Posted on 01/19/2005 1:19:51 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
TARTU, Estonia -- The rapid growth in the number of Muslim communities across the Russian Federation -- and especially their appearance in areas Russians traditionally have viewed as their own -- is generating fears among ever more Russians that this "greening" of Russia threatens their way of life.
But it is also leading an increasing number of analysts and officials there to hope that Moscow may simultaneously be able to count on Russia's traditionally more moderate Muslims as a bulwark against more radical forms of Islam and also to exploit the possibility of terrorist violence by Islamist radicals to deflect anger against the Russian government.
The exact number of Muslim believers in the Russian Federation like the exact number of followers of other faiths remains in dispute. But the institutional face of Islam there, the appearance of distinctive Muslim communities in ever more Russian locales, and the greater propensity of Muslims to go to mosques than that of others to attend services inevitably has attracted attention.
An article in Komsomolskaya Pravda this week (available online at kp.ru/daily/23441/35885/print/) argues that Orthodox Christianity is likely to continue to dominate Russian life "at a minimum for 20 to 30 years" but suggests that Russians must come to terms with the rise of Islam, the faith that now challenges and seems set displace Christianity in Russia as the country's dominant faith.
According to the paper, there are 6,650 mosques in the Russian Federation, almost 100 times the number of mosques in the Soviet Union as a whole in 1985. Moreover, in Russia today, there are now more Muslim religious educational institutions -- 68 -- than Orthodox Christian ones -- 49.
Part of a general recovery of religious life after the end of communism, this dramatic growth in the number of Muslim institutions also reflects the relatively low construction costs for mosques as compared to those for churches, financial support from both foreign sponsors and Russia's regional governments, and contributions by the Muslim community itself.
Were all this confined to portions of the country where Muslims have traditionally dominated, that would be one thing, the paper notes, but Muslim communities are increasingly found in traditionally Russian areas. And the Muslims in these communities are often far more active that Orthodox Christians, something that also calls attention to them.
Because of the influx of Muslims from the Middle Volga, the Caucasus and Central Asia, the Russian capital itself may now have as many as 1.5 million Muslims. And because of their greater religious activism, Muslims now make up 40 percent of those who attend religious services in Ulyanovsk oblast and 39 percent of those who do so in Tyumen oblast.
Moreover, the Moscow paper continues, there are now mosques in places like Murmansk and Ivanovo and plans to build one in Sergiyev Posad, the city outside Moscow where the Orthodox Patriarch has his residence.
In contrast to many articles on this subject, Komsomolskaya Pravda reports these developments in a calm, almost dispassionate way, summing up the pluses and minuses of the development of Islam as well as the other faiths and concluding that the growth of Islam is "in no way a threat to the state as some super patriots think but the single means of salvation from the 'Wahhabization' of Rus."
Indeed, the paper concludes, Russia's Muslims can help "strengthen Russia." The new "green belt" across the southern part of the country and the mosques being built there and elsewhere in Russia should be seen as "border fortresses" that are in no way a threat but rather a necessary defense.
At present, however, many Russians do not make these distinctions or view Muslims in such a positive way. Instead, polls suggest, many Russians do not make the distinctions that the Komsomolskaya Pravda writer does, and see the Muslim communities as a threat, a view at least some in the Russian media and government apparently share and want to exploit.
On Sunday, the Levada Center released the results of its latest poll of Russian attitudes toward Islam (posted online on the politkom.ru site). Its findings are distressing: Some 44 percent of Russians said that they were in favor of placing administrative restrictions on the spread of Islam in the Russian Federation.
Moreover, the survey found that 58 percent of Russians now favor preventing people from predominantly Muslim areas of the Caucasus and Central Asia from coming to or staying in Russian cities and regions. And almost 20 percent said that they believed that Russian "skinheads" were justified in attacking "southerners" because of their involvement with terrorism.
The central Russian media often play to these attitudes. Indeed, one academic study of the subject by V.K. Malkov, suggests that the Moscow media are especially notorious in this regard. (See his article in Etnograficheskoe obozreniye, no. 5, 2003.) And on at least some occasions, the Russian authorities have sought to exploit these views for their own purposes.
Both aspects of the problem have been very much on public view this week.
On Sunday, for example, the Russian media gave prominent coverage to a Moscow court's decision to sentence Zarema Murtazalieva, a 21-year-old Chechen woman, to nine years in jail for terrorist activities, despite the fact that human rights groups like Memorial have pointed out that the charges against her were almost certainly false.
Also on Sunday, the newspaper Trud (trud.ru/News/Yandex/2005011746.htm) reported that "the special forces of Russia" now have information that Shamil Basaev and Aslan Maskhadov are planning "major terrorist attacks" for the near future.
