The scene in Dagestan was like something out of the history books. A Russian mob demanding to know where the Jews are, so that they can kill them? That sounds like history repeating itself.

The Republic of Dagestan is a part of the Russian Federation, located north of Azerbaijan and east of Chechnya, and borders the Caspian Sea. The population is majority Sunni Muslim, and numbers about 3.2 million, per Russia’s stats. And clearly, the population was eager and willing to carry out a 21st century pogrom. Instead of targeting a village or a synagogue, though, this mob had to go find some Jews to target. On Sunday, they thought they had found some, when a flight from Tel Aviv landed at Makhachkala Airport. (Makhachkala is the capital of Dagestan.)

Just watch some of these scenes and tell me that this doesn’t look like a lynch mob.

The crowds overwhelmed airport security and police, who were trying to keep everyone back. The plane had to be diverted, but apparently the mob followed it to another airport, where passengers were interrogated by the mob in an attempt to find anyone with an Israeli passport. But according to Israel’s foreign minister, there were no Israeli citizens on the flight.

The flight initially bound for Makhachkala International Airport in the heavily Muslim Russian Republic of Dagestan was diverted after scores of people waving Palestinian flags took over the facility upon learning of the flight from Tel Aviv, according to the Moscow Times.

The aircraft ended up landing at a nearby airport, which rioters were able to storm as well, with harrowing footage showing a group of people hopping fences onto the tarmac to try and reach the plane.

Videos posted to social media showed airport staff warning passengers to remain in the plane as the facility was overrun when the jet landed at 7:17 p.m. local time.

Footage also depicted rioters stopping cars and travelers at the airport and allegedly checking their passports to see if they were Jewish.

BREAKING:

The lynch mob which stormed the airport in Dagestan, Russia to search for Jews as a plane was landing from Tel Aviv has found its first “suspected Jew”

He tells them he is Uzbek, but they don’t believe him

“Take his passport, search his phone” pic.twitter.com/9gKteyKFz0

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 29, 2023

And how did this pogrom get started?

The drama unfolded after several channels on Telegram went up urging residents in Dagestan, which has a Muslim population of 83%, to riot at the airports and root out Jewish passengers, according to Medizona, an independent Russian news outlet.

And what’s worse – this lynch mob had children in it. Children whose minds have been so poisoned that they were willing to kill Jews.

Young kids arrived with the lynch mob to the airport in Dagestan, Russia to hunt for Jewish passengers of a Tel Aviv flight.

One of them says he "came for the Jews" and that he has brought a knife.

English subtitles by @Gerashchenko_en pic.twitter.com/QQbb94chQM

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 29, 2023

For anyone who ever wondered how something like Kristallnacht happened – you’re looking at the modern equivalent. If that mob had found anyone with an Israeli passport, can you imagine what would have happened?

The Biden administration’s initial response looked to downplay the severity of what happened.

In the first public comment made by the Biden administration since the incident, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. condemns the “antisemitic protests” at the airport in Russia.

“The United States vigorously condemns the antisemitic protests in Dagestan, Russia,” Watson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The U.S. unequivocally stands with the entire Jewish community as we witness a worldwide surge in antisemitism. There is never any excuse or justification for antisemitism.”

Many users on X blasted Watson’s post for referring to the riot as a “protest,” with some people replying that the correct term would be “pogrom,” which means attacks on particular ethnic groups, particularly Jewish people.

Prime Minister Netanyahu put out a stern statement, saying that he expects Russia to “safeguard the well-being of all Israeli citizens and Jews.” And while 60 people were reportedly arrested for their part in the mob, Vladimir Putin has apparently decided who to blame for this.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with top government officials to address antisemitic protests in a predominantly Muslim region of the country, demonstrations the Kremlin blamed on western interference.

The president plans to discuss “the West’s attempts to use events in the Middle East to split Russian society,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to the Interfax news service. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, security council members and the heads of law enforcement agencies are among those who will attend the gathering in Moscow on Monday.

The best part about the Russian government’s response is that they claim they have NO IDEA who these bloodthirsty rioters were. It’s a mystery, Charlie Brown!

“Unknown people” infiltrated the airport in Makhachkala, the region’s capital, Russia’s federal aviation agency Rosaviatsia said in a Telegram post on Sunday evening. It took hours to restore order and clear the premises, the agency said. Rosaviatsia said the airport resumed operations as of 2 p.m. Moscow time on Monday, but that flights from Tel Aviv would be temporarily re-routed to other cities. The agency earlier said the regional hub would resume working on Oct. 31.

So, apparently this is all a Western plot to make the Russians look bad by *checks notes* inciting a riot among Russian Muslims to go hunt down an Israeli flight at the airport in order to “get” the Jews. Okaaaaaay, then.

Anyone with a working knowledge of history – and sadly, too many people don’t – knows what they just saw in Dagestan.

In the late 1890s my great grandparents left the Russian empire because of pogroms. What happened yesterday in Makhachkala – a mob storming the airport to hunt for Jews, the mob checking passports as they looked for Israelis – this brought the 1890s into 2023.

— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) October 30, 2023

And Dagestan does have a very small Jewish population. How long do you think it will take before they leave, or are forced out?

The rabbi of the Dagestani city of Derbent, Ovadia Isakov, told local media that the future of the estimated 300-400 Jewish families in Dagestan was in doubt. Jews have had a presence in the region since pre-Islamic times.

Dagestan knows that this incident is a black eye for them, and that it has drawn the attention of Moscow.

Dagestan’s governor, Sergei Melikov, denounced the mob invasion of the airport, in a post on messaging service Telegram.

“There is no honour in hurling abuse at strangers, searching their pockets looking for their passports!” he wrote. He condemned “attacks on women with children”.

The mob’s actions, he said, were a “stab in the back” for Dagestani patriots, including those fighting in Ukraine in the Russian armed forces.

“What happened at our airport is outrageous and should receive the appropriate assessment from law enforcement. This will be done,” he wrote.

But in the same breath, Dagestan supports Gaza – which really means Hamas.

Dagestan’s government voiced support for Gaza, but appealed to citizens to remain calm and not take part in such protests. There have been widespread protests internationally against Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

So how does that work? Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. “Yes, we support Hamas, but please don’t attack Jews, it makes us look bad” is not a coherent message. The government cannot stir up the mob on one hand, then attempt to hold it back with the other, and not reap the consequences.

The pogroms have begun again in Russia. We are already seeing pogroms on college campuses here in the United States. This is all going to get worse before it gets better.

Featured image: seal and flag of Dagestan via SpanishFlag on Wikimedia Commons, cropped, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)