victims of the Nazi policy aimed at exterminating peoples and groups that the Nazis considered inferior. Now Russian chauvinism, which is also based on racist ideology, is trying to shake the world with a new wave of anti-Semitism, looking for enemies within the country. Although nothing new for Russia is happening here. It is common for Russian propaganda to use the hate rhetoric and narratives, favorable to the Kremlin. The leaders of the Russian Federation do not shy away from such rhetoric. It is worth remembering how recently both the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and the President Vladimir Putin allowed themselves anti-Semitic, almost offensive statements. And the odious Russian propagandist Dmytro Kiselyov even found an excuse for Russian anti-Semitism, because, in his opinion, Russia is a historically Muslim country, and for Muslims, according to his own definition, anti-Semitism is obviously the norm. It is worth recalling (against the same background) meetings a few days ago in the Kremlin with a delegation of the Palestinian HAMAS and their statements that Moscow did not see any problem here. Obviously, this is also the norm for the world of terrorism.
At the Makhachkala airport, the whole world saw the true face of Russian chauvinism and anti-Semitism. It seems, that Russians’ head is full of Ukrainophobia and anti-Semitism because the “Russian world” is nothing but a world of hatred and unpunished permissiveness. Unfortunately, it has to be said that Russian propaganda and Russian state anti-Semitism has every chance to spread and cause great trouble if it is not stopped in time. Putin’s goal has long been clear – to destroy the modern system of the world order, to destabilize it, to destroy the principles of democracy. And here the parallels between the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the attacks of HAMAS on Israel are similar, because they have the same goal and are built on the principles of terrorism.