Such claims by the authorities are neither new nor in any particular case especially reliable. Consequently, the timing of such announcements may reflect more than simple intelligence processing. Instead, it may represent the latest attempt by Moscow to exploit popular fears about terrorism and anger at Muslims in order to generate support for an embattled government.
The events of the last five years suggest that such a tactic may have short-term payoffs for those who use it, but over the longer haul, it will almost certainly encourage the radicalization of opinion among both Russia's Christians and Muslims. And that development, in turn, will leave very little basis for hope and a great deal to fear.
Sounds like time for a good, old-fashioned Russian pogrom!
Governments in general, are clueless about this threat of this false religion. Because they all equate religions as the same, they think the practicioners are reasonable people. When confronted with their errors/stupidity, they refuse to see it....
"I am sure that your rich political experience will allow you to efficiently fulfill the high mission the Palestinian nation has entrusted you with to as soon as possible implement its expectations to create an independent state of its own co-existing with Israel in peace and security.
"We are ready for close cooperation with you in the interests of further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Palestinian relations with the purpose of achieving just Palestine-Israeli settlement on the basis of the 'road map' and resolutions by the UN Security Council, and turning the Mideast region into an area of mutually beneficial cooperation and economic prosperity," reads the presidential statement.
Vladimir Putin invited the elected head of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas to pay an official visit to Moscow. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov handed the message to Mahmoud Abbas.
Russian Leader Putin said Russia was in favor of Turkey's EU membership, as it promised to open up new trading opportunities for Russia. Turkey's integration into the EU is expected to open up fresh opportunities for Russian-Turkish business cooperation, said Vladimir Putin. Speaking on Tuesday in Moscow at a meeting with Turkish businessmen, the Russian president Putin recalled that Russia was also developing strategic partnership with the EU. ''We welcome Turkey's success at the EU Brussels summit,'' Putin said. ''I hope that Turkey's integration in the European Union will open up a new horizon for Russian-Turkish business cooperation.''
Russia welcomes Organization of the Islamic Conference aid to restore normal life in Chechnya - Russia "highly values the understanding that this position receives in the Islamic world". "We are interested in practical cooperation with OIC countries in the matter of reviving the national economy, culture, education and other spheres of life in Chechnya," the minister said. "We would welcome the contribution of your states in carrying out projects for the Chechen Republic that are being implemented through UNESCO." Russia and the OIC "act from close positions on issues connected with opposing the worst threats and challenges of the 21st century such as international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction". "These global challenges require collective efforts on the part of the entire world community, supported by the UN and international law," the minister said.
EUROPEAN AID TO CHECHNYA, A CHRISTMAS PRESENT?
MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev) - One rather mysterious part of President Putin's recent visit to Germany may shape Europe's policy for the coming years. Mr. Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder discussed Chechnya.
Very little is known about their discussion except that in the fall, Germany sent Mr. Putin a set of proposals on Chechnya in preparation for the visit and recently, in Hamburg, Mr. Putin said he "agreed completely" with the proposals.
The next day in Schleswig, Mr. Putin said, "we are ready to discuss them [problems of Chechnya] with our partners in Europe." And finally, on the train to Schleswig, the press services announced that the Russian president and the German chancellor had discussed Chechnya.
Europe displayed pro-Muslim leanings in the 1990s, when it sided with the creeping expansion of Islamic terrorist organizations in Serbian lands in Kosovo. And then its urban population demonstrated their anti-Muslim reflexes during the dramatic dispute about girls wearing headscarves in schools. Europe has also shown contradictions in its attitude toward Israel and Palestine, Iran and Iraq. Some European countries participated in the US-led war in Iraq when others stood on the side. In general, it is total intellectual and political chaos. It does not helpthat the purely cultural problem has been compounded with Islamic terrorism in Chechnya, Palestine and Iraq.
Oddly, Europe's "Islamic blindness" was most apparent in the EU's recent discussion to begin membership negotiations with Turkey, which may take 15 years. Too many people, including the general public, believe that Turkey has been given time to become a purely European country and stop being part of the Muslim world. However, everything could be more complicated.
In regard to Chechnya, Russia has been asking different European organizations, including the EU, the OSCE and PACE, to take part in the republic's reforms for a long time. Each time Russia saw that there was a complete lack of understanding about what can and should be done there. Europeans seem to imagine Chechnya as the fantasy of a melancholy film director but not a real territory with real problems and needs.
For example, what can one say about the awareness of people, who today, three years after Moscow reached political settlement with the largest anti-Russian militant group, seriously recommend that new negotiations begin and that power be given to military force that lost and has subsequently transformed into an underground terrorist organization?
I never defended Chechens. Maybe you should concentrate on facts and spend less time smearing your opponents, liar.
Try and prove your assertion that I defended Islamofascists. It never happened so that makes you a liar.
Ok, maybe I'm ignorant, but what "greening" are they referring to in this article? The Green Party? Enviro-whackoism? GANG-GREEN??? What? What's "green" got to do with murderous Muslers??? What???
