|
Euroasian Jewish News
Antisemitism and electoral campaign - 2007 in Russia.
27.11.2007
The elections to the State Duma of Federal Assembly of Russian Federation will pass on December, 2nd. For the first time elections to the lower chamber of Russian Parliament are spent only by party lists. Unfortunately, according to the monitoring conducted by Expert group on problems of antisemitism of the World Jewish congress, the candidates expressed the statements that can be qualified as antisemitic*, are present at lists of some the parties admitted to participation in elections.
According to opinion of the Expert group first of all it concerns the Patriots of Russia Party. In this party's list of candidates there are deputies of the State Duma, who had signed odious "letter of five hundred" in which antisemitic myths were substantiation for the requirement about closing all the Jewish organizations in Russia. They are S.Glotov, A.Krutov, A.Savel'ev, J.Savel'ev, S.Dobrovolsky (the son of well-known neo-pagan ideologist A.Dobrovolsky whose two books are included in so-called "list of the extremist literature", made by the government). Also in the list of candidates from Patriots of Russia Party there are about 20 activists of radical nationalists Great Russia Party lead by A.Savel'ev.
There are candidates adhering similar views also in electoral lists of Communist Party of the Russian Federation (deputies of State Duma who had signed "letter of five hundred" N.Yezersky, V.Kashin, S.Sobko, well-known nationalist V.Iljuhin as well) and Fair Russia party (deputies of the State Duma who had signed "letter of five hundred" A.Greshnevikov and I.Harchenko; deputy of Regional Assembly of Krasnoyarsk kray (region) O.Pashchenko known with his active support of local version of blood label – ritual murder of several children ostensibly commited by Jews in Krasnoyarsk in 2005).
Though till the present moment antisemitic rhetorics was not used during the election campaign, election of these candidates to the State Duma can lead to preservation of political representation of the groups professing antisemitic sights in the legislature of Russia.
* According to the definition of antisemitism accepted by the Expert group, "antisemitism is a negative attitude to Jews in general as an ethnic and (or) a religious group, as well as to separate persons on the basis of their real or imaginary belonging to this group".
Expert group on problems of antisemitism at the World Jewish congress
|
|
