← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Ruffin
Thread ID: 12685 | Posts: 6 | Started: 2004-03-06
2004-03-06 15:52 | User Profile
[For all those who had high hopes for Putin............]
Russian Jew named prime minister brings out Jewish pride - and anxiety
By Lev Krichevsky
MOSCOW, March 2 (JTA) - The Jewish man named Russia's new prime minister is little known to the country's Jewish community.
But Jewish leaders welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin's selection this week of Mikhail Fradkov, currently Russia's envoy to the European Union in Brussels.
Jewish leaders said Fradkov, who was expected to be approved by the pro-Putin majority in the Russian Parliament on Friday, has had no interaction with the organized Jewish community.
If approved, Fradkov would be the first identified Jew to serve as Russia's prime minister. His father is known to be Jewish, and while the background of his mother is unclear, he was profiled in a biographical volume of the Russian Jewish Encyclopedia that was published in 1997.
Berel Lazar, one of Russia's two chief rabbis, told JTA he has met with Fradkov in the past.
"He is very knowledgeable about economics. He hopefully will direct his Cabinet toward resolving Russia's most serious problems, such as the problem of poverty," Lazar said.
Russian experts, whom the choice of Fradkov, 53, has taken by surprise, describe him as a civil servant who is likely to become a bureaucratic prime minister devoted to Putin. Whether he will serve in his post for very long is unclear.
Russian voters go the polls March 14 in an election that is believed to be a rubber stamp for Putin, and a new Cabinet has to be approved after the election.
But most experts believe he will remain in office for at least a year.
Fradkov has been a foreign trade official since 1972, when at the age of 21 he got a job as an economic adviser with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi.
He first joined the Russian government in 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when he was deputy foreign trade minister in the reformist government headed by Yegor Gaidar [Website comment: who was also Jewish]. He served as trade minister for less than a year in 1997, and was named foreign trade minister two years later. He lost his job when Putin was elected president in 2000.
Before this week's appointment, Fradkov high point came in March 2001, when he was made head of the tax police, charged with ending Russia's massive tax evasion. The agency was disbanded during a government reshuffle in 2003, and Fradkov was sent to Brussels to represent Russia in the European Commission.
For some Russian Jewish leaders, Fradkov's Jewishness is welcome.
"This nomination sends a clear signal to everyone," said Yevgeny Satanovsky, left, president of the Russian Jewish Congress. "It means that Russia's president is an absolute pragmatist, it means that a person's nationality does not mean anything to him, and that he is judging people by their business and personal qualities."
Satanovsky said that while Russia's next Cabinet's policies may remain an open question, Russian Jews already have received an answer to an important question.
"This question is: Can a Jew become Russian prime minister? The answer is yes. The next question can only be whether a Jew can be Russia's president. But this nomination basically means that in today's Russia a Jew can be anything. And this is very positive," Satanovsky said.
But others are expressing mixed feelings about Fradkov's nomination, worrying that it could cause a backlash.
"Of course, this is an overall positive thing to Jews," said Lyudmila Krasnopolskaya, an English-language instructor at a Moscow college. "Yet given this, I'm not sure this choice will necessarily make all Russians that happy."
A recent conference on xenophobia and racism in Russia held last week in Moscow reported that more than 60 percent of Russians have xenophobic sentiments, and many are anti-Semitic.
"There are people in the society who can try to make this an issue," said Lazar, speaking of Fradkov's Jewish background.
"I know there are people even inside the Kremlin whom this nomination will not make extremely happy," Satanovsky said.
Two major politicians have come [out] against the nomination. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky [Website comment: who also claimed once to be Jewish], both members of Parliament, said their parties would vote against Fradkov when the nomination is voted on in the Duma on Friday.
Zhirinovsky called Fradkov a "gray and faceless person."
[url]http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/04/03/JTA040304.html[/url]
2004-03-06 17:21 | User Profile
Perhaps Stalin's raging "anti-semitism", expressed by his elimination of a few Jewish rivals, should be reconsidered now?
