Russian Muslims seek to lynch Israeli passengers at airport

“We came for the Jews—to kill them with a knife and shoot them,” a rioter said.

An antisemitic mob at Makhachkala Uytash Airport in Russia's Dagestan Republic, Oct. 29, 2023. Source: Screenshot.

An antisemitic mob at Makhachkala Uytash Airport in Russia’s Dagestan Republic, Oct. 29, 2023. Source: Screenshot.
(October 29, 2023 / JNS)

A flight from Tel Aviv to Russia’s Dagestan Republic, in the North Caucasus along the Caspian Sea, was forced to redirect on Sunday after pro-Hamas rioters stormed Makhachkala Uytash Airport, seeking to lynch Jewish travelers.

Hundreds of rioters overran the airport, located in the capital of the Muslim-majority region of Russia. Video footage showed rioters with Palestinian flags shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is great) as they searched the terminals for Israeli passengers.

Other videos showed Muslim protesters stopping vehicles in the area to ask motorists if they were transporting tourists from the Jewish state.

“We came for the Jews—to kill them with a knife and shoot them,” a rioter was quoted as saying.

The plane from Tel Aviv was redirected to a nearby airport, but a mob also started gathering there, according to Israel’s Channel 12. The flight crew subsequently ordered the doors of the aircraft to be locked, as Russian security forces declared the tarmac a closed area.

“A limited number of Israelis and Jews are currently isolated and under guard at the airport,” Israel’s Kan public broadcaster quoted a security source in Jerusalem as saying.

“We are working on having them depart on a connection flight to Moscow once conditions allow it,” added the official.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry said they were following events in Dagestan and “expect Russian law enforcement to maintain the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews and to act with determination against rioters and wild incitement against Jews and Israelis.

 “Israel takes a grave view of attempts to harm Israeli citizens and Jews anywhere,” added the joint statement.

Russia’s state-run RT outlet reported the incident came only a day after Muslims stormed a hotel in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt in an attempt to harm “Jewish refugees” rumored to be staying there.

Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi was working to ensure the safety of Israeli tourists.

The Conference of European Rabbis, which represents about 1,000 Orthodox European rabbis, on Sunday night called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to protect Jews amid an eruption of antisemitic violence in the country.

“Earlier today, Dagestan’s Nalchik Jewish center was set on fire. Note that this is after a Hamas delegation (led by Musa Abu Marzouk) visited Moscow,” said Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who served as chief rabbi of Moscow for 30 years.

“We hope that he [Putin] will give unequivocal instruction to local authorities not to allow pogroms against the Jews,” added Goldschmidt.

October 30, 2023 | 21 Comments »

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21 Comments / 21 Comments

  1. Thanks, Peloni. The following is from the Moscow Times, a Russian Opposition news source:

    At least 15 police officers and five civilians including a priest have been killed in coordinated attacks on two Orthodox churches and two synagogues in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday evening.

    Russian law enforcement has deemed the attacks, which saw both police and National Guard officers deployed, as “acts of terror.”

    The attacks are the latest incident involving the majority Muslim republic following an anti-Israeli mob at the republic’s main airport in October 2023 and the Moscow concert hall massacre of March 2024, which was partly carried out by Dagestani nationals and claimed by the Islamic State group.

    https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/06/24/what-we-know-about-church-and-synagogue-attacks-in-dagestan-a85498

    The attack took place on Pentecost Sunday, a holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church…

    While the attackers’ identities have not yet been officially confirmed, they reportedly include two sons of the head of Dagestan’s Sergokalinsky district Magomed Omarov.

    Omarov also casked to resign, but was swiftly dismissed by the ruling United Russia party and his records were promptly removed from the party’s website.

    Another attacker was reportedly Gadzhimurad Kagirov, a freestyle wrestler who previously represented the Eagles MMA club, co-founded by former UFC Lightweight Champion and Makhachkala native Khabib Nurmagomedov.

    “I think the biggest takeaway from the profiles of the shooters is that the radicalization pool just grew so much larger, and the Russian authorities are in a lot of trouble,” Harold Chambers, an analyst focusing on nationalism, conflict and security in the North Caucasus, told The Moscow Times.

    “I am certain that Magomed Omarov has, by now, been repeatedly asked: ‘Your relatives were radicalizing, how could you have missed that?’ And that’s the thing, we have zero idea what is going on, and how big this thing is going to get,” he said.

