Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, under heavy international scrutiny for allegedly falsifying the Belarus elections last year as well as a long list of alleged human rights violations, also appears to have exposed some antisemitic leanings that lie at the base of his political worldview.
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Speaking recently to an assembly of youth and members of the Belarusian army to mark the victory of the Soviet Union and Belarus, which was then a part of it, in World War II, Lukashenko compared the memory of the war and the Soviet war effort to the memory of the Holocaust, claiming that Jews "ruled the world" and the media.
"The Jews managed to force the world to remember the Holocaust. The entire world grovels before them and gives in to them. They are afraid to say a single word out of place. We are tolerant and likeable. We left things alone until it got to the point where others started attacking us and the memory of our efforts," Lukashenko said.
While it is possible that Lukashenko was trying to praise Jews for their willingness to stand up for the memory of the Holocaust, he inadvertently revealed his own feelings about the supposed influence Jews exert in the world, the widespread antisemitism in eastern Europe, and its roots in writings such as "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
Lukashenko made his speech a few days before receiving a warm message from outgoing President Reuven Rivlin. On Monday, Israel Hayom revealed that Rivlin had sent the message under heavy pressure from the Foreign Ministry, but the reason for that pressure was unclear.
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