Rabbi Israel Barouk published an article recently in the Jewish Journal, where he noted that "in the most recent report, USCIRF has recommended to include Azerbaijan in the State Department's "Special Watch List", citing Azerbaijan's close monitoring of foreign religious leaders within their borders, most crucially because they share a border with Iran."
According to him, "In the eyes of USCIRF, oversight employed by Azerbaijan to vet extremism against religious radicals with proven links to Iran is a matter of religious oppression. Including Azerbaijan on this watch list has raised eyebrows, particularly in light of the fact that Azerbaijan is the oldest majority-Muslim secular republic, and the home and haven to Jewish and varied Christian communities since antiquity."
He added: "Azerbaijan has been labeled in popular media as an "oasis of tolerance" and as a component of that achievement, Azerbaijan disallows extremism to enter and operate in the country." He offered an explanation for their biased stance: "One of the leading staffers of the USCIRF is its Chief of Public Affairs, Danielle Ashbahian, previously employed as Director of Communications by the Armenian Assembly of America, one of the two main Armenian lobby groups in the U.S., known for their anti-Azerbaijani campaigns."
In an exclusive interview, prominent Middle East scholar Dr. Mordechai Kedar proclaimed that it is wrong to label Azerbaijan as such: "The Azerbaijani people ruled for generations without extremism. They are not jihadists. They have nothing against other ethnic groups and faiths that live in peace with them, like Jews. In addition, they are people who keep their identity and refuse to be subjected to the hegemony of superpowers culture. They are part of a giant nation, the Turkish one, and they govern themselves in a legitimate way and they don't need external enemies in order to galvanize the people under their leadership. It is a nation which lived peacefully within itself, usually lives peacefully with others as well. And the Azerbaijanis prove this rule on a daily basis."
Ayoob Kara, who served as Israel's Communication Minister under Netanyahu, concurred: "It would be a fatal mistake for the Americans to include Azerbaijan in the State Department's "Special Watch List", as the country is known for its multiculturalism, pluralism and religious tolerance. Upon visits to Azerbaijan, I witnessed how churches and synagogues peacefully coexisted beside mosques. Jews over there are not afraid to walk around wearing kippas. In fact, in Oghuz, the synagogues are even left unlocked at night, as the people live a life free of anti-Semitism."
Anastasia Lavrina, a prominent Christian journalist in Azerbaijan, stressed: "Azerbaijan is a model of coexistence to the world. The level of tolerance in our society is very high. It is not only because it has to be like this or because we are taught this way since our childhood. It is because this is the way that it is in Azerbaijan. We are raised with the feeling that we have to respect each other. Religion, ethnic groups and other racial differences make no difference. We are a tolerant society where all ethnic groups peacefully coexist with each other."
She referred to those who claim there is a lack of religious freedom in Azerbaijani society as "regretful because the level of tolerance and multiculturalism in Azerbaijan is high, and everyone knows about this. Azerbaijan is fighting against extremism on the global scale. We all are humans and have to respect each other. In the case of fighting extremism, Azerbaijan is considered a real model for the international community. In the West, we can see cases of extremism and anti-Semitism. In Azerbaijan, we never saw it for it is controlled by the government very strictly."
Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and an Israel-based journalist. She is also the author of "Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media."
