By Mark Dovich
The Armenian government has denounced last week’s attempted arson attack on the country’s sole synagogue, but still has made no arrests in connection with the incident.
“Antisemitism and intolerance on national or religious grounds have no place in Armenia,” Ani Badalyan, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry, said Saturday.
The day before, Armenia’s Investigative Committee indicated it believes the attack was committed by a person who does not live in Armenia and does not hold an Armenian passport, and that he or she left Armenia shortly after vandalizing the synagogue. No other information was made immediately available.
For her part, Anahit Manasyan, Armenia’s Human Rights Defender, pledged her office would probe if the attack may constitute a hate crime under Armenian law.
Last Wednesday, videos began to spread on social media that appear to show an unidentified person dousing the doors of Yerevan’s Mordechai Navi Synagogue with fuel and setting it alight. No one was injured in the incident, and the synagogue, located in the city center, sustained only light damage.
Videos of the attack were quickly picked up by Azerbaijani users and officials, who claimed the incident testified to the prevalence of antisemitism in Armenia.
In conversation with CivilNet, Gershon Meir Burstein, Armenia’s chief rabbi, dismissed those claims, adding, “This was not a protest against the synagogue, but rather a provocation.”
Nathaniel Trubkin, a Jewish community leader in Armenia, echoed that point of view, telling CivilNet, “This was yet another action directed not against Jews, but against Armenia itself, in order to present it as an intolerant country.”
Also watch: Jewish renaissance in Armenia amid exodus from Russia
Last week’s attempted arson attack marked the second act of vandalism of Armenia’s synagogue in as many months. Early last month, a group of unidentified individuals smashed the building’s windows and smeared red paint on its walls. That incident was also swiftly condemned by the Armenian government.
Hundreds of Jews from Russia have relocated to Armenia since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, breathing new life into the country’s small Jewish community. As of last year, the U.S. State Department estimated Armenia’s Jewish community at between 800 and 1,000 people, out of a total population of just under 3 million.
With additional reporting by Stella Mehrabekyan