2004-03-06 17:40 | User Profile
[QUOTE=AntiYuppie]So much for the naive claim made by many that Putin would be some kind of Russian "great white hope" who would do something about the Oligarchs and the Jewish stranglehold on the Russian political system and economy. Putin went after one or two Jewish Oligarchs as individuals (i.e. Gusinski specifically stood in his way), it was never his aim to do anything about them collectively. Why would he, after all the Judaeo-Oligarchs were Putin's ticket to power.[/QUOTE]
I've always said that the jury was out on Putin, and it still is.
Putin's a great one for political theater. For example, Gusinsky was the head of the Russian Jewish Congress, and his replacement as head of NTV by Boris Jordan, who is from an old white Russian emigre family, clearly made a point. Same for placing a Russian of German ancestry at the head of the all-important Gazprom.
He seems to have just won a big round against Yukos, with the decision to build the pipeline from central Siberia exclusively in Russia and NOT exclusively to Israel's ally China. I think that this is a very big deal. See[URL=http://www.themoscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/02/25/042.html]Moscow Times. [/URL] We can only guess how that story will end, but it looks like the decision was made to serve Russia's interests instead of caving into the Oligarchs. If that's right (and of course like the rest of us I'm speculating) then this might just be a sop thrown to the Tribal powers that be to take the sting out of losing a big battle. We'll see.
Stalin did this sort of thing too, you know. He wasn't above appointing a Tribalist or two as window dressing. He had Lazar Kaganovich prosecuting the Jewish Bolsheviks and Sergei Eizenshtein making Russian nationalist epics. The further along we go, the more it looks to me that Putin is modeling himself on Uncle Joe.
Read between the lines a little bit [URL=http://www.themoscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/03/05/006.html]HERE[/URL] , and I think you'll see what I mean.
The fight is between Russian generals in the military and the security services and the Jewish Oligarchy. My guess is that this is just a sideshow in that larger fight.
Here's an excerpt from that article:
[QUOTE]The problem is that the administration focuses on political matters and cannot serve as a substitute for the government on social and economic matters. This will expand the possibilities for the destructive lobbying of big business interests -- [B]in particular, the interests of those groups that are directly fused with the state and comprise the new oligarchy in epaulets[/B], which tries to [B]portray its attack on the old Yeltsin-era civilian oligarchy as a drive to eradicate the oligarchy, period[/B]. [[I]Antiyuppie - do you see that? - Walter[/I]]
Most likely, [B]we are in for capitalism in epaulets, rather than state capitalism, in which the new epauletted oligarchs will assume the role of the old oligarchs in the Yeltsin epoch[/B], unwaveringly utilizing the state's capacity for force and coercion. An entirely liberal program, conducted in the interests of the epauletted oligarchs (although not as zealously as the liberal fundamentalists' plan), will be accompanied by selective application of the law (about which German Gref spoke in the context of the campaign against tax loopholes) and disdain for citizens' interests.[/QUOTE]
This is from the Moscow Tiimes, and so it's written in code. But once you know that: Epaultes = Russian generals, and Liberals = Jews and their allies
the real intent of this is not hard to decipher.
Walter
2004-03-13 01:39 | User Profile
nationalvanguard.org "Russia: Meaning of Fradkov Appointment Divides Nationalists" Does the new Jewish PM appointment mean Putin is a phony?
by D. G. Canaday
What is the significance of Russian President Vladimir Putinââ¬â¢s appointment of a Jew, Mikhail Fradkov, as Prime Minister? Many nationalists -- both inside and outside of Russia -- have praised Putinââ¬â¢s steps against the almost entirely Jewish ââ¬Ëoligarchsââ¬â¢ who came to power and immense wealth there during the Yeltsin years immediately after the fall of Communism. But what can the Fradkov appointment mean?
Long-time Putin-watchers warn us that we shouldn't make more out of it than it is. Putin and the members of the security forces that surround him have a reason for doing what they are doing -- and it may not be the obvious one. Fradkov, formerly Russiaââ¬â¢s envoy to the European Union, is not known for being that ideological of a person, and is most likely simply someone who was appointed to this position for appearances and for his loyalty to Putin. He will not be introducing any reforms or major changes without the approval of the President.
