http://rt.com/politics/russia-us-chabad-lubavitch-schneerson-184/
The Foreign Ministry has expressed outrage after a US court imposes a
fine on Russia for its refusal to comply with a 2010 court order to
return a collection of religious documents to a prominent US-based
Jewish organization.
The move comes shortly after the Magnitsky Act, which saw US
legislators attempting to exert pressure on Russia’s judicial system. A
court in Washington is now attempting to penalize Russia for its
possession of a collection of books, manuscripts and other Judaic
documents.
According to the ruling, Russia would be required to
pay $50,000 a day to Chabad Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish movement
headquartered in New York City, until it releases the Schneerson
Library, of which the Jewish group claims rightful ownership.
"It
is outrageous that a Washington court has taken this unprecedented step
fraught with most serious consequences as the imposition of a fine on a
sovereign state," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The ministry statement slammed the US ruling as
“exterritorial in nature,” and a violation of international law. Russia considers the ruling to be legally null and void, the statement added.
Meanwhile,
the US Justice Department also spoke out against the decision, arguing
the court cannot introduce sanctions of this type against Russia, and
that such a move would further damage US-Russian relations.
Chabad
Lubavitch claimed the Schneerson collection – which includes 12,000
books and 50,000 rare documents gathered since the 18th century by Rabbi
Joseph I. Schneersohn and his descendants in the Russian city of
Smolensk – was illegally seized during a wave of Soviet nationalization
projects.
"The Schneerson Library has never belonged to the
Chabad; it never left Russia, and was nationalized because there were no
legal heirs in the Schneerson family,” the ministry said.
“The 'return' of these books to the US is therefore not an issue in principle."
Due
to the controversial question regarding the ownership rights of the
Schneerson Collection, Russian museums are hesitant to travel to the
United States with any exhibitions for fear of them being held hostage
in the court standoff.
Meanwhile, the head of Russia's Jewish Congress has said that Russia should be compensated by the Americans
“50,000 dollars plus one dollar a day” for saving the collection from the Nazis and handing the massive collection of documents over to the National Library, where
“they are kept carefully and remain available to the general public,” Zinovy Kogan told Itar-Tass in an interview on Thursday.
We should be grateful (to Russia) for the rescued books, he added.
The rabbi also challenged claims on the collection by the Chabad Lubavitch movement, reminding that the books were written
“long before the emergence of the Chabad Lubavitch movement.”
Why should the books be given away to them, he asked.
"It
does not matter where the books are kept. What is really important is
they are available to the public. The books that are kept at the Eastern
Section of the Russian State Library are available. Everyone is free to
order and have a copy. No problem. Books are not to be treated as
idols. Books will be books. They are not to be kissed and worshiped,
they are to be read and studied," Kogan said.
The Russian
State Library in the 1990s agreed to give 70 books from the Schneerson
archive to the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Russia. They are
now stored at the library of the Moscow Jewish Community Center in the
Maryina Roshcha neighborhood.
Yitzhak Schneerson died in 1950. He left behind no instructions regarding the future of his vast library.
