Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ), a Jewish human rights organization that has worked in support of Jews in the FSU since 1970, is seriously concerned by media reports on flyers inciting violence against Jews in Novosibirsk, Russia last week. Hundreds of blood libel flyers were found posted on homes and apartments in that city warning parents to protect their children from "bloodthirsty Jews" ahead of April 2008 Jewish holiday of Passover. The flyers warned that "these disgusting people steal young children, draw their blood and use it to prepare their holy food. They throw the children's bodies in garbage dumps". This terrible and aggressive lie dates from the Middle Ages, when it regularly sparked pogroms, and was revived in the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", the Beilis trial, and by Nazi Germany. Russian antisemites have used this xenophobic myth against Jews during the Soviet and post-Soviet period.

UCSJ urges the Russian authorities to seriosly respond to this extremist and antisemitic provocation that could destabilize the inter-ethnic and inter-religious situation in Russia and threaten the Jewish population. The criminals that committed this crime should be brought to justice. We were also surprised that intellectuals and democrats in Novosibirsk and other cities and towns did not protest against this serious manifestation of fascism.

UCSJ Update: City prosecutors have begun an investigation into the distribution of these fliers, which clearly violate Russia's laws against hate speech.

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