The echoes of the war against Hamas reached the North Caucasus – and on Sunday evening they devolved into a very tense situation at the airport of Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan in the Russian Federation.
According to reports from the field, hundreds of people gathered at the airport in preparation for the landing of a flight from Tel Aviv and demanded the expulsion of the Jews from the area. Some of the crowd broke into the airport with Palestinian flags. Due to the incidents, the plane was reportedly diverted to Moscow.
Mobs "checking documents" near the port in Makhachkala, Dagestan // Social networks
Videos from the area show local residents waving Palestinian flags and checking passports at those leaving the port, with local police standing by and not lifting a finger.
Serious Antisemitic Incidents
Over the past two days, there have been several anti-Semitic incidents in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus provinces. In Cherkessk, the capital of the Republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, a demonstration was held demanding that Israeli citizens not be allowed to enter it. On the night between yesterday and today in the city of Derbent, residents demonstrated against the entry of Jews into a local hotel, and even searched it for Jews. This morning, tires were set on fire at the entrance to the construction site of a Jewish cultural center in the city of Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, and the wall read "Death to the Jews."
Earlier today, muftis in the North Caucasus spoke out against the anti-Semitic actions, calling them the work of agitators, "enemies of Russia." A channel called "Dagestan's Morning," run by a former Russian lawmaker who moved to Ukraine, was one of the first to spread the rumor about Jews at a Derbent hotel.
Angry mob roams the airport - passengers on a flight at the port of Makhachkala are smuggled back to the plane // Social networks
Ironically, the riot comes three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with leaders of the country's religious denominations, including Rabbi Berel Lazar. Rabbi Lazar complimented Putin on the coexistence in which members of the various communities in the Russian Federation live, saying, among other things: "One can take as an example what is happening here in Russia - peace between Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, between all religions and all peoples. In fact, this is an example for the whole world. It is possible to consider why here we can live in friendship, help each other, celebrate together, and there we cannot. The answer is simple: We have a smart president."
The current events should receive a strong response in Russia, if only because already three days after the Hamas massacre, the Federal Agency for National Affairs issued a ban on importing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into the country. "Participation in actions or protests directed against a sect or ethnic group will be thwarted in accordance with the law and classified as incitement on religious or national grounds," it said. "Russian citizens who participate in such actions, on Russian territory or abroad, will be classified as inciting activity."
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