Russia’s most rabidly anti-Semitic newspaper is back in print after a 10-month hiatus.
Al-Kods, which bills itself as the “Russian-Palestinian Voice,” was shut down last November by the Russian State Committee on the Press for a technicality: The paper’s publisher was not a Russian citizen.
But now Shaaban Hafez Shaaban, originally a Palestinian from Jordan, has acquired Russian citizenship and his bi-monthly is back on the newsstands, brandishing its trademark racist slogans and promising its readers in 12-point capital letters “WE WILL BURY ZIONISM IN RUSSIA!!!”
The reissue of Al-Kods, the Arab name for Jerusalem, not only underscores what is seen as the passivity of the Russian Press Committee, but also represents an indictment of the country’s judiciary.
Article 78 of the Russian criminal code prohibits just the sort of “incitement to racial hatred” to which the Russian-Palestinian paper enjoins its readers in every issue. But so far authorities have not prosecuted one of the dozens of Russian papers spewing hate and being sold at every Moscow metro station.
The front cover of the latest issue of Al-Kods shows a huge cartoon of the paper’s Palestinian publisher nailed to a Star of David in a parody of the crucifixion of Jesus. Underneath is a long article propagating the myth of a Zionist conspiracy plotting the downfall of the Russian nation, and relying heavily on quotes from the notorious anti-Semitic tract, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
“Real power in Russia lies not with the people and not even with the bureaucrats but with Zionist and they are doing what they want,” the text reads.
“Our paper was closed because we were dangerous for Zionists,” it says, adding, “They own all the keys to power in Russia and dictate their own laws.”
Another article focused on “The Jewish Question in Russia,” while another piece, by the publisher, parodied the government’s political party Our House is Russia, by renaming it “Our House is Israel.” The article faulted the Russian government for wearing “the face of Zionism.”
The vice chairman of the Russian State Press Committee, which had closed down the paper, said he sees “undeniable signs of anti-Semitism in the new edition.”
“I’m certain that we’ll be taking measures to prosecute any new violations of the law,” said Valery Sirozhenko.
But real action depends on Russia’s prosecutors, who often are loathe to invoke the laws.
An article in a previous issue of Al-Kods, which called explicity for the murders of several human rights and democratic activists, was overlooked by the office of prosecutor general, which said the piece was not a detailed enough incitement to homicide.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
