Jewish Education Expands in Baku as Restrictions on Shiite Activities Draw Attention

DID Press: As a Jewish educational program at a school in Baku expands and the number of students enrolled in the program surpasses 100, the policies of the government of Azerbaijan toward religious activities have once again drawn attention. The policies reflect differences between support for some religious communities and restrictions on Islamic activities, particularly those involving Shiites.

According to published reports, the Jewish educational program at Baku School No. 46 has been operating since 2008. Alongside Azerbaijan’s official curriculum, it teaches Hebrew, Jewish history, traditions and culture. The number of students in the program has now exceeded 100, and its officials have requested a larger educational space because of increased enrollment.

In contrast, a U.S. State Department report on religious freedom in Azerbaijan says the government has given the State Committee on Work with Religious Associations authority to appoint and dismiss religious personnel at all mosques in the country. The report also says 181 Muslim clerics had been dismissed since 2022 and that a number of Shiite activists had been detained. Azerbaijani officials have cited “Iranian influence” as a reason for some of these actions.

At the same time, the Baku government has allocated funding to some religious communities, including Jewish communities. The U.S. State Department’s 2023 report says Azerbaijan allocated 350,000 manats each that year to the Mountain Jewish community and the European Jewish community, while one million manats was allocated to the Caucasus Muslim Board.

This difference in the way religious institutions are managed and supported has raised questions about the Azerbaijani government’s treatment of different religious communities, particularly given that the majority of Azerbaijan’s population is Muslim and a large proportion of Muslims in the country are Shiite. The U.S. State Department estimated that about 96% of Azerbaijan’s population was Muslim, with approximately 65% Shiite and 35% Sunni.

From this perspective, the main issue is not the expansion of religious education within one community, but equality in the government’s treatment of all religious communities and the extent of their actual freedom to engage in educational, cultural and religious activities.