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Michael Chlenov: “New Anti-Semitism Has Not Yet Reached Russia”

The EAJC statement on the attacks on the Darkei Shalom synagogue in Moscow begins as follows: “At night, when there was no one to stop them, cowardly scum threw bottles with incendiary mixtures at the synagogue. Than God, there was no fire. Several days earlier, similar scum desecrated the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust at the Petrozavodsk Jewish cemetery. No courage is needed to fight against dead people.

We are most concerned by the fact that the investigative authorities are once again trying to evaluate such anti-Semitic actions as simple hooliganism.”

At the same time, an IzRus account reads: “according to the opinion of a number of Jewish leaders of the Russian capital, this attack became the vengeance of the Neonazis for the decision of the Moscow court, which has come to a verdict on the 11th of July on the case of 12 skinheads charged with 27 murders and a terrorist attack. Five members of the Moscow “National-Socialist Society” have been given a life sentence. Seven more others have been given jail time from 10 to 23 years. One of the crimes for which the Neonazis have been prosecuted was an attack on the Darkei Shalom synagogue that happened a little over a year ago.”

The investigation of this incident has barely begun. However, its political context is another matter. The correspondent of the Voice of America Russian service asked Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General, Professor Michael Chlenov to comment upon it.

Alexei Pimenov: Mr. Chlenov, how could you comment upon the matter?

Michael Chlenov: The incident happened tonight: unidentified, as of yet, personae threw several bottles of incendiary mixture at the Moscow synagogue Darkei Shalom, which is headed by Rav David Karpov. Fortunately, guards had been present at the synagogue, and they put out the fire. The police are currently investigating the matter. I can comment this situation as following: in recent years, we have noted a general lowering of anti-Semitism levels. We wrote reports on it, including our yearly community report. There were 47 anti-Semitic incidents in the last year, which is less than in other preceding years. But this does not mean that anti-Semitism itself has just disappeared into thin air. This filth continues to persist in Russia and is a serious threat to the community. Last week I was in Karelia with a working visit. I went to the Karelian Jewish community and the regional Jewish cultural center in Petrozavodsk. During the day of my visit, vandals had felled a memorial menorah to the victims of the Holocaust and Stalinist repressions at the Petrozavodsk memorial Jewish cemetery. They did not add any graffiti or svastika images, the same as, if I understand correctly, in the Darkei Shalom incident. Yet we are constantly reminded the anti-Semitism still exists and yet remains a cancer of Russian society that should, naturally, be fought agains.

A.P. I'll ask an old question, then. You speak of vandals and of hooligans, but who supports anti-Semitism today in political circles, directly or indirectly?

M.C. The supporters – or even carriers – of anti-Semitism are what could be called marginal groups. Anti-Semitism today has truly been pushed to the wayside of political life: open anti-Semitism, like what existed in the beginning or even in the middle of the antecedent decade, the anti-Semitism of the likes of Makashov and Savelyev, does not exist in the Duma or in any official office. Not one respectable political force preaches anti-Semitism today. So who is the carrier of anti-Semitism? Different groupings, unions, communities that can be more-or-less united under the unbrella term “radical Right.” And this is an old phenomenon. The new anti-Semitism that we can now observe in Europe and the USA has not arrived in Russia yet. Here, the anti-Semites are still the radical nationalists, pochvenniks, Orthodox Fundamentalists, skinheads, Neonazis, and, to a far lesser extent – radical Islamist obscurantists. I repeat, this is a more-or-less familiar crowd, and its influence has truly lessened in the last two or three years.

A.P. Why do you think this is the case?

M.C. The social basis for this new, Western anti-Semitism has probably not matured here yet, so we are dealing with an old and generally weakened anti-Semitism. I must say that, in general, Russian society has been becoming more sympathetic towards Israel. This might seem interesting or even paradoxical, but, as we can see, a lot can change in twenty years. And the fact that 550 thousand Russians visited Israel in the last year has also influenced the matter, as these people mostly bring back positive information. I have recently participated in a meeting of the Presidium of the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem. The problem of anti-Semitism worldwide was being discussed, and my French colleague said, “Here in Europe the public opinion is set very much against Israel, but the political elite has more of a positive attitude.” And I answered him with, “It's pretty much backwards in Russia: the public opinion is more and more pro-Israel, yet the political elite, reared in old traditions, is more contra.”

A.P. And this despite the fact that, as you said, no respectable party or movement propagates direct anti-Semitism?

M.C. Please understand that the representatives of the political elite who meet with HAMAS leaders don't need to be anti-Semites. These are two different things. There is an old stereotype of the strategic friendship and alliance between Israel and America. The Russian policy on the Near East has, naturally, gone through huge changes in comparison with Soviet times, but it still remains... I'd call it mostly anti-American. And the friendship of Russia with Israel exists and is sometimes even stressed. But this happens with the old university and MFA Soviet Arabistics in the background.