MOSCOW -- The current crisis in the Middle East is a conundrum for Moscow. Russia's involvement in the area has traditionally been painful and controversial, heavily loaded with historical associations, cultural stereotypes and racial prejudice. Rarely did Russian diplomacy score a success there, while defeats have been numerous.
The Russian empire was an exceptionally anti-Semitic country. Physical violence and political discrimination against the Jews spurred their massive exodus overseas at the turn of the last century. One of the few words the Russian language has contributed to the international vocabulary is pogrom. The plight and subsequent displacement of Russian Jews became a powerful push for creating a Jewish state in Palestine.
Soviet leader Josef Stalin initially supported the idea. The Arab countries looked pro-Western and corrupt in his eyes, while Zionism promised an independent international stance and even leaned toward socialism in its economic outlook. But soon after the creation of Israel, the dictator succumbed to anti-Semitic paranoia. He started viewing Soviet Jews as Israel's fifth column and launched purges against them. A number of Jewish doctors were even accused of planning to poison him. Only the dictator's timely death from a stroke prevented another Holocaust, Soviet-style.