Quote from Timothy Fitzpatrick on April 30, 2025, 11:03

Does the Patriarchate support radical Zionists?

By Maxim Shevchenko
25.04.2001

---

It has long been noted that the desire of official structures of various confessions to latch onto a political movement supported, in their opinion, by the authorities, intensifies in the spring. Last year it was the Russian Christian Union (RCU), whose presentation failed miserably in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. This year it was the socio-political movement "Eurasia", whose founding congress was held, not without brilliance, in a club located in Moscow's Serebryany Lane.What was common in both cases was the Department of Catechesis of the Moscow Patriarchate and its chairman, Hegumen John (Ekonomtsev). The tireless Father John, a famous esoteric poet and mystical writer, participated in the creation of the RHS in 2000 (for which he received a serious reprimand from the Patriarch) and attempted in 2001 to become one of the founders of "Eurasia" (the Patriarch has yet to sort out the consequences of this).In addition to him, the leadership team was to include, as reported by the organizing committee of the socio-political movement "Eurasia": "the Supreme Mufti of Russia, the leader of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims Sheikh-ul-Islam Talgat Tadzhuddin, Did-Khambalama, the abbot (sheret) of the Aginsky datsan Dondukbaev Andrei Lupsandashievich, the Hasidic rabbi, the leader of the socio-political movement "Be'ad Artseynu" ("For the Motherland"), the historian, the famous publicist and public figure Avrom Shmulevich, the head of the public fund for the promotion of peace and cooperation in the Caucasus Suslov Petr Evgenievich and others."

Already in this list (including Ekonomtsev) the bomb of a future scandal was planted, the prospects of which we will discuss below.

The Eurasia movement (with the support of second-tier Kremlin political strategists) was created by the former co-chairman of the National Bolshevik Party, one of the ideologists of Russian Eurasianism, a singer of the state security agencies, the author of the textbook "Fundamentals of Geopolitics" and a popularizer of Guenon, Evola and Haushoffer, political scientist Alexander Gelyevich Dugin. He is the son of a career security officer, knows several foreign languages ​​and is personally acquainted with many of the bright figures of the so-called "Black International".

Although the hall was not full, there were quite a few delegates. The huge emblem of the congress hanging above the stage - a stylized wind rose on a map of Russia - and the slogan on the wall "Eurasia above all" were striking.

The front rows were occupied by ranks of representatives of the Muslim clergy in turbans wrapped over Turkish fezzes and green robes embroidered with lurex, while the back rows were occupied by ordinary “Eurasians”.

It all started with the new-old anthem, which was played in its entirety from beginning to end. After that, Alexander Dugin, Talgat Tadzhutdin, the representative of Hegumen John (Ekonomtsev) Valery Shlenov, Lama Andrei Dondukbaev and the theorist of modern Eurasianism, Professor Alexander Pashchenko, took to the stage. It was separately announced that representatives of Judaism were absent, since the day of the forum fell on Saturday.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin was also on stage, playing only the role of observer from the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. It is this department that is obliged to contact all political movements on behalf of the Church - from the Union of Right Forces to the Russian National Unity.

The congress opened with a lengthy report by Alexander Dugin. The new Eurasian leader, in particular, noted that:

"The principle of Eurasian community is a flourishing complexity," and the ideology of the movement "was suffered by the best people of Russia, who founded the Eurasian worldview, among whom was Lev Gumilyov."

"Russia and the West are different civilizations, the contradictions between them have been there for a long time and will never disappear, and the basic law of geopolitics is "either us or them", since "there can be no merger with the Western world, because the West has turned its evil face towards us."

The purpose of Eurasia's activities is "not to go into power, but to fight for influence over it." In particular, the movement intends to propose to the Russian president a project for settling interethnic conflicts by "uniting fundamentalists, that is, deeply religious people who experience the uniqueness of their faith."

The main source of all of Russia's troubles is the "Atlanticist factor." According to Dugin, he has "operational data that CIA employees are currently working in the Chechen opposition."

In conclusion, Dugin stated that he was optimistic about the future of the Eurasia movement. Firstly, he explained, "with the arrival of Putin, the green light for the development of the Eurasian initiative was lit by a wave of a magic wand," and secondly, "Eurasia" is multidimensional - it includes Russians, Tatars, young people, and the military," and finally, "Eurasia" is first and foremost, the rest comes later."

At the end of the main report, a welcoming message from the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar, and wishes from other prominent figures of modern religious “Eurasianism” were read.

But the main revelation of the congress, which raised a number of questions for its organizers (including representatives of the official structures of the Russian Orthodox Church and Mufti Tajuddin), was yet to come.

