Monday, March 28, 2005

More Moscow madness

A couple of months ago, there was quite a stir amongst Jewish groups when a group of deputies from the Russian State Duma demanded a ban on all Jewish organizations in Russia. Putin, as you will recall, never really reacted to the letter, but the deputies ended up withdrawing it nevertheless.
No one seems to have really noticed that in the past few days, a very similar letter has been sent to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, again demanding that Jewish organizations be banned. This time, it was signed by 5000 people, including former Chess champ Boris Spassky (what is it with former Chess champions, insanity and anti-Semitism?).
[The signatories] believe one of the basic Judaic books professes religious hatred, said a center that monitors religious freedom...
The signatories claim that "Kizur Shulkhan Arukh," an abbreviated version of a 16th-century book that lays out daily rules for Jews, teaches hatred toward non-Jews.
I'd be interested to know who else signed that letter.
I guess the lack of coverage means that we are really getting used to old-style Russian anti-Semitism again quickly.

No comments: