Putin congratulates Jewish community on Hanuka holiday (so much for anti-semitism claims)

Itar-Tass | 19.12.2003, 16.50

[RussianConservative]

MOSCOW, December 19 (Itar-Tass) - President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Russia's chief rabbi Berl Lazar on Friday, congratulated the whole Jewish community with the Hanuka holiday.

"I'm congratulating the whole Jewish community, everybody who professes Judaism and treats this tradition with care," the president said.

For his part, Berl Lazar noted that the Jewish community was developing fruitfully. The Hanuka holiday was bringing good, respect and mutual understanding between all peoples. "When we have this kind of understanding and this kind of respect, it will be a different perception of life," the rabbi said.

He also noted that the Jewish community was ready to make its contribution to national development.

"The election showed that people wanted stability," Lazar said, therefore it is necessary to strengthen the society's moral values as well.

In the course of the meeting, the president said the Russia society had repeatedly demonstrated its absolute unacceptability of xenophobia and everything which foiled the country's normal development as a multi-national and full-fledged state.

According to the head of state, the leadership of the Jewish community does much to strengthen inter-confessional and inter-ethnic peace in Russia.

"The cultural diversity of our country is a special asset required care and, if necessary, protection," Putin said adding that Russia would continue to pursue this policy in the future.

[sharktrager]

I am not saying he's an anti-semite, but anyone can make public statements that hide their true feelings.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

""The cultural diversity of our country..."

Parroting American socialist terms, exactly.

[ChiMark]

Putin is more dangerous than we thought! Learn the tips on how to veil your communists ideas brought to you by the american liberal establishment or the DNC.

[Batrachian]

Putin certainly understands that it isn't Jews who are setting off car bombs in Moscow and trying to break off parts of Russia in Chechnia.

Still, who knows? Jew hatred has a very long and ugly history in Russia/Soviet Union. It would be premature to say that this phenomenon is gone for good.

[RussianConservative]

Jew hatred has long ugly history in all world, to include US....but cannot count what 1% does as sign of whole society, even if they want that...so.

[RusIvan]

Jew hatred has a very long and ugly history in Russia/Soviet Union. ==

There was uneasy relationship right. Recently new book of Solzhenitsin "200 years together" tells about history of those relationship. There was prosecution of jews and there was jewish terrorists too. DO you know that modern terrorism as event was started in Russia in 19 century? And between first terrorists there was jews? DO you know that there was many jews the commisars of bolshevicks. That Leon Trotsky the founder of USSR was jew. So there was difficult relationship which went both way.

[RussianConservative]

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