Off the Mark

The destruction of Tajikistan’s synagogue is getting a bit more attention as readers may have noticed in roundups from the past few days. Statements from Shelomo Alfassa (similar statement here), executive director of the International Sephardic Leadership Council, have been getting attention on a handful of blogs. I certainly do think the situation is a shame. I also think the way it is being talked about is unfortunate.

Alfassa starts off by comparing the destruction of the synagogue in Dushanbe to the Golden Mosque in Samarra. This is silly and shows such a lack of perspective that to dwell on it would be a waste of my time and an insult to the intelligence of my readers.

But there is one very important difference worth talking about that I will come to in a moment.

Alfassa goes on to lament the lack of media attention to the destruction of the synagogue (which is too bad, really) and the failure of governments to make statements about the situation like they did about the attack on the mosque.

The real kicker for me was this though.

The destruction of the Tajikistan synagogue is the most disgraceful act committed by a sovereign state toward its Jewish population since the end of WWII. The Soviet Union and its successor states may have oppressed and harassed their Jewish communities, but even at the height of Stalin’s anti-Semitic purges they did not seek to wipe every element of Jewish existence like the Tajikistan government.

Words failed me when I first read that first sentence.

It really should be pointed out that the most effective agents of the elimination of Jewish existence in Central Asia are Central Asia’s Jews themselves. As Nick says in that post, emigration to the United States and Israel has caused the population of Askhenazim and Bukharan Jews to plummet. (It’s also caused an influx of funds for the community members that have stayed behind, as can be seen in the Bukhara synagogue.)

What has been conveniently forgotten in all this is that the Tajik government demolished a mosque to build the Palace of Nations. This should not lead one to believe that anti-Semitism therefore does not exist in Central Asia because it does. It is not, however, something too noticeable. Most Central Asians, when they concern themselves with disliking other groups of people, tend to spend much more time hating each other. So, I have a very hard time buying charges that the Tajik government’s handling of the situation are informed by a desire to eliminate its Jewish population. (And, given Tajikistan’s post-independence history, it is certainly not a manifestation of Islamism.)

And that is the big difference I referred to above. Central Asian governments are much more anti-religion in general than they are against any particular profession. The destruction of the synagogue is not, like the attack on the Golden Mosque, a manifestation of hostility against a particular faith. And while I don’t agree with all of this post, I do think the author nailed it at the end.

…it’s also likely that it’s the action of a corrupt and kleptocratic government which wants to build a lasting reminder of itself, in the manner of Ceausescu’s People’s Palace. I’m sure that if a synagogue was in the way of the Tajik president’s Ego Palace, an awful lot else was as well.

This is not about anti-Semitism. It’s about government greed. (This same government is taking advantage of the freeing up of other real estate as well.)

On a final note, Shelomo Alfassa calls for the international Jewish community to do all it can for Tajikistan’s Jewish community. I think activism is a futile gesture at this point, but I am sure that Tajikistan’s Jews could still use and would appreciate material assistance.