Kyrgyzstan's Jewish Community Alarmed After Riots

April 13, 2010

Author: Maria Golovnina

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/13/AR2010041300924.html

Arieh Reichman, Kyrgyzstan's chief rabbi, shook his head as he presented a vodka bottle filled with flammable liquid that was thrown at the Muslim country's sole synagogue during violent riots last week.

He said it was the first act of violence against the country's tiny Jewish community, apparently triggered by the chaos and violence that ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on April 7.

"It's the first time in the history of our community here that we see such clear signs of anti-Semitism," he told Reuters outside the synagogue, a simple one-story building in Bishkek.

"Kyrgyzstan has always been hospitable. During Soviet times and under its later leaders, it has always been tolerant. So what is happening right now is very alarming."