Judaism

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Metropolitan Ioane Gamrekeli. Photo: Irakli Tkemaladze

Antisemitism

Georgian Orthodox clergy double down on antisemitic sermons

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

The Georgian Orthodox Church has come under fire for a series of antisemitic sermons and comments by high-profile clergymen. On Monday, while dismissing accusations of antisemitism in the Church and attacking those he said had ‘spewed’ such allegations, Ilia Karkadze, a deacon at the Trinity Cathedral in Kutaisi, voiced a number of antisemitic conspiracy theories. While insisting that antisemitism was historically alien to Georgia, Karkadze warned of ‘Zionist groups’ on the side of ‘unkind f

Chechnya

Anti-Semitic statement by Kadyrov provokes anger amoung Russian-Israeli Jews

by OC Media

•3 min read

The head of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has caused anger among Israel’s Russian community, after making an anti-Semitic statement. Kadyrov made the comments while addressing Chechens living in Jordan, who had been invited by the Chechen Government on a cultural visit to the Chechen capital, Grozny. In his hour-and-a-half speech on 13 August, Kadyrov said that ‘the prophet Muhammad killed the Jews most of all’. He also called Jewish people ‘the main enemies of Islam’.

Antisemitism

Vitali Safarov’s mother: I must know why they killed my son

by Dato Parulava

•6 min read

Vitali Safarov, a 25-year-old Jewish Georgian man, was stabbed to death in Tbilisi in September 2018. Two men were jailed for 15 years each on charges of group murder, however, the court ruled his killing was not ethnically motivated despite witness testimony that he was killed by neo-Nazis because he was Jewish. The family of the deceased have appealed the judgment as they are confident that Safarov was the victim of a hate crime. [Read more about Vitali Safarov’s case on OC Media:

Georgia

Key witness testifies that Safarov was killed because he was Jewish

by Dato Parulava

•5 min read

The key witness in the trial over the murder of Vitali Safarov in Tbilisi has testified that Safarov was killed because he was Jewish. The witness, identified only as Nikoloz Sh, testified on Tuesday that he had been friends with the two defendants and that together they had regularly insulted foreigners and attempted to physically attack them. Avtandil Kandelakishvili, 21, and Giorgi Sokhadze, 24, are accused of stabbing Safarov to death in the early hours of 30 September after a fight n

Chechnya

Moscow’s chief Rabbi apologises to Kadyrov for ‘offending Muslims’

by OC Media

•2 min read

Chairman of the Conference of European Rabbis and Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, apologised to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for his remarks regarding Muslims. The video with the rabbi’s explanations was published on Kadyrov’s Instagram page. Goldschmidt admitted, despite noting that his words were taken out of context, that he made a mistake in not being careful during a conversation with journalists. ‘These words were said in the context of criticism of [US president]