NOS News••Amended
In the Russian autonomous republic of Dagestan, an anti-Jewish mob stormed the airport of the capital Makhachkala. More than twenty people were injured, according to the Ministry of Health. Two of them are in mortal danger. They include police officers and civilians, but further details are lacking. However, according to Israeli media, all Israelis and Jews among the travelers have been brought to safety.
Hundreds of people broke through doors and fences last night after a plane from Tel Aviv landed there and started looking for Israeli citizens. Video footage shows passengers fleeing back onto the plane.
According to Russian authorities, all “unauthorized citizens” had been removed from the airport by midnight local time. The airport will remain closed for the entire next week, they say. All flights will be diverted until then.
Nothing known yet about arrests
Authorities have not said anything about any arrests. They say video footage will be used to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“A number of Israeli citizens and Jews have been isolated and placed under protection at the airport,” an Israeli official told reporters during the evening. The Times of Israël. “We are trying to get them on a flight to Moscow as soon as possible.”
Russian citizens evacuated from Israel usually make a stopover in Makhachkala, or in Mineralnye Wody near Stavropol, or in Sochi on the Black Sea.
Regional media show images of the airport that was completely taken over:
Anti-Jewish mob in Dagestan storms plane from Tel Aviv
Tonight, dozens of people rushed onto the runway, others checked cars and buses leaving the airport to see if there were any Jews inside. Anti-Semitic and anti-Israel slogans were also shouted and Palestinian flags were waved.
In response, regional authorities in Dagestan expressed their support for the Palestinians in Gaza, but also called on the population to maintain calm and not participate in such actions, which they said are the result of “fake news spread by our enemies is scattered.” It is not clear what this means.
Israel calls on Russia to protect the rights of Israelis and Jews. According to a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israeli ambassador in Moscow is cooperating with the Russian authorities. “The State of Israel takes seriously any attempts to harm Israeli citizens and Jews anywhere in the world,” the statement said.
Hotel also attacked
It is the latest in a series of anti-Semitic incidents in the North Caucasus. Yesterday in another city in Dagestan, Khasavyurt, a crowd gathered in front of a hotel that was rumored to be “full of Jews.” The group demanded that the guests show themselves. When that didn’t happen, they started pelting the hotel with stones. A delegation of demonstrators was allowed into the hotel to see that there were no Jews.
An anti-Israel protest also took place yesterday in central Lenin Square in Makhachkala. The demonstrators demand that Dagestan, which borders Georgia, Chechnya and Azerbaijan, not admit Israeli Jews.
There were also anti-Semitic incidents in other Russian parts of the Caucasus this weekend. In Nalchik, in Kalbaria-Bakaria, a Jewish cultural center was set on fire yesterday and defaced with slogans such as “death to the Jews”.
In the neighboring Russian republic of Karachay-Cherkessia, a group of demonstrators called on local Jews to leave.
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