WBecause of the conflict in Gaza, attacks against Jews are increasing in Russia’s Muslim-dominated North Caucasus. In Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan, a crowd of people forced their way into the airport on Sunday evening because a plane from Tel Aviv, allegedly carrying refugees from Israel, had landed there.
Many people also ran to the airport. Videos posted on social media show the men breaching fences, kicking in terminal doors and trying to check cars leaving the airport. Some waved Palestinian flags or chanted “God is great” and anti-Semitic slogans.
Some of those involved checked the passports of arriving passengers – apparently to identify the Israelis. Russian media reports reported that there were attempts to storm a Russian Red Wings plane.
According to the Russian Aviation Authority, the airport was temporarily closed and security forces were deployed. The government of the Caucasus Republic stated on Telegram that the situation was again under control. She called on the mob to stop all “illegal actions.”
According to the Dagestan Ministry of Health, more than 20 people were injured, both police officers and civilians. There are two wounded in critical condition.
“We are against Jewish refugees,” says one protest poster.
Source: Photo Alliance / German Press Agency / TASS / Ramazan Rashidov
Late in the evening, the Russian Aviation Authority announced that the airport was “empty of citizens who entered without permission.” The airport will remain closed until November 6.
After the incident, Israel called on Russia to protect all Israeli citizens. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that his country expects the Russian authorities to „protect all Israeli citizens and all Jews and take decisive measures against rioters and incitement to violence against Jews and Israelis.”
The men storm the hotel and chase the Israelis
On Saturday, a crowd of angry people besieged a hotel in the city of Khasavyurt in Dagestan, due to a rumor that refugees from Israel were being accommodated there. The state agency RIA confirmed this incident. According to local reports, dozens of men stormed the hotel to check the passports of hotel guests. The police closed the hotel.
To make the situation worse, evacuation flights of Russian citizens from Tel Aviv are landing in the North Caucasus, specifically at the airports of Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody and Sochi. In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Russian Muslims stand alongside their Palestinian brothers.
Car tires were set on fire in Nalchik next to a Jewish cultural center under construction on Sunday, RIA news agency reported. According to the security authorities in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, the building was painted with extremist slogans. According to the pictures, it was written on it: “Death to the Jews.” In the Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, demonstrators called for the deportation of the local Jewish population.
The President of Dagestan threatens rioters with punishment
The President of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, announced the need to punish all participants in the airport storming. “All residents of Dagestan feel the suffering of the victims of the actions of abhorrent people and politicians and pray for peace in Palestine,” he wrote on Telegram. “But what happened at our airport is outrageous and must be dealt with by law enforcement.”
Melikov also called on the population not to allow themselves to be incited by extremists who want to destabilize the situation. He also wrote on Telegram: “Because of the fakes spread by our enemies, some young people were on the verge of violating the laws.” Islamic clerics in the region also made it clear that „anti-Semitism has no place in the multi-ethnic North Caucasus.”
Because of the war in the Middle East, President Vladimir Putin met with the heads of the religions represented in Russia last week. He called for peaceful coexistence between peoples and religions in the great homeland.
