The Moscow Independent Press Center has hosted a presentation by the Expert Group on Anti-Semitism of the Jewish community of Russia, which was created several years ago with the suppot of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

When presenting the “Anti-Semitism in Russia: 2010” report, EAJC Secretary General, Professor Michael Chlenov, reminded the gathering that the Expert Group had been created by a number of leading Jewish structures to “monitor the situation with anti-Semitism in Russia and to discern the tendencies of this repulsive phenomenon.” According to the EAJC Secretary General, the regular report of the Expert Group are used by global monitoring centers when preparing materials on the situation in Russia.

When talking about the RF anti-Semitism situation, Michael Chlenov stressed that a decreasing trend for anti-Semitic manifestations has begun in 2009. In 2010, only 42 incidents were recorded – 3 attacks for anti-Semitic reasons, 1 desecration of a Jewish burial site, 13 attacks on building of synagogues or Jewish organizations, 25 cases of anti-Semitic graffiti. In comparison, there were 639 incidents registered in England during the same period of time. According to EAJC Secretary general, this “descending trend” has two main causes – the increase of anti-extremist activity in law enforcement and the growth of right wing conservative attitudes, which do not see Jews as the main enemy.

Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Antifasicst Center Victor Dashevsky stressed, in turn, that “the decrease process of the number of anti-Semitic manifestations does not give reason for complacency and self-placation.” According to Dashevsky, the fact that the source of evil is not seen not so much in Jews, but in natives of the Caucasus, of Central Asia, and the “third world” is not reassuring for the Jews. He quoted the conclusion of the report, saying that “, the situation in Russia is reminiscent of a smoldering peat bog: widespread latent anti-Semitism might lead to an explosion in certain circumstances (as the events of December 11, 2010, showed)."