What Happened At Russia’s Dagestan Airport
Hundreds seeped into the Makhachkala Airport of Dagestan region, Russia, purportedly protesting against the arrival of flight from Israel. On Sunday, crowd broke past the security and surged into the airport with some even reaching as far on to the runway until they removed by security forces.
According to a report, nine police officers were injured among which two were taken to hospital. In a statement, the Interior Ministry of Russia said, “more than 150 active participants in the unrest have been identified, 60 of them have been arrested”.
Videos showed protesters breaking glass doors and running through airport while some of them chanted “anti-Jews” slogans. One of the protesters were waving Palestinians flag while some others checked the passports of the passengers who arrived. Videos also showed passengers trying to get back into the flight they came by amid the protest. In one of the circulating video, one protester was seen holding card that read, “child killers have no place Dagestan”.
On Sunday, a Russian news agency reported that Jewish centres in the city of Nalchik was attacked.
Taking to X (formerly twitter), The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel “expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be”. He also asked Russia to “act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis”.
Israel expects the Russian legal authorities to safeguard the well-being of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they are and to take strong action against the rioters and against the wild incitement being directed against Jews and Israelis.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 29, 2023
The regional government in Dagestan, which is a Muslim majority area asked the citizens to remain calm. In a statement, the government appealed to the people saying, “it is not easy for each of us to stand and watch the inhumane massacre of civilian population – the Palestinian people. At the same time, we urge residents of the republic not to succumb to provocations of destructive groups and not to create panic in society”.
Pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protest has been raging on across the globe since the war began in October 7th. Hundreds and thousands of protesters, including some Jews, took to streets pronouncing their solidarity with the civilians of Palestine. The roaring protests sometime transformed to angry mob when the authority tries to suppress the protests.
Over 8000 civilians of Gaza was murdered by the occupation force so far since the beginning of the war. Around 3,324 among the deceased are children.
