Nadene Goldfoot
We 14 million Jews are still spread throughout the world; a few living here and there for simple reasons. The Israeli government said the death of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who has been missing in the Gulf state of United Arab Emirates since Thursday, was a "criminal anti-semitic terrorist event." Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan dual citizen who lived in the UAE, had been missing since Thursday, the 21st of November.
Kogan's disappearance quickly sparked suspicions that he had been kidnapped. He was the representative in Abu Dhabi for Chabad Lubavitch, an influential Orthodox Jewish Hasidic organization based in New York.
“With great pain we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, UAE, was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday, ” Chabad posted on X.
Kogan's vehicle was discovered in a city about an hour and a half from Dubai, Ynet reported. Authorities suspect that he was abducted by three Uzbek nationals who subsequently fled to Turkey. Uzbekistan is a Central Asian nation and former Soviet republic. It's known for its mosques, mausoleums and other sites linked to the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean. Samarkand, a major city on the route, contains a landmark of Islamic architecture: the Registan, a plaza bordered by 3 ornate, mosaic-covered religious schools dating to the 15th and 17th centuries. ―
Information in Israel’s possession indicated that Kogan may have been under Iranian surveillance, reports said. In other words, he could have been targeted, a Jewish escapee from USSR's clutches of Uzbekistan.
There is a small Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As of 2019, according to Rabbi Marc Schneier, it is estimated that there are about 150 families to 3,000 Jews who live and worship freely in the UAE. As of 2022, Judaism is experiencing a revival in the Emirates, most likely because of the Abraham Accords that have brought peaceful relations to be a reality today. There are three synagogues across the UAE. Since the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020, which normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, the first officially-licensed synagogue in the country was opened in Abu Dhabi, the nation's capital.
The lone rabbi would have been easy to identify to an anti-Semite, and obviously one was on the prowl for a Jew, found one and killed him. Those living in UAE would have had special jobs relating to making visitations between the countries easier, safer, one would think.
Kogan's family was originally from Moldavia. The former Bessarabia is now the Moldavian Republic (formerly in the USSR) with a Jewish population of 80,127 in 1989. Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The Nistru and Prut rivers run through Moldova, with the Nistru forming part of the border with Ukraine and the Prut forming the border with Romania. The Danube also touches Moldova's southern border.
Resource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekistan
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-830438
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