DAGESTAN, Russia
A mob looking for Israelis and Jews overran an airport in Russia's Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday, after rumours spread that a flight was arriving from Israel.
The violence in the mostly
Muslim region, which comes as war rages between Israel and Hamas in Gaza,
prompted Israel to call on Russia to protect its citizens, while the United
States condemned the "antisemitic protests".
The governor of Dagestan
promised that those responsible for the incident would be punished.
Dozens of protesters, many of
them chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), broke through doors
and barriers at Makhachkala airport, with some charging onto the runway,
according to videos posted on social media and Russia's RT and Izvestia media.
Russia's aviation agency
Rosaviatsiya announced shortly afterwards that it had closed the airport to
incoming and outgoing flights and that security forces had arrived.
"The situation is under
control," local authorities said on Telegram.
A statement from the
republic's health ministry said there had been injuries, but did not elaborate
on how many or who had been hurt.
Late on Sunday, Rosaviatsiya
announced that the airport had been "freed" from the mob and would
remain closed until November 6.
Several local Telegram
channels showed photos and videos of dozens of men waiting outside the airport
to stop cars.
One protester appeared in the
videos holding a sign that read "Child killers have no place in
Dagestan".
Other videos showed a crowd
inside an airport terminal trying to break down doors as staff members tried to
deter them.
The website Flightradar
indicated that a Red Wings flight out of Tel Aviv had landed at Makhachkala at
7:00 pm (1600 GMT).
The independent Russian media
outlet Sota said it was a transiting flight that had been due to take off again
for Moscow two hours later.
Hamas militants stormed across
the Gaza border on October 7 in the deadliest attack in Israel's history,
indiscriminately killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 230
others, according to Israeli officials.
Israel has retaliated by
relentlessly bombing Gaza, killing more than 8,000 people, half of them
children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
- Calls for calm -
A statement from Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Sunday evening said: "Israel
expects the Russian authorities to protect all Israeli citizens and all Jews,
and to act decisively against the rioters and against incitement to violence
against Jews and Israelis."
White House National Security
Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on X, formerly Twitter: "The
United States vigorously condemns the antisemitic protests in Dagestan, Russia.
"The US unequivocally
stands with the entire Jewish community as we witness a worldwide surge in
antisemitism."
Earlier Sunday, Akhmed
Dudayev, the minister of information in Dagestan's neighbour Chechnya, warned
on Telegram against "provocations" and called for calm in the face of
rising tensions in the Caucasus.
The Dagestan government posted
on Telegram appealing to those involved to stop their "illegal acts"
despite their anger over the "inhumane massacre of a civilian population
-- the Palestinian people".
"At the same time, we
urge residents of the republic not to succumb to provocations of destructive
groups and not to create panic in society."
Sergei Melikov, the republic's
governor, posted on Telegram later Sunday saying: "All Dagestanis
empathise with the suffering of victims by the actions of unrighteous people
and politicians and pray for peace in Palestine.
"But what happened at our
airport is outrageous and should receive the appropriate assessment from law
enforcement. This will be done."
- 'Culture of hatred' -
Dagestan and Chechnya are
mainly Muslim areas -- known in Russia as "republics" -- in a region
that has witnessed years of violent tension with the central Russian
authorities.
The RIA Novosti news agency
reported on Sunday that a Jewish centre in another North Caucasus republic --
Kabardino-Balkaria -- had been set on fire in the city of Nalchik.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky, expressing concern at the "appalling" videos posted on
social media, said on X that it was not an isolated incident.
It was, he said, "part of
Russia's widespread culture of hatred toward other nations, which is propagated
by state television, pundits and authorities".
Dagestan is Russia's
southernmost territory and one of its poorest regions.
It has taken an active part in
the Ukraine offensive -- with independent reports showing it has sent
proportionally more men to Ukraine than many more ethnically Russian regions.
In his statement, Melikov said
the mob had betrayed Dagestanis who were "representing the republic with
dignity" while fighting in Ukraine.
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