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There were a number of anti-Semitic incidents in Belarus in 1997, including a
Jewish cemetery desecration and an arson attack on a Jewish communal building. Belarus'
ultra-nationalist organizations openly identify with the West European New Right.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
There are about 52,000 Jews in Belarus, of whom 25,000 live in the capital, Minsk,
and 27,000 in the rest of the country. The Jewish population is contracting at the
rate of about 8,000 per year: in 1997 about 3,400 immigrated to Israel and 3,500 to
Western countries, with a loss of about 1,100 per year because of the negative birth rate.
There are 26 official Jewish organizations in Belarus, 21 in Minsk. They publish four
newspapers, one of them, Spring, with a national circulation.
As in Russia and Ukraine, these organizations deal with Jewish culture, education,
religion, commemoration of the Holocaust and charity, to which the Israeli government
and public contribute, as do international Jewish organizations, principally the Joint
Distribution Committee.
The authorities place no obstacle to organized Jewish activities; however, occasionally
the government expresses dissatisfaction with the Zionist elements in their activities.
EXTREME NATIONALIST ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS
There are a number of small, ultra-nationalist organizations on the fringes of Belarus
society. This political camp includes the Belarussian Liberation Party (BPS),
Right Revanche (PR) and the White Legion (the Belarussian version of the
Ukrainian paramilitary UNA-UNSO and the Russian National Legion of the NRPR -- the
Russian National Republican Party). Two extreme right-wing organizations active in
Belarus until 1996 -- the Gray Wolves and the Belarussian Fascist Party (BFP) -- ceased
to exist and their members joined the PR and the White Legion. These political organizations
openly declare their ideological identification with the New Right in Western Europe
and cooperate with European parties which follow this line, particularly French parties.
In addition, local branches of the neo-Nazi RNE (Russian National Unity) are active
in this country, mainly in disseminating the movement's often anti-Semitic proclamations
and newspapers in the main cities.
ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVITIES
In the course of 1997, there were a number of anti-Semitic incidents in Belarus. A
Jewish cemetery was desecrated in Vitebsk on May 1, l997; a Jewish communal building,
which also serves as a synagogue, was set afire in Minsk, May 10; there was an anti-Semitic
and anti-Israel demonstration in front of a Jewish school in Borisov, on September 14;
and Nazi slogans and symbols were painted on the home of Mikhail Nordstein, editor
of the Jewish newspaper Spring, on January 1.
It should be noted that although in general the number and extent of anti-Semitic
material published in Belarus decreased, some mass media papers (Popular News,
Belarus, The Slavic Bell) continued to publish vehemently anti-Semitic
material regularly. On July 27, the religious program "Identity," of the Belarus national
television station, repeated the 17th century blood libel story against Jews.
A public opinion poll held in 1997 revealed that 8.5 percent of those questioned felt
antipathy for Jews, as compared to 40.7 percent for people from the Caucasus.
RESPONSES TO RACISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM
In 1997 no legal action was taken by the authorities against the continuing anti-Semitic
propaganda, despite the fact that the constitution and the criminal code specifically
forbid "incitement to religious or national hatred" (Sections 5, 14, 15, 16, 31,50
of the Belarussian Constitution, the law on national minorities, the law on uses of
the mass media, and others), and despite the public declarations of President Alexandr
Lukashenko, on February 8, May 6, and November 14, condemning anti-Semitism and stressing
the necessity to fight against it in Belarus (see previous reports, which detail anti-Semitic,
anti-Israel and pro-Hitler remarks made by Lukashenko, as well as the reactions they
engendered).
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