02 March 2004 15:14
Russian chief rabbi says terrorists are not real Muslims
One of Russia's two chief rabbis, Adolf Shayevich of the Russian Jewish Congress, today defended Islam against
charges of terrorism, saying that terrorists were "dishonest people" who pretend to be religious. In an
interview with Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on 2 March he also condemned rising nationalism in Russia and called on
President Putin to speak out more strongly against anti-Semitism.
Chief Rabbi Adolf Shayevich said that the Second Inter-Religious Peacekeeping Forum, which is currently being held in
Moscow, would discuss the relationship between religion and the state, social problems and religious education. The
forum is being attended by CIS religious leaders. Shayevich said that "we are faced with a lot of problems today
that we can only resolve together". He said that today's part of the forum had been devoted to formalities,
but tomorrow would see roundtable talks on specific topics, with resolutions being passed.
Terrorism and nationalism
Shayevich added that participants in the forum spoke regularly about terrorism. He said that he did not link
terrorism with Islam. "I wouldn't say that they (terrorists) are representatives of the Muslim faith," he
said. He said that so-called Islamic terrorists were "dishonest people" who used religious symbolism to
"portray themselves as religious people". He said that we live alongside Muslims and they are "completely
respectable, peaceful people". He conceded that there might be a small number of religious people with aggressive
attitudes, but these were very much a minority.
Shayevich said that xenophobia and racism were a major problem in Russia today and were "a threat to the
country's future". He said that this problem had to be fought and "the government should deal with this
problem firmly". Shayevich regretted that "we learn nothing from history" when asked to comment on rising
nationalism. He added that the authorities had so many problems that they couldn't deal with all of them. However,
he added that "there are things that the government absolutely has to tackle". "In a multiethnic country
like Russia this is absolutely unacceptable. The authorities are to blame because they are so indifferent and even
encourage these things," he said.
Religion and politics
Shayevich said that children should be taught about major world religions at school, but should not be forced to
learn in depth about any particular religion. He said that there were plenty of opportunities for those who wanted to
learn more about a religion to find out about it. He added that anything could be drummed into children's brains
and this was "a great danger".
When asked why Russia had two Jewish organizations - the Russian Jewish Congress and the Federation of Jewish
Communities of Russia - and two chief rabbis, Shayevich said that the two groups had matters of principle that they
disagreed over, although he added that these were not insurmountable.
Shayevich said that his organization did not interfere in state politics, although it would like to cooperate with
the government on social issues. "We would like to do, and are doing, a lot for the state, to help it prosper, for
its benefit, for the people who live here," he explained. Shayevich said that since the Gorbachev era there had not
been any government anti-Semitism. However, he added that he would like "our president (Vladimir Putin) to speak
out more concretely and firmly on this issue, and not as vaguely as is currently the case". He said that Russia had
good laws against religious hatred, but people were not punished. "If one person was genuinely punished, I think
that others would think twice," he concluded.
[Ekho Moskvy radio] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
