Press Release 17 December 2001 On 17 December 2001, just after midday, an anonymous caller telephoned the Moscow Police Department claiming that a bomb had been planted at the ORT Technology School in Moscow. The school building was immediately evacuated as bomb disposal experts with sniffer-dogs began a careful inspection of the premises. Fortunately, after careful inspection no suspicious objects were found. It was some hours later before students and staff were allowed to return to the building and the normal functioning of the school could resume. The incident was the first bomb threat affecting ORT schools in the CIS and Baltic States, but underlines the need for heightened security and follows other anti-Semitic activity in the region. In November, the plaque marking the birthplace of ORT in St Petersburg was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti, and in July, a suspected arson attack on the ORT school in Kazan, Tatarstan, caused extensive damage, forcing it to close for a period of time. The Moscow ORT Technology School opened in 1994 and marked the return of ORT operations to the region after an enforced absence of more than fifty years. The school currently has a roll of 400 students aged from 10 to 17. Subjects taught include information technology, media studies and Jewish education, in addition to the full national curriculum. ORT Technology School in Moscow