But watch out, just like the ecofascists, the islamofascists are green on the outside, red on the inside.
Russia a consistent, loyal supporter of Islam – Putin - 12/12/2005 - "...the Russian Federation has always been the most consistent, loyal and staunch advocate of Islam"
Russia hopes to join the Organization of the Islamic Conference - 06/28/2005 - "We proceed from the basis that international terrorism and religious extremism have nothing in common with Islam," Yakovenko. The spokesman continued that Russia and the Muslim world were "not only partners but strategic allies" in the fight against international terrorism and religious extremism.
ISLAM RELIGION OF PEACE: RUSSIAN-SAUDI FORUM - 05/29/2005 - "We must make one point clear: we cannot divide the world either on the ideological principle, as was the case during the Cold War, or on the religious-to fall into Muslims and non-Muslims. The sequences of such a division are very dangerous," said Primakov.
Russia supports new international alliance - foreign minister - 11/10/2005 - During his Monday visit in Spain, Lavrov confirmed Russia's support for a Turkish-Spanish initiative to create an Alliance of Civilizations, which is designed to foster mutual respect for religious beliefs and traditions, along with stepping up cooperation between the Christian West and the Muslim East in the fight against terrorism and extremism. Lavrov said the new alliance would rely on Unesco's experience in bringing countries with different ideologies together and coordinating the work of non-government organizations.
Russia Says It's Ready to Arm Saudi Arabia
Russia signs Major Tank Production Deal with Pakistan
Russia, Yemen share vision for multipolar world order
Russian MiGs in Sudan and Yemen
Russia, Algeria to strike $4Bln arms sale deal
Russia pursues joint military projects with Turkey
Abkhazia: Europe's Trap Door - "Wahhabi organizations have sprung up on the territory of Abkhazia, and where Wahhabis are, terrorists are not far behind."
Georgia Makes Itself Heard - Russian-Georgian Conflict - 02/03/2006 - " Georgian leaders have repeatedly stated that they are the same “Wahhabis” that Russia is exterminating in Chechnya, but is willing to support in its conflict with Georgia. Tbilisi notes that the former leader of Conference, Musa Shanibov, recently moved to Sukhumi and was given a residency permit in Abkhazia."
Kadyrov will not allow Danish organizations into Chechnya - 02/06/2006
Hadj Hassan Salame was second in command of the local organization's hierarchy, as he was a representative of its special operations unit ("Muntamat al-Jihad al-Islami" - MJI or "Islamic Jihad Organization"). His responsibilities were as follows: recruiting of activists to the military wing, purchasing of weaponry and its transfer to Lebanon. Dr. Muhammad Haidar headed the second branch in size in Saint Petersburg. To cover up the dealings in Russia, the "Ahl al-Beit" ("The Prophet's Family") association for open cultural and religious activities was created by Hezbollah`s representatives. Through its first phase, it worked with Lebanese students only. Later it became open to Shiites from Iraq, UAE, Yemen, and African countries (and not just students). Today it unites thousands of the local Muslims, migrants and immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, Azerbaijan and Central Asia.
The association also initiated several years ago an intensive campaign of conversion to Islam, directed at the Russian atheist population of Christian-orthodox origin. As a result of this campaign, the number of converts to Islam is rising progressively, and many of the recent converts became prominent activists in Russian Shia community. "The Prophet's Family" maintain close relations with the Shia leaders of Iran and Lebanon. Delegations on behalf of the association visit Kum and Tehran every year. The major centers of the association's activities are Moscow and Saint Petersburg (there are 600 thousand Shiites in this city alone).
........................"We did not teach them to do that..."
Putin condemns publication of Mohammed caricatures
Putin: Denmark Should Apologize
Putin Rejects Suspension of Aid to Hamas-Run PA
Israel fumes over Putin 'knife in back'
Russia Ignoring Hamas-Chechen Ties, Expert Says
Russia Moslem leaders praise inviting HAMAS leaders to Moscow
Dialogue with Muslim world among Russia's priorities - Putin - March 27,2006, "I am convinced that the threat of international terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction and attempts to provoke a conflict between civilizations require close cooperation within the international community. Only by pooling our efforts will we be able to adequately and effectively respond to the challenges," he said in an address to the first meeting of the group "Strategic outlook: Russia and the Islamic world" held in Moscow on Monday.
"The expansion of multifaceted ties with the Islamic world is a priority of Russia's foreign policy. It is reassuring that our dialogue is developing fruitfully. That Russia has been given observer status with the Organization of the Islamic Conference does much to promote this."
Russia-Islamic world contacts group to be a standing body - 28 March 2006 - Former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, who today heads the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the group had decided "to work on a permanent basis. ...We have all come to the same conclusion, namely that Islamic extremism does not stem from religion but is something extraneous in view of political processes in the world."
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