  2. @Michael

    My comment about “staging” an event were from last October (2023).

    That was clear to me, both when you posted that comment and when Laura responded to it earlier today/yesterday. So my comments stand as stated.

    Thanks for the update on the terror attack in any event.

  3. Laura, Sebastien and Peloni,

    My comment about “staging” an event were from last October (2023). I have very little info about the ongoing unrest in Dagestan and Abkhaziia — including an attack on a synagogue and two churches. This fact alone led me to suspect that the attackers were Muslims. The last I heard, a few hours ago, it seems that (1) a sizeable percentage of casualtie were pro-Russian poliecemen, (2) that at least two attackers have been apprehended and identified, (3) one of those seems to have been the son of a PRO-PUTIN leader, and (4) the attacks coincide with the anniversary of Prygozhyn;s revolt. In other words, as of a few hours ago, the situation seemed somewhat cloudy.

  4. Russia’s Chechnya constructs Palestinian village for Gaza war refugees

    https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-782139

    Turkey denies rumors of plans to take in 1 million Palestinian refugees amid Gaza crisis

    “I said that about Syria then. That’s why Jordan and Turkey took the bulk of the refugees there, and I think honestly, the Hamas-sympathizing countries should take these Gazans now,” Haley continued. “We’re talking about Qatar, we’re talking about Iran, we’re talking about Turkey.”Oct 17, 2023

    Haley argues Middle Eastern nations should take Gaza refugees

    My comment: Just say yes.

  5. @Laura

    the Russian authorities just didn’t care to stop them.

    This doesn’t make any sense. You believe that Putin is so secure in his position that he would allow a Muslim mob to purposefully get out of hand only to have to literally call in the cavalry at the last minute to save the lives of foreign guests in a relatively remote Russian province? And that he would do so while needing to project strength, stability and support on the home front?

    To what advantage? Putin fired on a Muslim mob trying to kill a bunch of visiting Jews. How could that remotely help him with anyone?

    Well, maybe you do believe these things, and perhaps you have a answer for why Putin would take such risks as inflaming the Muslims in Dagastan. Personally, as I noted before, this doesn’t make a bit of sense to me.

  6. I absolutely believe that it was real. My point was that the Russian authorities just didn’t care to stop them.

    Do you believe those scenes filmed in Dagastan?
    Also, if the Russians staged this event, we would have to accept that they were willing to deal with the fallout of a mob getting out of control inside Muslim Dagastan, and of the Russian military needing to use live fire to disperse the Islmaist mob and restore order. I will leave it to those who are deluded enough to believe that Putin would stage a potentially destabilizing event in his own country to guess as to what advantage he might gain at having foreign guests subjected to such a traumatic event as this. In fact, the notion of the Dagastan riot being staged is ridiculous, so I would agree with your first thought on the matter.

  7. @Laura

    I recall how anti-war protesters were dragged off the streets a couple of years ago.

    Do you believe those scenes filmed in Dagastan?
    Also, if the Russians staged this event, we would have to accept that they were willing to deal with the fallout of a mob getting out of control inside Muslim Dagastan, and of the Russian military needing to use live fire to disperse the Islmaist mob and restore order. I will leave it to those who are deluded enough to believe that Putin would stage a potentially destabilizing event in his own country to guess as to what advantage he might gain at having foreign guests subjected to such a traumatic event as this. In fact, the notion of the Dagastan riot being staged is ridiculous, so I would agree with your first thought on the matter.

    Regarding Carlson’s claim about the streets being so clean, and there being no crime, and all the rest of his personal observations, it should be recalled that, while Russia has relatively few urban centers, Carlson likely did not go anywhere but Moscow, which is where I suspect the anti-war protests which you referenced were also situated.

    Just my own thoughts of course.

  8. I don’t think it was staged, but given the authoritarian government of Russia, such an incident doesn’t take place without at least the tacit approval of the state. As we’re told by Russophiles like fucker Carlson, Russia is safe from crime, let alone mob violence like this. If Putin wanted to, he would go after the muslim mobs. I recall how anti-war protesters were dragged off the streets a couple of years ago. The difference is that muslim mobs aren’t a threat to his power, whereas anti-war activists are.

    Hi, Peloni.