Among others, a greeting was also given by the Israeli movement "Be'ad Artzeinu". Let us recall that it became famous as an organization calling for a total war against Arabs and Muslims in Palestine. Its members are so radical in their words and actions that even the Israeli justice system condemned some of them for desecrating Muslim shrines and vandalizing Muslim graves. The greeting was signed by the leaders of this radical nationalist Zionist party, Rabbi Avron Shmulevich, "political emigrant" Avigdor Eskin and journalist, editor of the online version of "NG" Alexander Sherman. The movement "Be'ad Artzeinu" was presented at the congress as one of the main employees of "Eurasia" from the side of Judaism and "Israeli traditionalism".

And now it’s time to ask a number of questions addressed to

a) Moscow Patriarchate,

b) Mufti Talgat Tajuddin,

c) the administration of the President of Russia.

It is clear that the idea of ​​Israeli-Russian symbiosis, repeatedly voiced in the Russian media by representatives of radical Zionist groups (Eskin, Shmulevich), finds support among those people who would like to disrupt interfaith peace in Russia and pit it against world Islam in favor of Israeli hawks. At the congress, such people were represented by ORT presenter Mikhail Leontyev, who at one time said the following about the "peace process" in the Middle East: "it is impossible to understand where the "peace process" - Israeli Khasavyurt - came from, and why the current ruling regime is fighting for it so selflessly. So selflessly that it practically personally organized the murder of Prime Minister Rabin in order to show that all opponents of the peace process are scum, terrorists and fanatics."

Perhaps the Moscow Patriarchate, which in the person of Patriarch Alexy and Metropolitan Kirill has done much to improve interfaith relations in Russia and the CIS, and has been conducting a long and fruitful theological dialogue with Iran, has changed its views.

But has the MP really decided this time, in the person of the leadership of the Department of Catechesis, to directly cooperate with forces interested in involving Russia and Orthodoxy in a direct clash with Middle Eastern Islam, Orthodoxy, and simply the Palestinian resistance movement?

The Patriarch often demonstrates support for the Palestinian leadership, declaring concern about the mass murder of Arabs in Israeli-occupied cities. The Russian Orthodox Church is interested in good relations with Arafat and his entourage (the lion's share of its property is located on the territory of the autonomy). At the same time, official employees of the Patriarchate (Valery Shlenov did this on behalf of Hegumen Ekonomtsev) are included in the governing bodies of the Eurasia movement together with people who have even been convicted by the Israeli state for anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab terrorist activities.

Mufti Talgat Tajuddin, who lashed out at the Wahhabis and radicals, being a Muslim, also sits on the presidium of a movement that includes people who have desecrated Muslim shrines. Let us recall that Mr. Avigdor Eskin, who welcomed the congress, was convicted by an Israeli court for inciting people to throw pig heads onto the territory of the Al-Aqsa mosque and desecrating the grave of one of the dead fighters of the Palestinian resistance movement with pig remains, whom the radical Zionists and their friends in the Russian media call nothing other than a "terrorist." Is Mufti Tajuddin really so in solidarity with such a position?

Dugin declared his total, unconditional support for President Putin, calling his movement a "radical center." Moreover, he declared his support for the president even in areas where his actions may diverge from the ideological principles of the movement.

But does Putin, or at least the Russian Foreign Ministry, support a movement whose activities call into question the legitimacy of Russia's participation as a co-sponsor of the peace process in the Middle East?

These are the questions that arose after the “Eurasian” congress.

I decided not to go into discussions of the concept of "Eurasianism" itself. Recently, many "theoretical justifications" have been piled up around it (not least due to Dugin's efforts). One can talk about a "single Tradition", and about the confrontation between "Atlanticists" and "Eurasians", and about a "sunny Eurasian KGB that will open the dawn of a new era" (as Dugin wrote in "Zavtra").

But to an unbiased person familiar with the history of the USSR, it is obvious that this political doctrine arose in the 1920s in the minds of the then political strategists from the GPU as a means of recruiting intellectual émigrés yearning for their homeland.

They say there is a great country in the vast expanses of Eurasia, ruled by a wise leader and opposing the treacherous Entente. This country "has forgiven and is calling." Is it necessary to say that almost all the creators of "Eurasianism" were ground into camp dust?

Even then, emigrants who did not trust the promises of the GPU said that “Eurasianism” was decoded as “the meaning of the historical existence of naive Asians, formulated by smart Jews.”

It seems that the realities of today confirm the ironic conclusion of people who lived in the 20s.

Source: https://www.ng.ru/facts/2001-04-25/1_patriarchy.html