By AFP | 2023-11-01

MOSCOW -- Under an icy rain outside the Moscow Choral Synagogue on October 30, 23-year-old Shulamit, a teacher at a Jewish school, said Sunday's rioters were "people who do not know or understand much."

"Many people try to sow hatred and animosity within Russian society. The most important thing is that we do not give in to that and that we stay human.

"It was very unpleasant, painful. We do not want these kinds of provocations; we do not want these people who do not know much being manipulated to do bad things."

Behind her, a Russian police vehicle guarding the synagogue could be seen and groups of children attending the Jewish school came and went with their teachers.

Russian police said they had arrested 60 people suspected of violently storming Makhachkala airport on October 29, seeking to attack Jewish passengers coming from Israel.

Dozens of protesters charged onto the runway and four police officers were injured while attempting to restore order.

The crowd of men, looking for Jews, were trying to surround a plane that had landed from Tel Aviv on its way to Moscow.

The attack contradicted the message from the Kremlin, which regularly prides itself on ensuring tolerance among Russia's many ethnic groups and religions.

In a park opposite the synagogue, Josef, a 35-year-old teacher wearing a kippah, said the attack was "frightening."

Russia has a population of about 20 million Muslims and 150,000 Jews.

The Kremlin blamed the incident on "external interference."

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine and "agents of Western special services."

The incident was one of several recent ones in the North Caucasus, including a reported arson attack on a Jewish centre in the city of Nalchik also on October 29.

The director of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, Ariel Razbegayev, 37, said he just wanted "peace" among different religious communities inside Russia.

"Political events should not set fire to our common home," he said.

But he said he was not surprised, saying it "could have been expected."

'Absurd'

The United States poured scorn on Putin for blaming Ukraine and the West for the riot at the airport.

Asked about Putin accusing the West, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said sarcastically, "Isn't that sweet?"

"Classic Russian rhetoric, when something goes bad in your country, you blame somebody else," he told a White House briefing.

"The West had nothing to do with this. This is just hate, bigotry and intimidation, pure and simple," Kirby said.

"Some people will compare it to the pogroms of the late 19th and early 20th century, and I think that's probably an apt description, given that video that we've seen out there," he said of anti-Jewish attacks.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller earlier called Russian allegations of Ukrainian involvement "absurd."

"We call on Russian authorities to publicly condemn these violent protests, to hold anyone involved accountable and to ensure the safety of Israelis and Jews in Russia," Miller said.

Ukraine -- which Russia invaded last year -- has also strongly rejected the allegations and pointed to Russia's "deep-rooted anti-Semitism."