On 5/12/2026 at 5:20 PM, Jingthing said:

The historical homeland for the Jews in Russia established by Stalin in a very undesirable backwater in far east Russia was never successful and is now only a historical oddity.

There are very few Jews there now if any and Jews don't move there now and never will. The area attracts a little tourism and some youtubers to view tbe historical Jewish relics there.

To suggest the area is relevant today to Russian Jews is trollish of the highest order.

Me thinks you have a fetish for Jew Trolls?

Russia as a safe haven for Jews sounds good to me.

They should have moved them there in the first place.

2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Russia as a safe haven for Jews sounds good to me.

They should have moved them there in the first place.

It doesn't sound good to Jews. Prior to the rise of Nazi Germany, the most intense antisemitic pogroms of the preceding 100 years had taken place in the Russian Empire.

A photo from the 1905 pogrom in Odessa.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/parkes/resources/sources/pogromoctober1905.page

Edited May 27May 27 by Evil Penevil

On 5/12/2026 at 1:40 PM, FlorC said:

Haven't the Russians suffered enough ?

Obviously, this is Russian gold diggers who saw the opportunities in Israel when Russia was lying there with a broken back.

Now they see the same downfall with Israel. And where would you be in a larger future conflict? In Israel who are surrounded by natural enemies?

"We left because the food is terrible. And the portions are so small!"

2 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

It doesn't sound good to Jews. Prior to the rise of Nazi Germany, the most intense antisemitic pogroms of the preceding 100 years had taken place in the Russian Empire.

A photo from the 1905 pogrom in Odessa.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/parkes/resources/sources/pogromoctober1905.page

The Oblast doesn't sound very hospitable for growing oranges and olives! Tens of thousands of Russian Jews are going back, though, of course, not to the JAO! Have they forgotten the 20th century and historical pogroms or do they think, this can't happen here again?

10 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

Between 1.3 and 1.4 million Russian Jews and their families have emigrated to Israel since the 1970s, the vast majority of whom had never practiced Judaism and had no familiarity with Jewish custom or tradition. Russian Jewish males had not been circumcised, for example and virtually none had even a rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew. Many remarked they had never heard Hebrew spoken until they arrived in Israel.

These Russians were considered Jewish under Israel's Law of Return because they had a Jewish parent or grandparent, but that was their only connection to Judaism. Moreover, most of them didn't really want to live in Israel, but considered it a better option than life in post-Soviet Russia.

Some of the Russian Jews who made Aliyah knew from the beginning they wouldn't stay in Israel once they acquired Israeli citizenship and took advantage of the education and job training programs available to new immigrants to Israel. Since Israeli Jews enjoy full employment, i.e., everyone who wants a job can get one, some Russians would also work for several years to accumulate money and job experience before moving back to Russia or on to a third country.

"As of 2026, Israeli citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 166 countries and territories, ranking the Israeli passport 16th in the world according to the Henley Passport Index." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Israeli_citizens

"As of 2025, Russian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 114 countries and territories, ranking the Russian passport 43th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Turkey passport) according to the Henley Passport index."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_passport#cite_note-126

And here's the link about the Henley Passport Index itself. Before you look at it, does anyone want to guess what passport gives the most travel freedom?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley_Passport_Index

Very interesting perspective, Ev. This changes my impression immensely. Does aliyah result in immediate citizenship & passport? Do this Russian immigrants serve in the IDF? And, as adults, are the men expected to be circumcised? (Hehe, I'd stay in Russia!)

10 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Lots of Vory became suddenly Jewish

Thanks, Yag. Learn something new every day!

"Vory" (short for vory v zakone, or "thieves in law") refers to an elite fraternity within the Russian and post-Soviet organized crime underworld. Historically, they are bound by a strict code of conduct requiring them to forsake family, reject legitimate employment, and never cooperate with state authorities. [1, 2]

The subculture of the vory originated in the harsh Soviet prison and Gulag systems. Over the decades, these highly disciplined criminals adapted, evolving from a closed prison fraternity into an international criminal network that operates globally.

8 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

How did AN become the most anti-semitic site probably on the internet bar Stromfront. It's quite bizarre. That said 425k Israleis visited Thailand last year per capita that's probably the most visitors of any country.

Depends on your perspective, beaut. There are occasionally some very antisemitic comments here, some of which I've reported. But they're few.

Anybody with a heart is anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, anti-IDF. The perpetrators of a humanitarian crisis deserve no quarter.

4 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

That's a good question and it is indeed bizarre. It's hard to know whether the AN members who write the heavy duty antisemitic posts are merely determined to or true believers

who really do hate Jews and

want to destroy Israel.

I would bet that the authors of the most hateful comments are hardcore antisemites due to the intensity of their posting.

No, that distinction goes to Singapore. It has only 3.66 million citizens but had 877,000 visitors to Thailand in 2025. Israel appears to rank second in terms of the highest number of tourist visitors to Thailand on a per capita basis.

Ev, I hope you don't include me in that lot. Don't hate anybody. Hate war.

6 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Depends on your perspective, beaut. There are occasionally some very antisemitic comments here, some of which I've reported. But they're few.

Anybody with a heart is anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, anti-IDF. The perpetrators of a humanitarian crisis deserve no quarter.

I think with a bit more balance from those who repeatedly defend the state of Israel, the new settlers, and the IDF, there would not be much noise to observe.

Just normal dialogue, where both sides can be criticised without the usual moral panic.

