Crowd Storms Russian Airport Looking for Jews, Prompting Putin to Call Security Meeting
Footage shows a crowd running through the airport asking staff where the "Jews" are as they surround an aircraft arriving from Tel Aviv
A Russian airport temporarily closed after a large mob of angry men surrounded a plane full of passengers from Israel while shouting anti-Semitic things and asking where the "Jews" were.
Video footage that's gone viral on social media shows a crowd running through the airport in Dagestan, Russia, asking airport staff where the "Jews" are as they surround an aircraft arriving from Tel Aviv.
The BBC reports that the situation led the airport to temporarily close on Sunday evening, and to announce that flights from Israel to the North Caucasus of Russia would be "temporarily redirected to other cities."
The outlet further reports that local Telegram channel "encouraged people to gather at the airport at the time of the flight's arrival and encouraged participants to search for every Jewish person there," with local media reports indicating that some "demonstrators were stopping cars outside Makhachkala's airport demanding to see documents."
The BBC, citing Russian news agencies, reports that 60 alleged participants from the mob have been arrested and that 20 injuries were reported.
PBS reports that the airport incident prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to call a meeting of top security and law enforcement officials.
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The incident comes amid violence in Gaza and Israel following a surprise attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Oct. 7.
Related: What Is Hamas, the Palestinian Militant Group Behind Terrorist Attacks on Israel?
The terrorist attack prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say that the country is “at war” and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to also announce “a complete siege on Gaza.”
Since the surprise attack from Hamas, the death toll on both sides of the conflict has risen considerably. Per The Washington Post, at least 8,005 people in Gaza have been killed in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli death toll reported by Israeli authorities hovers at around 1,400 people killed.
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the United States' special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said in a statement issued Monday morning that she was "deeply concerned by the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents around the world over the past three weeks."
We are deeply concerned by the dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents around the world over the past three weeks.
Governments, law enforcement, and community groups in Europe, Latin America, Australia, South Africa, North America, Russia, and elsewhere have reported a sharp…— Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) October 30, 2023
Lipstadt cited "a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents, rhetoric, and incitement in the past three weeks" at sites in Europe, Latin America, Australia, South Africa, North America, Russia, and elsewhere. She added that the Hamas attack earlier in the month marked "the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust."
"The targeting and mass murder of civilians has brought to the surface painful memories and scars left by millennia of antisemitism and the genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazis and their collaborators," she added.
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