FROM OUR REPORTER
KIEV – The crowd can be seen breaking into the airport. Run towards the track. Many shout “Allahu Akbar” and walk directly towards a plane that has just landed, from which passengers get out and rush back on board.
The crowd is looking for the Jews. The images from Dagestan, a republic of the Russian Federation, are shocking. Makhachkala airport. They first spread on Russian Telegram channels and then spread to other social networks, most notably X (formerly Twitter). And within a few minutes they travel around the world.
Among the many videos released, there are some in which the police can be seen helpless in the face of the wall of people crowding into the airport.
Some are armed with sticks. Other videos show police cars being stormed and airport offices being “searched” for Israeli citizens. Another video posted on Telegram: A man surrounded by a threatening crowd shows his passport to prove that he is not an Israeli citizen. “I am Uzbek,” he repeats. “I am Uzbek.”
According to the Russian Aviation Authority, which announced via Telegram that the airport will remain closed until November 6, the police have “cleared” the airport of the crowd: “At 10:20 p.m. local time, the airport was ‘infiltrated by unauthorized persons Citizens’ liberated.” ‘. Many Russian National Guard vehicles had arrived at the airport. The officers apparently tried to persuade the crowd to leave and there is also talk of some arrests.
Tel Aviv authorities have said they are working to get the Moscow-bound plane back into service, with all Israeli citizens already evacuated to safety in an area of the airport. Israel said it “expects Russian police authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli and Jewish citizens wherever they are and to take decisive action against demonstrators and brutal incitement against Jews and Israelis.”
The Supreme Mufti of Dagestan, Sheikh Achmad Afandi, had launched a video call via Telegram to call on everyone to calm down and end the unrest at the airport: “You are wrong. This problem cannot be solved this way. We will solve it differently.”