MOSCOW — The Jewish community of Belarus has urged the government to condemn recent anti-Semitic acts.
The statement was adopted earlier this month by the Association of Jewish Communities of Belarus, but only released last week.
The association said it had reacted with alarm to a wave of anti-Semitism in the Belarus media.
Other manifestations of anti-Semitism that sparked Jewish concerns included last year’s desecrations of two provincial Jewish cemeteries and of the Holocaust memorial in the capital of Minsk, and of anti-Semitic graffiti that occasionally appears in Minsk.
The call came after an arson attack earlier this month that destroyed the vacation cottage of Mikhail Nordshtein, editor of Aviv, the monthly Jewish newspaper published in Minsk.
When vandals daubed a swastika on his Minsk apartment a day later, Jewish leaders believed the incidents were anti-Semitic.
But in light of recent disclosures, the leaders now believe that the arson was an act of Mafia-style revenge on the editor’s son, who had taken out a big loan and failed to repay it on time.
“Whatever the reasons behind the arson, the daubed swastika wounded Nordshtein’s national pride,” Leonid Levin, leader of Belarus’ 100,000-member Jewish community, said in an interview after the statement was published.
Despite the disclosures about the editor’s son, the arson attack prompted Jewish leaders to issue the statement on anti-Semitism.
The attack, which has been widely publicized in Belarus and Russia, “involved a well-known activist of our community,” said Levin.
“We wanted to use this case to call on the government to condemn anti-Semitism and to ban anti-Jewish propaganda in Belarus.”
Still, Levin said he did not believe anti-Semitism was rising in Belarus.
The Jewish community hopes to tell officials that “the state should support” the Jewish community and “defend its rights,” said Levin.
Jewish leaders have refrained from speaking out, especially after a November referendum gave President Alexander Lukashenko virtually unlimited powers and he has curbed human rights.