News - Building of Jewish cultural center is set on fire in Russia

In the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the building of a Jewish cultural center under construction was set on fire, reports the Mash Gor telegram channel. Back in December last year, it was announced that the largest Jewish community center in the North Caucasus Federal District would be built in Nalchik. Construction began, but against the backdrop of general negative sentiment among the population, something went wrong, NewsTracker writes. A few days ago, a petition was created to the head of Kazbek Kokov to stop the construction of a large center. The authors refer to the fact that the Jewish population in the republic is less than 1% of the total, and they also have their own synagogue. According to the authors of the petition, the Jewish diaspora in the Caucasus may receive benefits from the construction of the center, and because of this, unfriendly relations will arise between other communities. “Representatives of the three titular peoples of Kabardians, Balkars and Russians should be taken into account first of all,” the authors note. On October 29, in local public pages in Kabardino-Balkaria, footage appeared of the burnt walls of a Jewish community center—there was a fire. According to one version, someone climbed into the building at night and set fire to the tires.