‘Antifascists’ against Jews

However, we are, quite possibly, missing an extremely important piece of the puzzle. Those who hate Gozman have rarely missed an opportunity to mention his nationality. For the ultra-right, he has always represented a Jew coming up with some evil scheme of Russia’s dismemberment. When the persecution of Gozman and others had started — without any legal basis, just out of revenge towards the free people and Vladimir Putin’s critics — the government started making eyes at the antisemites. Gozman’s arrest for criticising Stalin became the moment of real triumph for those who think that Jews should be exterminated and banished from Russia.

Perhaps, the state simply persecutes Gozman as an opposition figure, however, his arrest is seen as a symbol for the antisemites: their time has come.

Such things are in with a certain segment of their audience, so why not lit up this flame? The Russian TV gladly encourages the vilest human instincts: the special military operation, or sometimes even the Third World War, is at stake here, so the people need to unite against some domestic enemy.

The ultra-right in Russia, such as retired colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, who attempted the assassination of Anatoly Chubais, or the infamous Igor Strelkov-Girkin, openly state that the “Jewish-Nazi government of Ukraine” is the current enemy of the Russian army. The state antisemitism of the Russian propaganda starts with the hatred towards Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew who said “I need ammunition, not a ride.” Antisemitic caricatures and statements addressed to Zelensky can be found in abundance in Russian media.

There is an opinion that the Russian government is usually glad to kick the opposition out of the country instead of imprisoning them. However, this doesn’t seem to work anymore if you’re a Jew: at least when it comes to the case of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who faces an enormous sentence. After Gozman had shown that he’s stubborn, they started getting a prison cell ready for him, too.

The details of the criminal case against Gozman and his wife also point to the triumph of state antisemitism: I’d like to remind you that their “crime” amounts to the fact that they failed to inform the Russian state of their Israeli citizenship on time.

If the Russian authorities can treat a well-known person like that in plain sight, we can only assume how “grassroots” antisemitism works in places tied to Russia’s new state ideology that makes it okay to hate people based on their nationality.

Right now, Russia keeps imprisoning Jews with serious medical conditions: Vladimir Kara-Murza needs medical help, and Gozman was arrested in front of the hospital where he was brought to in an ambulance. Why not? According to the state propaganda, these actions only reinforce Putin’s personal power, while the international media ignore Russia’s new state policy of antisemitism.