8 worshippers have been stabbed in a synogogue in Moscow. A 20 year old was taken into custody.

Four people are in serious condition. The BBC report says the number of attacks on Jewish centres and synagogues have risen in Russia, but doesn’t give statistics. From Tel Aviv University:

 Anti-Semitic violence and vandalism hit a 15-year high worldwide in 2004, with Russia, Canada and Western Europe standing out in terms of violence and vandalism directed against Jewish individuals, sites and institutions, a new Israeli study said on Wednesday.

In its annual report, Tel Aviv University’s Stephen Roth Institute published on the institute’s Web site accused Russia, Ukraine and Belarus of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism but said the European Union had stepped up its efforts.

Researchers recorded 482 anti-Semitic incidents in 2004, including physical assaults and desecration of Jewish graves plus a further 19 “major attacks” - defined as intent to kill — such as shootings and arson. This compared with 330 incidents and 30 major attacks in 2003, a combined increase of 39 percent. The 2004 figures showed a more than six-fold rise since 1989, when the institute began collecting statistics. There were 31 major attacks that year.

In Russia the number of major violent incidents increased from 32 to 45; however, unlike western Europe, most involved vandalism of cemeteries, monuments and property. It is noteworthy that the increase in numbers of physical acts perpetrated by local extremists in Russia included attacks against many other groups of minorities and foreigners, Muslims included.