Anti-Israelis Protests Sweep Through North Caucasus Amid Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Escalation

| News, Politics, North Caucasus

Anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic actions surged across the North Caucasus on 28 October. Radical local residents scrutinized hotels for visiting Jews. On October 29, an under-construction Jewish center was set alight in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria.

Currently, hostility heightens at the airport in Makhachkala as a flight from Tel Aviv is expected to land. The arrival of the flight was delayed to 19:30 local time to allow for Rosgvardia forces to assemble and ensure the security of passengers arriving from Israel.

Protesting individuals in Cherkessk called on officials to deny entry to refugees from Israel into the territory of Karachay-Cherkessia and organize aid collection for Palestine. They requested the authorities to permit a rally concerning this matter.

According to Caucasian Knot, escalating tensions in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have evoked responses from Muslims in the North Caucasus. Authorities in Chechnya are daily organizing mass prayers in support of Palestine. Dagestan's residents attempted to stage a protest at Makhachkala's central square on October 17, which was dispersed by law enforcement. On October 19, the spiritual leader of Dagestan urged mosque imams to pray for the cessation of war during Friday sermons. On October 27, mass prayers for Palestine were conducted in mosques across Karachay-Cherkessia.

A pro-Palestinian rally was staged in front of the government building in Cherkessk on October 28, as reported by publication "Caucasus.Reality."

A video, published today on the Telegram channel "Journal New Dosh," shows heated conversations between protesters and officials, with a significant presence of women. A female protestor inquires repeatedly of an official, "Can you help us?" and hurls questions about displacing the refugees from Israel, met only with bureaucratic responses about legal processes. The volatile dialogue reveals the protesters' skepticism about legally evicting Israeli immigrants and the violent nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, hinting at deeper-rooted frustrations.

In the conversation with the officials, protesters demanded to bar incoming immigrants from Israel and to displace those already residing in the region, as reported today by the Telegram channel Baza.

In another video, shared on the Telegram Channel "Emergency Grozny", an off-camera woman reads out the demands of the group, including restricting Israeli refugees' entry into their territory, opposition to construction for the reception of Jewish refugees, and arrangement of aid support for Palestine. They also seek approval for an organized rally. "We, five hundred people, ask for a response to our appeal within two days," the woman concludes, threatening an unauthorized gathering on October 31 if demands are not addressed. These incidents highlight the complex tension in the region, as local communities grapple with the ripple effects of the distant Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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