    My gut feeling, was that the whole incident was staged — like so many “spontaneous” pro-Hamas, anti-Jewish events around the world. I guess that goes with the territory. On second thought, those Muslim goons just look evil.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XceMFCUhJbM

  9. Putin actually has addressed the issue of the Jew Hunt in Dagestan. While some have suggested that this was some form of Western color revolution, Putin’s comments somewhat comically parallel Zelensky’s in trying to use this very troubling event to serve the geopolitical interest of his country. Beyond his comments suggesting that Ukraine was behind the event, Putin stated

    “I want to draw the attention of heads of all regions, heads of law enforcement agencies and special services to the need for firm, timely and clear actions to protect Russia’s constitutional order, the rights and freedoms of our citizens, inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony,”

    From my reading, this was a far weaker statemtent than was needed following the spontaneous formation of lynch mob determined to hunt down Jewish tourists. It specifically fails to even address the issue of antisemitism or even mention the fact that the mob was trying to attack Jews simply because they were Jews. In a nation with the history of antisemitism which Russia bears, it was incumbent upon Putin to address this matter far more directly and with far more specificity than this rather weak tea request that everyone obey the law.

    Let us be very clear. What took place in Dagestan was not some attempted color revolution as took place in Ukraine in 2004 and 2014.

    To begin with there was no color to be seen in this event, none at all. There was no organization, no symbolic flags, no unifying speeches, and no anti govt focus. The raging crowd was not there demanding change, nor were they wanting reforms. They were simply there to kill Jews. It wasn’t about Ukraine, and it wasn’t about the West, it was simply about Muslims trying to kill Jews. If it had not been for the very astute efforts of the local authorities to hide the Jews present in the airport while directing the crowd out to the tarmac, the consequences of this event would quite certainly resulted in a much greater tragedy than it came to be.

    So try as he might to dismiss the reality that the blood thirsty anti-Jewish mob was simply trying to emulate the horrors of Hamas, Putin is simply ignoring the problem which is squarely his responsibility to address.

    This has nothing to do with the Russia Ukraine conflict and everything to do with the fact that Russia has a greater problem with antisemitism on their hands than they would like to publicly admit. Putin has stated that an inquiry is being made into what took place, but to be honest it is quite disappointing to hear him shy away from addressing this issue more forcefully and more directly than he aleady appears to be happy to do.

    The public posturing which has been made in the past 18 months by Lavrov, and the recent comments by Putin which can only be described as being pro-Iran, pro-Pal and now pro-Hamas with the recent state invitation to treat Hamas as if they were legitimate state actors instead of being a band of terrorist butchers, present a worrying trend which the recent Dagestani Jew Hunt only raise ever more vividly.

    Russia has an antisemitism problem, and suggesting that Ukraine was behind this shocking event will only serve to diminish rather than highlight the reality of this problem. Putin must ignore the Ukrainian opportunist in chief next door, and directly and forcibly address the antisemitism problem present in his own house without delay and without qualification or distraction. The fact that he has not already done so is quite disturbing.

  10. @Felix

    they made a switch in policy in 1944 to save their nazi skins concentrating on hatred of the Russians

    It was 1943, not 1944, just to be clear. The event which changed their agenda was the fact that in the wake of Stalingrad, they came to understand that the Germans were not the invincible super soldiers which they had previously believed them to be. In 1943, the Third OUN-B Conference (February 17, 1943 as I recall) was held. At this gathering new policies were adopted to change the Nazi supporting OUN-B into a NAZI opposing OUN-B. Notably, this didn’t stop the Ukrainians from joining the ranks of the Nazi SS units by the thousands to gleefully kill Jews, Poles and Russians – as we are all well aware that Hunka joined the Galician (First Ukrainian) Division at this time, which later went on to slaughter a great many Poles and Russians in support of the Nazis. The official rhetoric and outlook, however, of the OUN-B completely changed towards becoming more adoptive and more supportive of Western ideas. Herein lies a key aspect of Ukrainian political ideology, ie it is very pragmatic. Seeing that the Jews were nearly all eliminated from Western Ukraine, they ‘officially’ dropped their anti-Jewish doctrines which had been written by Bandera and his leadership one month before the Nazi’s invaded Russia held Ukraine. Despite this official change, however, the OUNB police continued to enact the pursuit and murder of Jews without consequence or critique. Following the Third Conference, the OUN-B also adopted a democratic format, casting aside the formerly autocratic format that emulated the Third Reich, although keeping their war criminal leader Roman Shukhevych of course. All of this took place following the Third OUNB conference in February 1943. The date of this event was both an important one to remember, but it is also an easy one to remember, because it was literally two weeks after the Battle of Stalingrad ended on February 2, 1943 on which this conference took place. The devastation of the German forces at Stalingrad painted a clear picture that the inevitable victory of the German Reich over the Allies was very much in doubt, which led the Ukrainians to reimagine their well soiled image so that they might be seen as being potentially palatable allies to the Allies.