Even if the OP's article is 21 years old, it is still somewhat ironic.

Decades ago Mossad recruited American Jonathan Pollard. Among the tens of thousands of classified documents Pollard gave his Mossad handlers, was the NATO Order of Battle. At the height of the Cold War, the Israeli Govt secretly traded that document to the Soviet Union in exchange for the release of Soviet Jews to migrate to Israel.

A Soviet asset of the CIA reported this betrayal, which was subsequently corroborated by Russia during the Gorbachev Era.

37 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Ev, I hope you don't include me in that lot. Don't hate anybody. Hate war.

How comes your daily threads about Jews are always opposing Jews/Israel ?

Always negative about Jews , never any positive threads

1 hour ago, Nick Carter icp said:

How comes your daily threads about Jews are always opposing Jews/Israel ?

Always negative about Jews , never any positive threads

Quacks like a duck innit.

2 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

How comes your daily threads about Jews are always opposing Jews/Israel ?

Always negative about Jews , never any positive threads

My image seems to have disappeared. I think it hilarious from any point of view. Hehe...

1 minute ago, unblocktheplanet said:

My image seems to have disappeared. I think it hilarious from any point of view. Hehe...

Whatever floats your boat.

On 5/12/2026 at 2:17 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

Today we learn more about the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, bordering on China in Russia's Far East. It is the only autonomous region in Russia, created in 1928, although Crimea in Ukraine was also considered.

Peaking at 50k residents in the 1948, only a handful are left. It is connected by the Trans-Siberian Railway to both Moscow and Beijing. The USSR wanted to create an alternative to Zionism.

It may be that Russia wanted Jews on the frontlines of China's power, not a buffer but a sacrificial zone.

Seven state-run schools teach Yiddish and another for religious education in Yiddish. The five- to seven-year-olds spend two lessons a week learning to speak Yiddish, as well as being taught Jewish songs, dance, and traditions. Yiddish is compulsory for children aged 6 to 10. A Yiddish radio station is in operation, and the local newspaper includes a section in Yiddish.

-21°F to 8°F in winter to 61°F to 82°F in summer, with rapid, pleasant spring and autumn transitions. Does not sound like kibbutz territory.

L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin! is on YouTube.

Bombs...Siberia. Rockets...Siberia. Rough choice. There are Siberian tigers!

Sweet

3 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

never any positive threads

Well

Jesus was a jew.

2 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Very interesting perspective, Ev. This changes my impression immensely. Does aliyah result in immediate citizenship & passport?

From the minute a Jew of any nationality who has been approved for Aliyah arrives in Israel, he or she is granted full Israeli citizenship. Getting an Israeli passport takes a lot longer.

New arrivals (olim) have to wait at least one year before they can apply for a limited passport and during those 12 months, they have to have spent at least 60% of that time in Israel. They have to wait at least five years before applying for a full passport.

2 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Do this Russian immigrants serve in the IDF?

Yes, they do, assuming they are in the age profile of 18 to 40 years.

2 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

And, as adults, are the men expected to be circumcised? (Hehe, I'd stay in Russia!)

No, male immigrants to Israel aren't required to be circumcised to become citizens.. However, if they want to convert to Orthodox or Conservative Judaism, they must be circumcised.

Edited May 27May 27 by Evil Penevil

42 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Whatever floats your boat.

Really, Jing? You're that humourless? See this as some kind of sntisemitism? Sheesh!

Just now, unblocktheplanet said:

Really, Jing? You're that humourless? See this as some kind of sntisemitism? Sheesh!

I think you hate that Israel exists.

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

I think you hate that Israel exists.

Ahem, whatever floats your boat.

15 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Ahem, whatever floats your boat.

I see you.

1 hour ago, unblocktheplanet said:

My image seems to have disappeared. I think it hilarious from any point of view. Hehe...

They seem just as obsessed with Israel as you are

57 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

They seem just as obsessed with Israel as you are

Basically a fetish.

10 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

That's a good question and it is indeed bizarre. It's hard to know whether the AN members who write the heavy duty antisemitic posts are merely determined to or true believers

who really do hate Jews and

want to destroy Israel.

I would bet that the authors of the most hateful comments are hardcore antisemites due to the intensity of their posting.

No, that distinction goes to Singapore. It has only 3.66 million citizens but had 877,000 visitors to Thailand in 2025. Israel appears to rank second in terms of the highest number of tourist visitors to Thailand on a per capita basis.

It's the relentlessness - another thread about Jews/Israel there's an occasional debate to be had but every frikin day probably means that whatever the framing of your argument you are an anti-semite. It's almost textbook definiton and probably from folks that haven't really achived their life goals in their sunset years and that's coming from me a harsh critic of Israel to boot. I just don't hate Jews far from it - they have made a disprortinate positive contribution to the world.

7 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Anybody with a heart is anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, anti-IDF. The perpetrators of a humanitarian crisis deserve no quarter.

Anybody with the slightest sense of or morality is pro Israel, pro Zionist and Pro IDF. Anti semites deserve no quarter

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Anybody with the slightest sense of or morality is pro Israel, pro Zionist and Pro IDF. Anti semites deserve no quarter

Just unbelievable that anyone can utter the statement above 🤮 sickening support for a totally immoral, genocidal, apartheid state whose leader is a wanted war criminal.

1 minute ago, johng said:

apartheid state whose leader is a wanted war criminal.

Once again , completely untrue .