Arson attack on Minsk synagogue

Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 00:07:50 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: Arson attack on Minsk synagogue

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Felix Corley <[email protected]>

Arson attack on Minsk synagogue


For Immediate Release: April 16, 1999

PRESS RELEASE
 
ARSONISTS ATTACK SYNAGOGUE IN MINSK
 
Jewish Leader Blames Neo-fascist Russian National Unity (RNU)
 
Washington, DC-- On April 12th, the Jewish community in Minsk, Belarus
discovered that the city's primary traditional synagogue was targeted
by arsonists and "Kill Jews, Save Russia!" was spray painted on the
synagogue's wall.  The synagogue entrance was completely destroyed in
the fire and the ground floor was scorched before firefighters were
able to extinguish the blaze.
 
The Belapan News Agency quoted Yuri Dorn, head of the Jewish Religious
Association, which has an office within the synagogue building, as
saying, "I think it was teenagers from the RNU (Russian National
Unity, a neo-fascist organization) who did that."
 
"This terrible crime is a sign of rising antisemitism in Belarus,"
declared Yakov Basin, director of UCSJ's Belarus-American Bureau on
Human Rights.  "The government of Belarus must take prompt, effective
action to ensure that the arsonists are brought to justice.  Failure
to do so will send a dangerous signal to antisemites across the
country that they can act with impunity against the Jewish community."
 
The arson of the Minsk synagogue is part of a dangerous pattern of
attacks on Jewish sites, cemeteries and synagogues.  Less than a month
ago, a synagogue in Novosibirsk, Russia was severely vandalized and in
May 1998, a bomb tore through the Marina Roscha synagogue in Moscow. 
Additionally, neo-fascists in Belarus have recently become more
active.  On February 6th, 20 RNU supporters savagely beat three
members of the Belarusian human rights organization Charter 97, all
the while yelling "Jews!". 

"UCSJ is concerned that given the Belarusian government's
authoritarian character and indifference towards attacks on the Jewish
community, this arson will go unpunished," stated UCSJ National
Director Micah Naftalin, who is in Moscow on a fact finding mission. 
"The fact that this has taken place in the midst of deteriorating
human rights conditions and rising levels of neo-fascist activity is a
cause for great concern."
 
###
 
For more information about the events in the former Soviet Union visit
our website at
http://www.fsumonitor.com
or contact Lindsey Paige Taxman directly at
[email protected].
 
UCSJ 1819 H St. NW #230 Washington, DC 20006
 
Office: (202) 775-9770 Fax: (202) 775-9776

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================