Russia criticizes U.S. report on anti-Semitism

.c The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) – The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday criticized a U.S.
report on anti-Semitism around the world, saying that its statements
about Russia were condescending and in some cases accusatory and
baseless.

The U.S. State Department report to Congress said that anti-Semitism
remained a serious problem in Russia, Belarus and elsewhere in the
former Soviet Union, with most incidents carried out by
ultra-nationalists and other far-right elements.

In a statement, the Russian ministry said the evaluation of
anti-Semitism in Russia in large part repeated a September 2004 State
Department report on world religious freedom.

“As for the content of the document, the effort by its authors to
somehow combine objective evidence from the Russian Jewish community
about the lack of anti-Semitism at the state level in Russia with an
expression of ‘concern’ about certain instances of religious and
ethnic intolerance ‘in localities’ and from a series of political
parties appears openly artificial,” it said.

The problem of extremist youth groups who carry out anti-Semitic
crimes such as vandalizing Jewish cemeteries and synagogues is shared
by many countries, including the United States and Western European
nations, it said.

The statement said nations must work together to fight extremism,
anti-Semitism and the ideologies of racial superiority.

“This is particularly topical in the approach to the 60th anniversary
of the victory over fascism, in the rout of which our country made a
decisive contribution,” it said. “We are open to constructive
dialogue, but we consider mentorism and groundless accusations simply
inappropriate.”

01/11/05 15:58 EST