Stalin did such things during his campaign to crush Jewish power: He would give honors, awards, or nominal positions to certain Jews for the ââ¬ËWestââ¬â¢ to see -- while implementing a long-term strategic plan to further reduce their overall power in the country.
In my opinion, Fradkov is entirely Putinââ¬â¢s creature, and Russia's long-term plans are unlikely to change.
I definitely don't think that this means that Russia is a country we should give up on. Most likely, Fradkov is just a puppet meant to buy Russia some time. The previous prime minister had no power, and this one will not have any either. I think that Putin is buying some time so that his long-term plans -- some of which are entirely invisible to us -- can come to fruition.
Because of Fradkov's appointment, criticism of Putin's anti-oligarch campaign will be blunted: The ââ¬Ëanti-Semitismââ¬â¢ card in the hands of the Jews has changed overnight from an ace to a deuce. When the non-Jewish public hear the talking heads whining over the fate of persecuted Jews like Khodorkovsky and his ilk, they'll think: ââ¬ÅHow ââ¬Ëanti-Semiticââ¬â¢ can Russia really be if the prime minister is a person with Jewish ancestry?ââ¬Â
This allows Russia to defend itself from criticism, while, at the same time, things are getting done.
Not all nationalists are enamored of Putin. Some have attacked him from the start, a few claiming, somewhat implausibly I think, that he is just another tool of the Jewish/Zionist power structure. More common is the belief that he is interested in nothing but pure power politics. The Black Hundreds feel that Putin is a phony, or, to be more exact, simply interested in personal power. Limonov and the National Bolsheviks don't like him. The Communists are split over the question, but this has more to do with economics. The most nationalist Communists are pro-Putin. Large numbers of them recently left the Communist Party and formed the Rodina bloc.
Putin has used the Jews before, and many observers believe that the Fradkov appointment is more of the same.
Justin Cowgill provided research and insights for this article, but the views expressed are strictly my own.
[URL=http://www.jewishtimes.com/News/3744.stm]The Jewish Times on Fradkov[/URL]
Source: Author
2004-03-14 09:17 | User Profile
[QUOTE]Because of Fradkov's appointment, criticism of Putin's anti-oligarch campaign will be blunted: The ââ¬Ëanti-Semitismââ¬â¢ card in the hands of the Jews has changed overnight from an ace to a deuce. When the non-Jewish public hear the talking heads whining over the fate of persecuted Jews like Khodorkovsky and his ilk, they'll think: ââ¬ÅHow ââ¬Ëanti-Semiticââ¬â¢ can Russia really be if the prime minister is a person with Jewish ancestry?ââ¬Â [/QUOTE]
Ditto.
That's the point I was trying to make.
They even have Russia's Chief Rabbi chiming in with the message (I think also controlled by Putin), stating that the appointment of Fradkov proves that Jews are protected in Russia. Which is true enough, I guess. Putin doesn't allow pogroms or anything, and their civil rights are protected to be sure, on par with everybody else.
But the simple fact remains that if Putin and the generals around him want to save Russia, then they have no choice but to confront the Jewish problem. The war on the Oligarchs is of necessity a war on Jewish power - maybe Putin would prefer it to be otherwise, but that's just the way it is.
BTW, on the heels of the Fradkov appointment comes news of Switzerland's agreement to freeze $5 billion in cash belonging to YUKOS insiders. If he can return that to the state coffers, then he'll really have proved a big, big point.
I hope that Putin is a Russian patriot, and I pray that he wins.
Walter
2004-03-14 19:46 | User Profile
I had lunch today with a Russian colleague who agrees totally with the position expressed by AY & Ruffin. He thinks that Putin is totally in the pocket of the Hebrews and I'm nuts to see the appointment of Fradkov as anything but total capitulation. I really respect this guy's opinion, so go figure!
As I said above, the jury's still out on Putin. Time will tell. I sure hope I'm right.
Walter