Azeri Jews welcome US report on anti-Semitism

Ekho, Baku
7 Jan 05

The leaders of Azerbaijan’s Jewish communities have welcomed a US
State Department report on anti-Semitism. In their interview with the
Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho, they said there were no ethnic problems or
anti-Semitism in the country. In turn, Ekho said the US State
Department report proves once again that there is a tolerant attitude
to other religions and ethnic groups in the country. The daily
compared the situation in Azerbaijan with anti-Semitic sentiments in
Armenia. The following is the text of R. Orucov report by Azerbaijani
newspaper Ekho on 7 January headlined “There are no instances of
anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan” and subheaded “This is what the US State
Department report said. The situation is the opposite in
Armenia”. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

The US State Department has unveiled a report on cases of
anti-Semitism in the countries which have Jewish communities. The
following is an excerpt from the document which is relevant to
Azerbaijan.

The community of mountain Jews has resided in the country for 2,700
years, while the Ashkenazi Jews (the community of European Jews) have
been present in Azerbaijan for more than 100 years.

Cases of prejudice and discrimination against Jews in the country have
been very limited, and in the few instances of anti-Semitic activity,
the government has been quick to respond. There was only one reported
incident during the period covered by this report. In April, the
Lubavitch community received an anonymous letter containing threats
during the observance of Passover. The police and military responded
by blocking and securing Jewish places of worship to ensure the
peaceful observance of Passover. The subsequent investigation revealed
that the letter had been written by a member of a small radical
Islamic group, which resulted in his conviction and imprisonment.

The government does not condone or tolerate the persecution of Jews by
any party. No laws in Azerbaijan specifically address anti-Semitism.

Comparison with Armenia

As we can see, Azerbaijan has proved once again its tolerant attitude
to other religions and ethnic groups. It is noteworthy that this
assessment does not come from the local bureaucracy – the report has
been prepared by US government officials on the basis of monitoring
conducted by Jewish unions in the countries where they live. Then it
is even more interesting to take a look at the assessment which our
neighbouring country-aggressor has received. It is known that as a
result of the nationalist policy conducted by Armenia’s ruling
circles, over the years of its independence the country has in effect
turned into a mono-ethnic state. Yet there is still a small Jewish
community consisting mainly of women who once married Armenians.

Armenia:

The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal harassment
during this period. The director of ALM TV frequently made
anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a
small ultranationalist group, called for the country to be “cleansed”
of Jews and Yezidis.

On 17 September, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan received a
message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the victims of
the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were taken and the
vandalism was immediately reported to the local police, the Ministry
of Religious Affairs [presumably referring to the State Council on
Religious Affairs] and the government-owned television channel. A
television crew arrived at the site together with an official from the
Jewish community in Yerevan and to their surprise discovered that the
memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the park guard.

In May, Jewish groups complained to several government authorities
about the distribution and importation of hate literature. Each
government agency they contacted responded that the literature was in
apparent violation of the law “On distributing literature inflaming
national hatred” and suggested they try to redress the situation
through pressing formal charges with the Prosecutor-General’s
Office. Jewish leaders have not yet decided whether to press charges.

Jewish leader agrees with US report

On the whole, the head of the community of mountain Jews, Semen
Ikhiilov, agreed with the American report on Azerbaijan: “Throughout
the independence period, there have been only few instances of
anti-Semitism. They were all cases of vandalism. Jewish gravestones
were damaged. When I learnt about that, I immediately reported this to
Heydar Aliyev who was the president then. He took measures straight
away, the state found some of the criminals and the gravestones were
restored. Over the past few years, I cannot remember a single case of
anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan. As for the increased protection of the
places of worship, I would not say that this is being done
purposefully. It is always done on religious holidays. The Interior
Ministry has special dates when they reinforce the guard outside the
synagogues and places of worship, and patrol cars are on watch at
nights.”

Information about the duration of the residence of the mountain Jews
in Azerbaijan is also accurate. “Incidentally, around 95 per cent of
all Jews in Azerbaijan are mountain Jews,” Ikhiilov said.

Anti-Semitism in Armenia

As for the situation with anti-Semitism in Armenia, he accepts that
everything in the report may be true. “I even know the chairman of
their community, Rimma Vardzhapetyan. And there is one rabbi in
Armenia. There is always some bickering going on between them and they
always seem unable to divide something. Various anti-Semitic attacks
may take place in Armenia. Everything is possible there because the
Armenians are unable to stay calm. Had they been able to live calmly
and in peace, they would still be living in peace with their
neighbour, Azerbaijan, which had provided them with shelter for many
years on the land of Karabakh. And they lived here better than anyone
else. We must remember that most of the Armenians who lived in
Azerbaijan occupied high posts – in the city committees [of the
Communist Party], in the Council of Ministers and in the central
committee. They had the best apartments in Baku. What else did they
want? Judging from this experience, I can accept that what the
Americans report may be true.

“On the contrary, there is no anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan, and nothing
like that is expected here. According to my information, there are
currently about 60 Jews in Armenia. They are all women who married
Armenians. Vardzhapetyan’s husband works in the Armenian presidential
administration. Therefore, she always protects Armenian interests at
international forums. I once told her: ‘You are a Jew. How can you
protect the interests of an aggressor? She replied ‘Why do you call us
aggressors?'”

In turn, Gennadiy Zelmanovich, head of the community of the Ashkenazi
Jews, confirmed to Ekho newspaper that “the Lubavitch community
received an anonymous letter in early April, on the eve of Passover,
which said that ‘you will be punished for killing our sheikh’. The
police and the National Security Ministry examined the letter and took
all the necessary measures. I do not think that this incident was
worth mentioning in the State Department report.”

The number of Jews in Armenia

Touching on Armenia, Zelmanovich said that some 100 Jews are living
there. “According to the World Jewish Congress, there were officially
120 Jews in Armenia in 2001. On the other hand, the worldwide Jewish
agency Sokhnut reports that each year 100 Jews from Armenia go to
Israel for permanent residency. Those are people whose mother, father
or grandfather were Jews. This concerns only Israel. I do not have any
information about how many Jews go to Germany or the USA. At various
Jewish congresses and meetings, I have met Vardzhapetyan and she
always states that there are 800 real Jews in Armenia. I have
repeatedly asked her how the figure can remain the same when at least
100 Jews leave the country every year. She says ‘we will always have
800 Jews’.

“We are both members of the General Council of the Eurasian Jewish
Congress. And all Jews can see every year at the sessions that there
is no anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan with its 30,000-strong Jewish
community, whereas anti-Semitism is continuing in Armenia where some
100 Jews remain.

“Vardzhapetyan herself explains the problems of Armenian Jews by
Israel’s unwillingness to recognize the ‘Armenian genocide’. When I
speak, I always state that Jews in Azerbaijan have no ethnic problems
and, as fully-fledged citizens, our only problem is the continuing
occupation of part of our territory by Armenia. Our children also
serve in the army and this means we can never rule out that we may
lose them since Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war.”