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Russian Jews believe murder may not be hate crime
One day after murder of young Jewish man in St. Petersburg, community refrains from defining it hate crime
Roi Mandel
"We had better not use the anti-Semitism card before the murder investigation reaches conclusions," Moshe Traskonov told Ynet Sunday, referring to the stabbing of a young member of the Jewish community, Dimitri Nikoulinsky, in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
Community members are cautious not to conclude that Nikoulinsky's murder was an act of anti-Semitism.
Nikoulinsky was a 22-year-old biology student at the St. Petersburg State University and a teacher at the local Beit Chabad Yeshiva. He was stabbed to death Saturday on the stairs to his apartment building.
As nothing had been stolen, it raised suspicion that the murder was a hate crime.
However, Taskonov said that it was too early to determine that it was indeed a hate crime: "It would be a mistake to discuss it out in the open before we have the conclusions of the investigation, as it causes disrespect to the issue of anti-Semitism by creating fear for no real reason.
"We do not want Jews to be afraid to be Jewish in public and to send their children to Jewish schools. I hope the Jews in the city are wise enough to realize what is happening," he added.
According to Traskonov, many members of the community have been trying to figure out why Nikoulinsky was murdered. "Anyone who knows him says that he was a quiet and very bright student and nobody understands why he was murdered. There are many rumors about the motive, including anti-Semitism.
"One of the newspapers wrote that the motive was a dispute with another young man. I think that if something happens to a Jew, we cannot automatically assume that it happened because he is a Jew," he stated.
Rabbi Shaul Brook, general director of the Chabad-run St. Petersburg Jewish Community said that the local police had arrested a suspect in the murder. "We get updates from the police. All we know about the murder is from human-rights organizations who claim that Nikoulinsky's murder was motivated by anti-Semitism," Brook said.
Although the circumstances are not yet clear, the Jewish community, between 80,000 and 100,000 strong, decided to refresh safety regulations at the Jewish educational institutes around the city that are required to increase awareness.
"Unfortunately, personal security in St. Petersburg leaves much to be desired. Naturally, when people hear about the case they become frightened. But as long as we don't know that it was a hate crime, they do not hurry to change their lifestyle," Brook stated.
Representatives of the Jewish community are scheduled to meet with the local governor Monday to discuss the incident and its outcomes, and to ask that neo-Nazi and fascist groups and organizations be dealt with strictly.
According to Brook, "The authorities speak out clearly against anti-Semitism, but handling anti-Semitic incidents should be less ambiguous. The bodies responsible for law enforcement have the tools and the knowledge to deal with these matters, and they do, but we believe that they should be doing more."
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