EXPLAINER: Vladimir Putin has claimed that 'Jews with Russian citizenship' could be behind efforts to meddle in American elections. Here's why you should be giving several fucks. 
Antisemitism has a long history in what we know of as Russia. While in the rest of Europe, rights for Jews improved in the Early Modern Period, this was not the case in the Russian Empire.
In the 18th century, Catherine the Great decreed that all Jews need to reside in the 'Pale of Settlement' - basically a big buffer zone between it and Western/Central Europe.
In the 19th century, violent pogroms began to occur throughout parts of the Russian Empire. These picked up speed after Alexander II was assassinated - a (false) link was made between them & revolutionary assassins.
Things got worse for Russia's Jews (the world's largest population of them, actually). There were heavy restrictions on where they could live, education & employment.
When he was asked to roll back anti-Jewish policies, Tsar Alexander III is said to have stated, 'we must never forget they shed our Master's precious blood'.
This is a callback to medieval beliefs that Jews killed Jesus - promulgated by Russian Orthodox church.
This is a callback to medieval beliefs that Jews killed Jesus - promulgated by Russian Orthodox church.
In 1903, a document named 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' emerged in Russia. This document purported to explain the Jewish plan for world domination.
It spread like wildfire. It reached the US & Germany. It influenced Henry Ford and was used by the Nazis as propaganda.
It spread like wildfire. It reached the US & Germany. It influenced Henry Ford and was used by the Nazis as propaganda.
The 'Protocols' is also spurious bullshit, a hoax. It has been demonstrated time and time again to be a fabrication. It was probably an invention of the Cheka - the Tsarist secret police. adl.org/education/reso….
After the Russian Revolution, things got slightly better for Jews. However, this was short-lived. After Stalin consolidated his power, he began a campaign against 'rootless cosmopolitans' - a euphemism for Jews, basically. Many disappeared or were put on show trial.
It took Stalin dying for things to get better again, although there were still some restrictions on Jews. Quite a few managed to cling on in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, near the Chinese border.
After the fall of Communism, the Russian Orthodox faith rushed in to fill the void. Thing is, being marginalised at the sidelines for 80 years, it had never modernised in terms of theology.
The Russian Orthodox Church has some very pressing problems when it comes to antisemitism. They still throw around the notion of the 'blood libel' - Jewish ritual murder. google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tele…
In consolidating his power, Vladimir Putin has weaponized the faith in the Orthodox Church, and all it entails, as part of his nationalist agenda... nytimes.com/2016/09/14/wor…
...and as we have seen, Russia & the Christian Right have become very, very cosy. politico.com/magazine/story…
So if Putin feels comfortable in making allusions to the 'Protocols' in suggesting that Jews are trying to influence US elections behind the scenes, what does that suggest to you about where we are, and the direction we're going? FIN.
