BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/07/2006

Music teacher accused in Belarus

By Gayle Danis Rinot

MINSK, Belarus (EJP) --- A Jewish music teacher in Belarus has been accused of illegally attempting to instill religious ideas in her students.

It is the most recent attempt by Belarussian authorities to restrict all religious activity to already-existing, state-approved places of worship.

Lyudmila Izakson-Bolotovskaya, the director of Alef, a group providing a class on Jewish culture and traditions for 12 Jewish children at Mogilev's state-run Kindergarten No. 72, is accused of "illegal and deliberate dissemination of religious dogma to young children, which could cause considerable harm to their world view, rights and legal interests."

Belarussian Public Prosecutor Sergei Kopytov said Izakson-Bolotovskaya had conducted "events of a religious nature" in the kindergarten, an offence under the 2002 Religion Law, which prohibits activity by religious organizations in educational institutions. In mid-March, Alef was shown on local television celebrating Purim.

Celebrating holidays is propaganda

In a letter written by Kopytov to Izakson-Bolotovskaya, he accuses her of organizing Jewish holiday celebrations for the children, rather than acquainting them with Jewish traditions. This, he claims, is propaganda.

The group's events incorporate religious symbols such as the Star of David and a Menorah. Kopytov said that these symbols proved "elements of a crime under Article 193 of the Criminal Code."

He threatened that prosecution would follow if such celebrations were repeated. Kopytov also said the accusation could lead to Alef being closed down.

If charges are brought against Izakson-Bolotovskaya, she could face a fine, be barred from certain positions or engaging in certain activities, or be held in prison for up to six months.

Jews under fire

A Progressive Jewish community leader, Yakov Basin, said all Jewish symbols -- "menorahs and Stars of David" -- had been removed from the kindergarten as a result of a warning from Mogilev's local educational department.

Basin added that there had been no further repercussions, but noted that he had not received an answer to his letter to the Belarussian public prosecutor that argued the warning had no legal basis.

Rabbi Menahem Alperovitz, head of the Or Avner school in Mogilev, said he thought the problem had blown over. "We have a menorah ... in the street, and we have no problem with this," he told EJP.

This is not the first time Jews in the city and elsewhere in Belarus have come under fire.

Earlier this year, Mogilev's Jewish community experienced an anti-Semitic upset, when two local newspapers -- Vecherniy Mogilev and Mogilevskiye Vedomosti -- published articles calling on citizens to boycott kosher bread, which has been manufactured by a city bakery since October 2005.

The articles feature letters by local residents, one of whom blamed the bakery for "turning all of Mogilev into a Jewish community" and demanded that it cease producing kosher bread, the Russian Federation of Jewish communities reported.

City authorities in Minsk, the capital, this year refused permission to the local Hassidic Jewish community to hold its Passover celebration at a state-owned building for children and youth, arguing that such a celebration might have a harmful effect on the city's non-Jewish youth.

"It wouldn't be very good to have a religious event at a children's institution," remarked one Minsk city administrator.

All religious activity restricted

Belarussian authorities are determined to confine all religious activity to already-existing, purpose-built houses of worship.

In May, the Minsk City Court liquidated Christ's Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, charging that it was illegal under the 2002 Religion Law.

The church's pastor, Georgi Vyazovsky, served a ten-day prison term for leading the 30-strong congregation in worship at his home.

Source:

http://www.ejpress.org/article/news/9457

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