Russian skinheads kill 49 ‘foreigners’ since January
Neo-Nazis continue to run amok in Moscow, killing 49 people and injuring 80, according to Russian human rights groups
Neo-Nazis are responsible for the deaths of 49 people and for injuring 80 others since the beginning of the year, Russian human rights groups have reported.
Most of the victims involved hail from the former USSR’s Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The majority of these ‘skin-head’ murders have taken place in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Russian human rights groups have reported that gangs of skin-heads, ‘specializing’ in murdering foreigners have cropped up in these aforementioned cities.
The Russian news agencies have furthermore reported that the number of skin-heads in Russia has increased to some 70,000 in recent years.
In spite of these disturbing figures, there was also appeasement prevalent in Russia, as the cloud weighing heavily on relations between Jews and Muslims in the country has finally cleared somewhat following a weekend meeting between the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar, and Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin.
Jewish-Muslim relations in Russia have been somewhat strained following statements made at the beginning of the month by the Deputy Chief Mufti of Russia, Sheikh Nafigulla Ashirov, who said that “Zionists are fascists” and that “Zionism is a cancer”.
Chief Rabbi Lazar and the heads of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia had suspended all ties with the Muslim community following these derogatory statements.
The air was cleared somewhat on Thursday, when the chief rabbi and mutfti met in effort to “resolve the conflict between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Russia.”
At the end of their meeting, the two made a joint statement and agreed that the aforementioned remarks regarding Zionism were reckless, and did much to undermine neighborly relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities in Russia
“Muslims and Jews have always respected each other in our country,” they said, and expressed their confidence that they would continue to “maintain respectful and trusting relations”.
Only genuine interfaith dialogue, noted the rabbi and the mufti, will truly bring peace and harmony to all believers.
