Belarus: President Lukashenko pans Jewish Minsk governor for not taking Jews 'under control as he had ordered.

Belarus: President Lukashenko pans Jewish Minsk governor for not taking Jews 'under control as he had ordered. (JP).

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko criticized on Wednesday a Jewish regional governor in Belarus for not taking the country's Jewish population "under control" as he had ordered.

In a state-of-the-nation address, Lukashenko expressed annoyance that a popular online publication, which has a Jewish director, had criticized his decree imposing a tax on people who worked fewer than 183 days a year.

Addressing the Minsk region governor Semyon Shapiro by name, Lukashenko said the head of the tut.by website, Yuri Zisser, was "not behaving correctly".

"I told you a year ago to take all the Jews of Belarus under control," said the president, a leader who often ruffles feathers with his impromptu comments.

A 2009 census said Jews made up 0.14 percent of Belarus's 9.5 million population.

Returning to the theme at the end of a three-hour summary of the economy and Belarus's international standing, he praised the Jewish population for its role in resistance to Nazi occupation during World War Two, when an estimated 800,000 local Jews died.

He went on to describe the Jews as being "white boned" meaning they did not like to do menial work. "They don't like to get their hands dirty or fight, but they did get their hands dirty with us!"

Zisser, whose online information outlet is the most powerful in Belarus, said he was puzzled by Lukashenko's remarks.

"Officials often express various opinions to us, often offensive ones. ... But we can not distort information to suit somebody's wishes," he told Reuters.

The head of a Belarussian Jewish association, Borys Herzen, played down the importance of Lukashenko's comments.

"Lukashenko is an emotional person and often does not express himself very elegantly ... In fact we do not see here in Belarus signs of any anti-Semitism," Herzen told Reuters.

Lukashenko caused a stir in 2007 when he said that Jews had turned the city of Bobruisk "into a pigsty". He subsequently sent a delegation to Israel on a damage-limitation trip.

From Belorussian Svoboda comes this: Belorussians commenting on Luka's 'Antisemitic rant:

"When Hitler did not like Jews", - Lukashenka's statements about Grodno.


Man: "I do not know what these words can lead. But, in my opinion, it is a complete humiliation of the nation. How can you even some examples of such talk? It smells of how fascism, and to talk about this publicly is unrealistic. And yet - how can such talk president, and he gets away with it .... "

Man: "It was a very strange statement, even a bit antisemitic. And these statements were tapped during the entire message, and then another Lukashenko them back ... "

Man: "I do wonder, how can you say it's in a sense, a violation of the Constitution. The main thing that a man was normal, for me it does not matter what nationality he was. When Hitler also did not like the Jews, and left what happened. I just hope that these times will never come. "

Man: "My first reaction was - shock. I do not understand how you can say such a thing. I still can not imagine what kind of a turn from what it is repelled and why ... "

Man: "The phrase about the Jews - it is a departure from the typical printed text, he did not understand what I said. Imagine the Jews control ... In my opinion, he was not in this list. But to those who sat in the audience liked it, and that's scary. What he says - we are used to everything. But that room with three higher educations so responsive - it's scary. "

Man: "The Jewish question - it's a complex question, and what it means to" control "? What are they, non-automatic people that they need to be controlled, and therefore do not trust? And if they do good towards Belarus - is good, well, why is control? I even thought it does not fit. " Hmmmm.....Having visited Belarus a number of times, i can say i did experience antisemitic behavior from Belorussians more then once.