ICC NOTE: In a move considered to be the first of its kind in Modern Russia, a Jewish community in Vologda has been “liquidated” by the courts. The reason for the disbanding of the religious community was due to a failure in the registration of their community under the recent Yarovaya laws. However, some believe it is the result of their unwillingness to take part in the traditional Subbotnik. The Subbotnik is a community wide tradition dating back to the October Revolution where citizens would clean up the streets, collect recyclables, and other various civic duties. The issue in this case is the fact the event takes place on Saturdays which according to Jewish custom and law is the Sabbath and no work can be conducted on the day of rest.
9/1/2016 Russia (Window to Eurasia) – In the most disturbing indication yet that Kremlin-sponsored xenophobia will ultimately go to what has been its default setting in Russia and become anti-Semitism, a Russian court in Vologda oblast, at the request of prosecutors, has “liquidated” the local Jewish community, sparking fears among many and delight among Russian anti-Semites.
This action comes only a few days after a meeting of European rabbis in Moscow declared that there was no anti-Semitism in Russia and that the Jewish communities in that country were experiencing an unprecedented rebirth (interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=64225).
But it also comes on the heels of more anti-Semitic posts on the Runet and more attacks on Jewish memorials in various parts of the Russian Federation, some of which the authorities have brought those responsible to justice but others of which appear unlikely to go unpunished (sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/news/counteraction/2016/08/d35296/ and nazaccent.ru/content/21724-vandaly-razrushili-evrejskij-memorial-v-pskovskoj.html).
The human rights monitor “The New Chronicle of Current Events” provides the fullest coverage of what happened in Vologda yesterday (ixtc.org/2016/08/cherepovtse-zapretili-evreev/). In an article with the headline, “They’re banning Jews in Cherepovets,” it says the court’s action was ‘the first case of its kind in the history of present-day Russia.”
