Russian Racism Rampant

TALLINN, Estonia (UPI)
Leaflets and a newspaper story attacking Jews and Muslims have appeared in the central Russian city of Tver`.
During the first half of this month, at least two unsigned broadsides and an article in the Tver` city government`s newspaper had attacked Jews and 'persons of Caucasus nationality' in crude terms. The articles are referenced at the Web site xeno.sova-center.ru/45A29F2/6DC4961?print=on.

One of the leaflets called on Russians to 'liberate (their) native land from kike fascism,' while the other directed its hatred to immigrant groups, 'the Caucasus mafias, or, as they call themselves, diasporas, who are precisely synchronizing their activities with the Zionist mafia that now rules Russia.'

There is some evidence that these leaflets were produced and disseminated not by marginal groups of racists and bigots, but rather reflect the views of some in the government there and may even have appeared and been disseminated with the connivance of local officials.

According to the SOVA-Center report, 'practically at the same time' that the leaflets were appearing on the streets of Tver`, the city`s daily newspaper Gorozhan, which was set up by the Tver` government, featured an article by Valeriy Kirillov, the former editor of another local paper, Tverskaya zhizn, echoing precisely the same themes.

It is no surprise that people who hate members of one group often will hate members of other groups as well. That has been an all too typical pattern around the world. But the appearance in a Russian city of materials that simultaneously attack Jews and Muslims should be a matter of concern not only for those two groups, but for all who care about human rights.

The situation in Tver` should serve as a wake-up call for all those who believe that attacks against one group will not spread to others, a danger that Pastor Martin Niemoeller warned about in Nazi Germany but a threat that some in the Russian Federation and elsewhere now appear to have forgotten.