BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/04/2006

Belarusian Officials Again Impede Passover Celebrations

Officials in Minsk, Belarus impeded Passover celebrations by denying a local Jewish community permission to gather for prayer, according to an April 18, 2006 report by the AEN news agency. Vladimir Malinkin, chairman of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities, told AEN that his community does not have a fully functioning synagogue, and is therefore forced to rent public spaces in the city for major holiday celebrations. Two weeks before Passover, the community applied for permission to the city's central district administration and reached an oral agreement with the director of a local Youth Palace to hold the event there.

The district administration refused to grant a permit, despite the fact that the community had held services there in the past. The community leadership then scrambled to apply for permission to hold Passover events in the dining hall of the House of Journalists. This was also denied, a mere three hours before Passover began.

The community leadership then asked the Jewish Religious Community, which has a functioning synagogue, for permission to worship with them, which was granted. However, this smaller space resulted in much fewer worshippers gathering than planned.

Mr. Malinkin cautiously characterized the bureaucratic problems as "bordering on antisemitism" and recalled a similar incident in the recent past, during which community members worshipped inside the Israeli embassy after being denied permits for other public spaces.

In past years, Belarusian officials have at times restricted the importation of matzo around the time of Passover and other Jewish holidays.

Source:

http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/042306Belarus.shtml