Foreigners live in fear of Russian skinheads http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060215/lf_nm/russia_skinheads_dc MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's small Cameroonian community was shocked and saddened, but not surprised, when fellow citizen Kanhem Leon was murdered by racists. They know the danger of violence is ever present. When people came here to study in communist times, it was not like this. But now people are poor and drunk. Maybe they are not happy and they attack our lads on the street," he said. A series of random racist murders, like that of 28-year-old Leon late last year and other foreign students in Moscow and elsewhere, have forced the issue into the headlines. Last month, a man shouting "Heil Hitler" wounded eight people in a knife attack on a Moscow synagogue, and attacks on immigrants are so common that they rarely make the press. "Our ideology is racism above all. We don't like Tajiks, Armenians, Jews -- we don't like anyone of a different race," said one self-declared skinhead in an interview with Reuters. The man calls himself Tesak (machete) -- "because I like knives" -- and wears big black boots and a short, padded jacket. "At the moment in Russia we're not very organized, there is no single leader. We just have groups of five or 10 people who go out to kill Armenians, Chinese, Tajiks," he said. His group Format 18 -- the numbers one and eight represent the initials of Adolf Hitler -- posts videos of its attacks on its Web site. One clip shows a group of young, muscular men in their uniform of jeans and boots beating a Tajik trader in a market before it ends with the slogan of "White Power." Tesak's shaved head and clothes makes him look like an extremist on society's fringe, but he is a qualified engineer and not as easily sidelined as drunken soccer hooligans. "Tesak is the future of the skinhead movement. He is clever and confident, he doesn't take drugs or drink. You can only kill him, you can never make him abandon his ideas," said Sergei Belikov, a lawyer who works with skinheads and has written three books on the phenomenon. "This is becoming a middle class movement ... It has become a national idea when nothing else is left. Teachers have become market traders, doctors have become bums, but they can all say at least they are white and European." Parliament promises new laws that would, among other things, make Web sites like Tesak's illegal. But Cameroon's Samba Samba said there was a lack of will to really crack down. "We do not think the government is doing enough. If someone is killed, the culprit must be found and convicted ... they have still not found (Leon's) killers and this is sad. If they wanted to find them, they could do it in two days," he said. Until more of an effort is made, Belikov said even the precautions Cameroon urges on its citizens are not enough. "Basically, I would advise Africans and Asians not to come to Russia, there is nothing good for them here," he said. My Comments: The only intellectual capital exported from Russia these days is Organized crime by the Russian mafia. Quote from Ivanovich: Regarding my other thread, ConMan, this is what I mean by "unintelligent debate". Where do you get off saying that the majority of the Slavic Russian population are drunks? That's a common stereotypical misconception. Care to back it up with hard stats and a source of those stats? Feel free to take your time. And they don't force the Jews to leave. I know many Russian Jews. They have a fine life by Russian standards. Some of you folks talk about Russia like you've been there half your life or something. In reality, those of us who HAVE lived there know you're speaking out your ass most of the time. I will agree with you that Russia will always be a "second class" country. But not because of the people - because of the government and it's corruption.
dont be naive; china n russia love to see ya damn yankees terminated. father karl marx would be proud of her kids.
This confirms you have no understanding of the argument you're trying to present. I'll accept your defeat, you were an honorable opponent. And that picture is priceless (my friend has it as his avatar on expat.ru)
This was never in disagreement. All I was arguing, and will continue to argue, is the stigmata that most russians are drunks. That is bullshit, and anyone who believes in it is simply an ignorant American. Unfortunately I can say that "most" Americans ARE ignorant of the world around them. Find a stat on that, will ya.
Yep, you claimed that russians can't tell a Jew from a Christian based on looks and they can, you claimed they don't have census data and they do, you claimed that because 80% americans use alcohol we're a nation of drunks and that's absurd. I came up with articles, research, statistics and pictures, you came up with absolutely nothing besides your own opinion which was based on one single fact that you lived in Moscow, knew 30 people and they were not all drunks. Yeah, you're right, please accept my defeat.