>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 04:52:28 EDT >Subject: Attacks on Jewish School, Roma Camp, after Putin Entertains Top Racist >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >RUSSIA INFO-LIST >from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - [EMAIL PROTECTED] >ISWoR web-site - http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html >************************************************************ > >ATTACKS ON JEWISH SCHOOL, ROMA CAMP AFTER PUTIN ENTERTAINS TOP RACIST > >Appeal to Trade Union, Antiracist and other Progressive Organisations >Worldwide to Protest > >by Lisa Taylor > >On 17 September 2000, thugs of the neo-nazi Russian National Unity party >(RNU) , armed with metal chains, burst into a school where Jewish children >were taking religious lessons in the town of Ryazan, 200 km southeast of >Moscow. Though the teachers managed to get the children, aged 6-13, out in >time, the fascists were able to smash up the room which the Jewish community >rents from the school for its Sunday classes. The next day the school >headmistress was knocked down by a car which mounted the pavement. Two nazi >youth got out and proceeded to beat her for "having dealings with Jews". > >The Jewish community has now been told it can no longer use the premises. As >they cannot afford to rent a room commercially, this effectively ends the >community���s ability to provide cultural education for their children. > >Shortly after this attack , 30 racist youth armed with bats burst into a camp >for migrant Roma workers in Yekaterinburg. Two Roma have been hospitalised >with serious injuries. > > >Hatred against minorities - Black people (who are mostly from the Caucasus), >Jews, Muslims, Roma, gays and others has skyrocketed since the introduction >of the market economy and especially since the 1998 economic collapse, with >the enormous need of big businessmen and the political elite to find a >scapegoat for the crisis. The nazi RNU is allowed to operate with impunity in >eleven of Russia���s regions; in some, its armed thugs has been given official >police powers by the regional authorities. But it would be wrong to imagine >that the RNU, which polls relatively poorly in national elections is the only >threat. Far from it. > > Last year Putin managed to deflect the huge build-up of popular anger at >living conditions and non-payment of wages by launching a ferocious war >against the Chechen people. Simultaneously the nation���s mass media united to >foment hatred against Muslims and dark-skinned peoples in general, >culminating in a campaign of mass expulsions from Moscow of Black people . > >Antisemitism too is now a major recurring theme, with a spate of synagogue >attacks, stabbings and bombing incidents. The leader of the Communist Party >(KPRF), the largest party in the country, has publicly blamed Jews for the >economic crisis. > >In August Putin held talks with Prokhanov, editor of the ultra-racist >magazine Zavtra, in the Kremlin. Shortly after this, Zavtra published >accusations that the Jews were a fifth column trying to overthrow Putin. >Prokhanov also invited the American nazi David Duke (formerly of the Ku Kux >Klan) to address a packed meeting at Moscow���s Mayakovsky Museum, where Duke >condemned "world zionism" as the "Aryan race���s main enemy" and called for >the >expulsion of all Blacks and Jews from Moscow. > >ISWoR International Solidarity with Workers in Russia urges antiracist >organisations worldwide to contact us with a view to further collaboration in >fighting this menace, and to support the protest appeal below: > > >MODEL LETTER OF PROTEST (FOR TRADE UNIONS, ANTIRACIST AND OTHER PROGRESSIVE >ORGANISATIONS) > >Send the letter below, or your own, to Putin at the following address: > >President of Russian Federation Vladimir PUTIN: >Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] >FAX: (+7 095) 206-02-66. >Postal address:103132, Moscow, Staraya >Ploshad, 4, RUSSIA > > >with copy please to us at International Solidarity with Workers in Russia >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Postal address ISWoR-Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8RZ England > > >Mr President Putin, > >We are aware of and totally condemn the recent cowardly racist attacks >against Jewish schoolchildren in Ryazan and Roma migrant workers in >Yekaterinburg. The fomenting of racial hatred and bigotry is a traditional >tactic of big business and political elites seeking to deflect popular anger >at economic misery onto innocent scapegoats. > >Your conduct in Chechnya, and most recently, your decision to host Prokhanov, >editor of the ultra-racist journal Zavtra and a friend of David Duke, at the >Kremlin shows clearly your own role in the resurgence of xenophobia in >Russia. We therefore warn you that world-wide, labour and anti-racist >organisations are monitoring your activities. > >Signed > >Organisation > >Country > >********************************************************** >The RUSSIA INFO-LIST >puts out information and analysis from a wide range of sources. >If you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or >want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: >[EMAIL PROTECTED]< >Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England >*********************************************************** > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. 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