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Last Updated: October 30, 2023, 10:19 IST
People in the crowd walk shouting antisemitic slogans at an airport in Makhachkala, Russia. (Image: AP Photo)
The mob attempted to lynch Jewish passengers inside a flight from Tel Aviv and carried guns into the tarmac of the airport in Dagestan.
The mob, consisting mostly of Muslim residents of the Russian republic of Dagestan, who chanted religious slogans and stormed into the Makhachkala airport and its tarmac on Sunday, looking for Jews and Israelis, were carrying firearms and also fired shots in the air, people familiar with the developments told CNN-News18.
People familiar with the developments said the mob attempted to lynch Jewish passengers aboard the flight. Dagestan’s Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. It said the injured included police officers and civilians.
The mob rushed to the tarmac towards a flight that landed from Tel Aviv to see if it was carrying Jews and Israelis which led them to set out for the airport in a show of ‘protest’.
Some of these so-called ‘protesters’ were carrying Palestinian flags.
They accosted passengers from the flight that flew in from Tel Aviv and looked for information about Jews and Israelis onboard. They were carrying guns with them.
People familiar with the developments told CNN-News18 said they fired warning shots at the security forces who were trying to hold them back.
Makhachkala, which is the main city of the Russian republic of Dagestan, has witnessed several anti-Semitic protests this weekend. The city, located in the North Caucasus region, saw a rise in anti-Israel sentiment following the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war after Hamas carried out a deadly terrorist attack on October 7.
The region, where most people follow Islam, has staunchly supported Palestine and has condemned civilian deaths in Gaza.
The lynch mob and the Russian security forces were engaged in a long and slow standoff, with the cops trying dissuade the mob which later entered the tarmac and even vandalized police cars.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.”
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