President Bush’s visit to the St. Petersburg Choral synagogue May 26 was meant to show how things have changed for Jews in Russia.
Not only were they allowed to worship freely but they could hear a speech by the president of the United States — once a bitter enemy of the Kremlin.
True, government-sponsored media no longer spew anti-Semitic propaganda, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Jewish leaders and has been very supportive.
But undercurrents of anti-Semitism still run deep. The only difference now is that it is not government-sponsored.
Since Bush’s visit, there have been at least two highly publicized anti-Semitic attacks.
The day after Bush visited the synagogue, a non-Jewish woman, Tatyana Sapunova, was badly burned and lost sight in one eye when she attempted to remove a booby-trapped sign that proclaimed “Death to kikes” next to a Moscow highway.
A couple of days later, a neo-Nazi organized an “initiation night” in a forest near Moscow, where hundreds of skinheads were reportedly gathered around bonfires holding burning torches and yelling such phrases as “Death to people from the Caucasus and kikes,” “Russia for the Russians” and “Sieg heil.”
Russia’s Jewish leaders say police never seem to catch the perpetrators of hate crimes and vandalism directed against minorities. Some of those leaders contend that vigilante groups are responsible. Some even suggest that the police are among the members of such groups.
Why do Jews remain in Russia and suffer such abuses?
Many are intermarried and don’t think they will be comfortable living in Israel. Others are too old to make a move. And some simply don’t want to leave the country where they’ve spent their entire lives.
It is incumbent upon the U.S. administration and Congress to continue pressuring Moscow to protect its Jewish population — and all minorities — from hate crimes.