December 16, 2019

My heart sank to the floor when I read the news last Saturday that Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills had been horribly vandalized during the night on Shabbat, that a Torah scroll had been desecrated, along with so many prayer books and prayer shawls – the most wonderful articles that Jews adorn and treasure in the service of prayer.

I stood in that very sanctuary only last month, when I was honored to travel to Los Angeles as part of a delegation, all the way from my home in Baku, to share my story of survival with the most gracious and welcoming community of Nessah Synagogue, and the broader Iranian-Jewish community of Los Angeles. I was embraced by hundreds, literally, and toward the end of the night, with new friends in arm, I danced to Hava Nagila and rejuvenated my soul. Nessah Synagogue is a place I fell in love with, and so my heart hurts to know what has happened. Those articles that were destroyed, are a symbol of peace, of the Almighty, and of community, and the criminal clearly meant to attack what is most dear and precious. As a friend to Nessah Synagogue, I offer my most heartfelt sorrow. To me, this feels personal.

I was raised in a country – a majority-Muslim nation – that abhors anti-Semitism. In Azerbaijan, anti-Semitism is virtually non-existent. We have flourishing Jewish communities, approximately 30,000-strong made of Ashkenazim and Mizrahim (Mountain Jews), and a diverse community of Roman Catholics, Russian-Orthodox, Armenian-Orthodox, Evangelicals, Sunni and Shia Muslims, Baha’is, Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians and others, who peacefully live together. My nation is proud to have sheltered Jews in the most difficult times; during so many times of Jewish persecution in neighboring regions, and of course, in most of Europe, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th century, when violent anti-Semitism was rampant. During the Holocaust, Azerbaijan sheltered over 10,000 Jewish refugees, fleeing certain death, who found absolute safety and sanctuary in Azerbaijan, a nation that lost over 400,000 brave Azerbaijani soldiers in the fight against the Nazis and Hitler in WWII. We spared ourselves the moral decay that so many nations have far too long accepted, before and during the time of the Holocaust and into today – we do not allow anti-Semitism in any of our lands, or our schools, or our ranks. We teach our children about the evil of anti-Semitism, as part of our mandatory curriculum in all our middle schools, because we know the role education plays in preventing it.

Attacks such as what has just happened at Nessah, or to the Jewish community of Jersey City and the tragedy they have endured, are signs of a larger and terrifying plague of anti-Semitism that seems to have embroiled so much of the world today.

A recent survey of the American Jewish Committee shows that more than 80 percent of Jewish respondents have witnessed an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. over the past five years. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 150 percent surge in anti-Semitic incidents in 2018 compared to 2013.

And last year, anti-Semitic attacks killed more Jews around the world than in any year in decades.

Most dangerously, normalization and mainstreaming of anti-Semitism in many places is happening under the guise of free speech. Freedom of expression is of paramount importance. However the right to life, safety and security is vital too. The Holocaust taught us that it always starts with hate speech. Therefore it should become a common understanding that allowing hate speech against Jews or any other minority to take hold will inevitably tear down the foundations of any democracy.

This is an era where all of us that stand against hatred, and cherish the same values must stand together and hold tight to those precious values that have enabled us to endure so much throughout history.

On Facebook, the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, Nasimi Aghayev, posted these remarks about the attack: “The Consulate General of Azerbaijan harshly condemns this cowardly act of vandalism and hate crime against the Nessah Synagogue. Anti-Semitism has no place in the world. The hatred of Jews hurts everyone, just as the hatred of any group of people is a sickness that affects our entire world; a revolving phenomenon of bigotry, racism and xenophobia that comes in many forms and leaves the same lasting mark wherever it exists. We stand in full solidarity with all our friends at Nessah and with the entire Jewish community of Los Angeles.” Mr. Aghayev speaks directly to all our sentiments – we are horrified by what has happened, and we stand with you today, and into tomorrow.

To my dear friends at Nessah and the entire Los Angeles Jewish community. You are not alone in this fight. You have us here, myself and many others from Azerbaijan, who care a great deal about you, are praying for you, speaking out for you, and sending you our solidarity and strength in the wake of this hate crime, which has followed so many others.