Kyrgyzstan Jews Appeal to Nation’s Interim Leader for Protection

Chabad.org

The prosecutor’s office in Bishkek caught fire during riots in Kyrgyzstan on April 7. (Photo: Brokev/Creative Commons)

 

By Joshua Runyan

Apr 13, 2010 1:15 PM

Kyrgyzstan’s Jewish community has appealed to the leader of the country’s interim government after an apparent coup last week sparked violence and led unknown assailants to attack the central synagogue in the capital of Bishkek. Anti-Semitism has been a rarity in the history of the predominantly Muslim central Asian nation, read a statement delivered to former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva. “Confident in your support for the ideas of inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony in our country,” it continued, “we ask you to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of members of the Jewish community.” According to a report from Russian Inter-fax news agency and cited by the Russian-language Web site of the Federation of Jewish Communities, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the synagogue in an apparent attempt to burn the structure down. The attack happened just hours after Rabbi Arye Raichman, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Bishkek, had stated that community members had escaped the violence that had engulfed the capital April 7. “This is a government issue,” he said at the time. “The Chabad House is still providing services and our spirits are good.” Before the attack, Raichman noted that the city’s Jewish schools had been closed out of caution; he urged people to remain indoors. After the incident, he told the Reuters news agency that “it’s the first time in the history of our community here that we see such clear signs of anti-Semitism.” “Kyrgyzstan has always been hospitable,” said Raichman. “During Soviet times and under its later leaders, it has always been tolerant. So what’s happening right now is very alarming.” JTA reported this week that the closest Israeli embassy, in neighboring Kazakhstan, was monitoring events in the country.