Source: Interfax – Religion

Society and authorities are not doing enough to fight xenophobia, anti-Semitism and religious intolerance in Russia, says Viatcheslav Kantor, President of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC).

“The country cannot aspire to greatness if it has room for xenophobia, religious intolerance and anti-Semitism. Today, on the eve of a holiday at whose conceptual core lies the ideal of national unity, nationalism and xenophobia are raising their heads in Russia,” Kantor remarked in a statement received by Interfax on Thursday.

Kantor pointed out that synagogues in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, as well as Jewish tombs in the Tver region and a number of other towns of the Volga region, have been desecrated recently. Worshippers at a Moscow Synagogue were attacked, and certain public figures are not ashamed of expressing anti-Semitic views.

“Society does not react appropriately to all of this, despite the fact that this phenomenon presents an obvious danger to the national security of Russia. The authorities try to react to this danger; however, what is being done is not enough. Xenophobia and anti-Semitism can not be defeated by official order alone. Such shameful events, which do harm to Russia’s image, can be eliminated only by means of systematic and coordinated activities on the part of authorities and society,” Kantor stated.

He encouraged all Russian citizens who respect others’ faith and views to celebrate November 4 together, “on the same side of the fence, in order to stop the people who are pushing the country toward catastrophe.”