Why Jews need Azerbaijan, a country of peaceful coexistence - opinion

Across the Jewish world, people are shocked that an antisemitic mob attacked a group of Jewish students who were on a school bus in London. 

One 12-year-old student described to The Jewish Chronicle how the mob was swearing antisemitic profanities at the group and then threw rocks at them while screaming, “F*** Israel. Nobody likes you. F*** off you bitches.” 

This antisemitic attack did not occur in a vacuum. From Paris to London to New York and San Francisco, antisemitism is on the rise across the West, leaving Jewish students vulnerable. In such a violent atmosphere, we must appreciate a country like Azerbaijan, where incidents like this simply do not happen.

Jewish civilization in Azerbaijan dates back over 1,500 years. Oral tradition states that Jews first arrived in the South Caucasus country during the eighth century BCE.

Jews living in peace

Since then, the Jews of Azerbaijan have been living in peace and harmony, without experiencing any antisemitism except during the relatively brief invasions by Nadir Shah and the Soviet Union. Since Azerbaijan broke away from the Soviet Union and declared independence, Jewish life in Azerbaijan has been flourishing, especially since the country opened an embassy in Israel last year. 

In a world torn apart by antisemitic hatred and intolerance, multicultural and religiously diverse Azerbaijan stands out as a role model for other countries. It is an example of how Jews and Muslims can coexist peacefully and be friends, celebrating each other’s holidays and the diversity that the South Caucasus country has to offer.

Jewish children who travel home from school in Baku, Quba, Oghuz, Ganja, and other Azerbaijani cities are not harassed by antisemitic mobsters. They are encouraged to share their culture and way of life with the greater Muslim population as well as the other religious groups that live in Azerbaijan. 

No one in Azerbaijan taunts them about their connection to Israel. On the contrary, over 40% of Israel’s oil originates in Azerbaijan, and over 120 Israeli firms operate within the South Caucasus country, with many more exploring the possibility of relocating. 

In fact, Azerbaijanis not only refrain from taunting Jewish students, but they have profound admiration and respect for Israel because they see many parallels between Israeli history and their own. They feel that the United States and France have given Azerbaijan the “Israel treatment” on more than one occasion. 

Much in the way that the world criticizes Israel’s conduct in Gaza and Lebanon, Azerbaijan experienced similar criticism during the Second Karabakh War and the subsequent military operation.

Thirty years ago, the Armenians – with support from the Russians and the Iranians – captured Karabakh and the seven Azerbaijani districts, comprising one-fifth of Azerbaijan, in violation of four UN Security Council resolutions, which resulted in close to a million Azerbaijanis being displaced from their homes. 

For 30 years, Armenian settler colonialists occupied these lands and committed crimes against humanity while the world looked on silently as an area larger than Lebanon endured a brutal occupation. 

However, when Azerbaijan decided to reassert her national sovereignty and enforce international law, the West turned on Azerbaijan, a country that had helped the US fight the Taliban in Afghanistan and had provided Europe with energy security in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

Similarly, today, the same world that cried with Israel as 1,200 Israelis were massacred, mutilated, and raped, and over 250 others were abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, is now critical of Israel for defending herself in the face of such brutal terrorism. Azerbaijan has great sympathy for Israel’s position because they are in the same position. 

For this reason, Jews will always need to have friends like Azerbaijan, who stand beside us in our hour of need, and should do everything to stand in solidarity with Azerbaijan.

The writer is a Middle East scholar and commentator on the region.