Tolerance

There is no need to stretch the truth; the main task of the ideologists who invented the Day of National Unity was the wish to distract the citizens of the 7^th of November, anniversary of the October Revolution. Not because current rulers of Russia consider the Soviet Union a criminal regime. They are just tired of supporting the holiday which the Communist Party used to replenish its lines. On the other hand the people is already accustomed that at the beginning of October all of us have a reason to drink and to be merry. Having cancelled the old holiday and established the Day of National Unity, the authorities decided that the deed is done and allowed the citizens to decide themselves how they are going to celebrate this day. The majority of them correctly understood the significance of the new holiday and celebrated it with their families and friends. But not only did the holy place not happen to be empty. The home guard of Minin and Pozharsky in November 1612 forced the Polish invaders out of Moscow. And who in our times tries to take our remarkable capital? Those who come in larger numbers from Caucasus and Central Asia! “We return the city to Muscovites”, said the slogan of the Liberal Democratic Party before the elections to Moscow City Duma.

The level of xenophobic attitudes in Moscow is the highest in Russia. So nationalists on November the 4^th go on the streets of the city with the slogan “Russia for Russians”. And every year they become more and more.

There was hope this year that ten thousands of students of Moscow universities go on the streets of the city. Go out and show everyone that there is a huge number of young, educated and tolerant people in Moscow. Moreover, for the first in many years, an official state organ – the Federal Agency on Youth Affairs – promised to arrange an all-national holiday and procession on the embankment of Taras Shevchenko named “All ours”. But it turned out that finding somewhere information about the holiday “All ours” was practically impossible. Only in the morning of 4^th of November appeared reports in the mass-media from which became clear that the movement “Nashi” indeed hold a procession named “Russkiy March”! But “All ours” is not the same thing as “Nashi” (Ours). As a result some of the students did not go on the procession at all, and others got to know on a meeting which was organized before the procession that they had suddenly become active in the movement “Nashi” and left home.

On the Russkiy March of the movement “Nashi” went about 20.000 young people. This is significantly higher than the nationalists could gather on that day. And it is very important. The banner of superiority was taken away from the nationalists in the street actions. But the national holiday did not take place. That is, it was held - but only by “Nashi”. Alas, this holiday was not ours.

Ashot Ayrapetyan