On Saturday evening, hundreds of people gathered outside a hotel in the town of Chasavjurt after the Telegram channel “Dagestan Morgon” wrote that refugees from Israel were living there. The crowd shouted at the residents to leave and threw stones at the building. The police who arrived at the scene allowed some people to enter the hotel to ensure that no Israeli citizens were there. The crowds then dispersed.
The people who were allowed into the hotel also hung a note with the text “No entry for Israeli citizens (Jews)!” And here there are none!”
Cultural center on fire and anti-Israel demonstrations
During Sunday evening, several anti-Israel demonstrations were also held, one in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala and one in Cherkessk, the capital of the sub-republic of Karachayen-Cherkessia. The crowds demanded that the regions should not accept refugees from Israel and that the Israelis living in the regions should be relocated. All sub-republics have a Muslim majority.
On Saturday morning, unknown assailants started a fire in a Jewish cultural center under construction. It happened in the capital of Naltchik in the sub-republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. The perpetrators had also scrawled “Death to the Jews” on the building.
Russia blames Ukraine
The anti-Semitic actions culminated with hundreds of people gathering at Makhachkala airport after “Dagestan Morning” called on people to force back a plane from Tel Aviv that was due to land in the city.
It is claimed that the Telegram channel is linked to the former Russian politician Ilya Ponomaryev, who now lives in exile in Ukraine. Ponomarjov himself claims that he has had no connection with the channel since a year ago, but the connection is now being used by Russia to explain what happened.
Dagestan’s leader Sergei Melikov said there is “relentless evidence that Dagestan’s morning is administered by traitors from Ukraine”. Now Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has also said that the events at the airport were a clear result of outside influence. Putin will during the evening organize a meeting about what happened.