VZCZCXRO6280
RR RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0406 0911205
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011205Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0189
INFO RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0350
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0012

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000406 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF TI
SUBJECT: IF I WERE A RICH MAN - HASSAN ASADULLOZODA DONATES A 
SYNAGOGUE 
 
REF: 2008 DUSHANBE 887 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The local and international press have 
reported that presidential brother in law - and purported mensch 
- Hassan Asadullozoda donated a building to Tajikistan's Jewish 
Community for use as a synagogue.  The reports have painted the 
donation as an attempt to atone for destroying the synagogue in 
June 2008 to make way for the grounds of a new presidential 
palace.  While the donation is on its face a philanthropic act, 
it is likely that the Jewish Community is the beneficiary of an 
"arrangement" between two former Soviet businessmen.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On March 26, the Federation of Jewish Communities of the 
CIS announced on its website that Hassan Asadullozoda, President 
Rahmon's brother in law, donated a building to Tajikistan's 
Jewish Community to use as a synagogue.  The website described 
Asadullozoda as a "businessman and philanthropist" who visited 
New York regularly and met with representatives of the Bukharian 
Jewish diaspora.  The Federation's President is Lev Leviev (also 
spelled Levayev), a billionaire businessman with political 
connections throughout the CIS. 
 
¶3. (U) PolOff visited the building, a large house that is 
located in a prime location in the center of Dushanbe.  The 
house has been completely renovated, with expensive looking 
fixtures and wood floors.  Tajikistan's Jewish Community has 
been waiting for a miracle since June 2008, when Dushanbe 
authorities destroyed their synagogue to make room for a garden 
attached to the opulent Presidential Palace (reftel).  A local 
Jewish businessman had been storing the synagogue's furniture, 
books and assorted chachkas in a warehouse in Dushanbe.  The 
Head of the Community, Mikhail Abdurahmonov, told a reporter 
that, "all of the members of our community thank this wonderful 
man, who helped us in our most difficult hour." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment: In reftel, we reported that there was 
something unkosher about the manner in which the synagogue was 
taken from Community.  We also reported that Lev Leviev had 
intervened with the Tajik authorities - including President 
Rahmon - to craft a resolution to the Jewish Community's woes. 
It is highly likely that Asadullozoda's mitzve was the result of 
an agreement with Leviev, rather than a pure act of 
humanitarianism.  It is also possible that the announcement was 
timed to distract from President Rahmon's signature of 
Tajikistan's controversial new religion law.  One concern about 
the donation raised by a prominent local expert on religion and 
politics is that imams will complain that the President's family 
is helping the tiny Jewish community while at the same time the 
government is restricting Islamic religious practice.  He hoped 
there would be no schmeer campaign.  End comment. 
 
JACOBSON