As reported on Registan (previously here and here) and widely blogged about, in order to build him a new palace, Rakhmonov’s authorities have begun the demolition of Tajikistan’s only synagogue. The incident represents a shameful example of Rakhmonov’s pettiness and megalomania. The synagogue belongs to the Bukharan Jewish community, one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities and quite distinct from the Sephardim and Ashkenazim. The 280 members are mostly elderly and poor and have no way of paying for a synagogue.

As was suggested, the worldwide Jewish community has begun to respond - but it may be a case of too little, too late. statement (which upped the ante from its earlier ‘dismay‘) condemning the move and comparing the eviction to the bombing of the Al Askari Mosque. While the demolition is both illegal and a violation of religious freedom, I would not go as far as applying the ‘terrorism’ label (which can be applied to the bombing of Istanbul’s Neve Shalom and Beth Israel synagogues). While perhaps the instigators of both may have had the same pair of motives - fear and intimidation - there is a big difference between an anonymous group and a government which can be shamed and (hopefully) pressured to reverse its action.