Georgia
Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Multi-party
parliamentary elections followed a short-lived military coup in 1992. In
August 1995 parliament adopted a constitution that provides for an executive
branch that reports to the president, a legislature and an independent judiciary.
In November 1995 Eduard Shevardnadze was elected president and a new parliament
was chosen in elections described by international observers as generally
consistent with democratic norms.
The economy, which remains primarily agricultural, improved, led by gains
in trade and services, agriculture and transportation. Foreign aid makes
a large contribution to the economy. Per capita gross domestic product is
estimated at over $500.
Jews settled in what is now Georgia in biblical times. There is no tradition of antisemitism in the country: relations between Georgians and Jews have invariably been excellent. In recent years the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population have emigrated to Israel.
Internal conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia remain unresolved. These conflicts, together with problems created by roughly 250,000 internally displaced persons, pose the greatest threat to national stability. In 1993 Abkhaz separatists forcibly took control of Abkhazia, and most ethnic Georgians, a large percentage of the population, fled the region. In 1994 Russian peace-keeping forces representing the Commonwealth of Independent States deployed in the conflict area with the agreement of the government and the Abkhaz separatists, but there has been little repatriation of ethnic Georgian displaced persons.
In August Givi Alaznispireli, publisher and editor-in-chief of the small-circulation
independent Tbilisi monthly Noe (Noah), contributed to that paper
an article entitled "Watch Out There's a Jew Ahead!" In the article
Alaznispireli accused Jews of causing all of Georgia's misfortunes and described
them as "vampires" who had been "pumping money, gold, nerves
and thoughts" out of the country.
Speaking on national radio on 12 August, President Shevardnadze described
the article as "racism pure and simple"; he said he was "ashamed"
that such an article had appeared in Georgia. The Union of Georgian Writers
and other groups are also reported to have condemned the article. On 19
October it was reported that a Tbilisi district court had sentenced Alaznispireli
to one year's imprisonment for inciting inter- ethnic hostility.
The antisemitic incident described above is a rare event in Georgia,
where relations between the majority population and the Jewish minority
have traditionally been very good. The government has been outspoken in
denouncing antisemitism, with the virulently antisemitic article that appeared
in the newspaper Noe during the summer prompting immediate public
condemnation from the president.
© JPR 1997