FK: In your view, what really caused the riot at Makhachkala Airport? Are people in Dagestan so incensed by the fate of the Palestinians that they decided to turn on the Jews?
DS: I think there are many reasons, but the first thing to say is yes, they are incensed as Palestine is traditionally a trigger for Muslims. One’s attitude to the Palestinian issue and the State of Israel is part of Islamic identity. The same thing applies to your view on the conflict in Syria, where a huge number of Russian-speaking Muslims went to fight, and to the violence against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar and the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, northwest China. So, in effect, this was quite a predictable reaction.
Abdullah Kosteksky, the spiritual leader of the jihadist organisation, Caucasus Emirate, who is from Dagestan, has espoused a radical position that doctrinally justifies violence against Jews and the State of Israel, which he thinks should not exist. This is perceived as the Muslim position, and in many respects it is.