    You are probaby well aware of all of this, but I thought I would clarify it nonetheless

  11. The reader will note that this comment from Alan Dalgliesh make reference to the horrible Pogroms in the area of 1919 to 1921

    Absolutely appalling. The Russian blogger who calls himself “Constantine” expressed deep shame at this return of pogroms to Russia. He claims that antisemitic incitement, not just in Dagestan and not just by Muslims, is sweeping Russia again, returning Russia to where it was over a hundred years ago when the last wave of pogroms swept Russia.

    But it happened in Ukraine. Their descendants carried out the Holocaust

    They remained untouched after

    And they have emerged as a proxy force under present day Zelensky.

    This man is likely ignorant of all that history. But he is carrying disinformation. And spreading it.

    It is important to understand that many make a reference to one event one time but do not explain the continuity of that historical PROCESS and they end up supporting ravenously the same Nazis of today, those followers of Zelensky.

  12. These are Pogroms and what Putin says and acts will be of great interest.

    These are also the exact same Pogroms that the Red Army led by Trotsky met above all in Ukraine in the BEGINNING of the Holocaust. This was the critical 1918 to 1921 period of widespread Pogroms in which about 100,000 Jews were murdered

    This was the time when the Jews formed an alliance with the revolutionary Red Army against the Pogromists. They formed battalions inside the Red Army and United with the workers to put down Fascism

    Lenin and Trotsky had a special law enacted a capital offence throughout Ukraine and all of Russia against Pogroms

    The finger now points at Putin

    (It must be understood that the power of present day Zelensky representatives as descendants of those Pogroms just that they made a switch in policy in 1944 to save their nazi skins concentrating on hatred of the Russians)

  13. @EvRe1

    how did the Muslims know in advance they would be coming?

    RT.com says that there is a Telegram channel Dagestan Morning which riled them up.

    It says that the channel was actually funded from Ukraine (which I tend to believe because Zelensky reacted immediately blaming the whole of Russia and its culture).

    I found the quote I wrote about before [I saw a video with subtitles where one of the rioters says something like “Let’s quit, it’s a provocation” but I can’t find it anymore.], and it is not in a video:

    The Russian Echo FM radio reported that a resident of Dagestan stated “I went into every room, I checked every person. I looked at the passport, looked at the face to see if this face corresponded to the passport. There are no [Jews] there, brothers, you are simply being provoked. We need to go home. Well done to everyone who came, you’re all caring.”

    https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-770738

    The title of the article is “Russians storm the airport”, etc. which I think is kind of low.

  14. Something seems a little strange about this.
    First, why would Jews or Israelis be going to a Muslim area like this?

    Secondly, how did the Muslims know in advance they would be coming?

    The story doesn’t yet add up. Maybe there are details left out that would make it all hold together.

  15. Absolutely appalling. The Russian blogger who calls himself “Constantine” expressed deep shame at this return of pogroms to Russia. He claims that antisemitic incitement, not just in Dagestan and not just by Muslims, is sweeping Russia again, returning Russia to where it was over a hundred years ago when the last wave of pogroms swept Russia.

  16. This article does not at all capture the horror that took place in Dagestan. The lych mob were seen going from floor to floor of the airport and then being directed to swarm onto the tarmac where they surrounded a bus filled with Israeli parents and children who had just “undergone treatment” (uncertain of the precise context here). After the local authorities failed to be able to either contain the lynch mobs or to get them to disperse from the runway, the Russian National Guard were flown in on army transport choppers where they began using first tear gas and later rubber bullets to disperse the lynch mob. After the mob began to launch rocks and other debris at the Security Forces, rubber bullets were replaced with live rounds.

    And this was apparently two days after a similar mob raided a hotel looking for Jews to lynch!