Raising public awareness about past and present forms of antisemitic hatred
A speech delivered by Eduard Dolinsky, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, at the founding conference of the European Forum on Antisemitism, on March 13th, 2008, in Berlin
Antisemitism has always been a problem for the Ukraine. You might ask, what has changed now? What is the difference? When I was a boy, my schoolmates called me a Jew a few times. And you could read articles about Israeli aggression in the Soviet newspapers. Now, my son, too, has been called a Jew a few times in his class, and you still can read articles about Israeli aggression – plus you can buy antisemitic books, be a student at an antisemitic university, and be a part of a neo-Nazi ring. This is what we call “Welcome to Europe” or the price of freedom. We have not only inherited domestic antisemitism, we have received new forms like anti-Zionism, Holocaust denial, and political antisemitism (by this, I mean political parties based on antisemitic ideology).
The bearers of antisemitic, racist sentiments have become prominent representatives of Ukrainian society, the mass media, political and public organizations, and individual marginal groups. As a rule, they try to “play” on “blank spots” in the history of Ukrainian-Jewish relations or on the complicated socio-political and economic processes in present-day Ukraine. They falsify history: they oppose purported Jewish domination and they blame world Jewry for all Ukrainian tragedies (such as Golodomor, the famine of 1932–1933, and the activity of the penal-repressive system of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs). Radical elements see the solution to “the Jewish problem” in the political and economic restriction of Jewish people or in the expulsion of Jews from Ukrainian society. Occasionally, even open appeals for violence against Jews are voiced.
Unfortunately, seeds of hatred find fertile ground in present-day Ukrainian society. Especially disturbing is the radicalism of modern youth. According to the results of sociological research, the level of antisemitic sentiments in the Ukraine rose greatly from 1994 to 2006. The part of the population that is ready to see Jews in their immediate environment (members of family, friends) has decreased from 38% in 1994 to 21% in 2006. Over this period of time, the part of the population that does not wish to see Jews in the Ukraine has increased from 26% to 36%. Many negative moments in today’s life in the Ukraine are connected with the activity and distribution of antisemitic publications by the Inter-regional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP). The Academy’s publications, such as Personal and Personal plus, are issued in tens of thousands of copies, creating inter-ethnic hostility among Ukrainians, especially among students.
The legislation of the Ukraine takes an unambiguous position on this case. Article 66 of the criminal code of the Ukraine stipulates responsibility for “premeditated actions directed at inflicting national, racial, or religious hostility and hatred.” Article 3 of the law “On the print mass media (the press) of the Ukraine” underlines that “the print mass media of the Ukraine cannot be used to inflict national or religious hostility.” However, Ukrainian courts have not made use of these articles until recently.
Many Ukrainian politicians and statesmen openly promised to put an end to the shameful activity of the Inter-regional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP); however, as they say, things are right where they started.
Only under pressure from the Jewish community, and with great difficulties, was MAUP’s kiosk successfully removed from Babi Yar. It is difficult to imagine, but it is a fact that Nazi-styled literature was cynically selling at the place where 100,000 Kiev Jews had died.
At the same time, you can see new positive trends in the parliamentary and governmental fights against antisemitism. We submitted a draft of changes to the Ukrainian criminal code to the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of the Ukraine). It proposes to add a new article, “Public denial of the Golodomor of 1932–1933 in the Ukraine as genocide against the Ukrainian people and of the Holocaust as genocide against the Jewish people.” The new law proposes a criminal penalty, from a fine to imprisonment for up to four years, for the denial of the Shoah and for the production and distribution of such materials.
A draft of a bill was also prepared for the Verkhovna Rada that intensifies the penalties for spreading antisemitism and racial intolerance. According to this bill, public antisemitic expressions and the use of Nazi symbolism will be punished by fines or correctional activities. Public instigation to violence will be punished by the deprivation of liberty for up to five years, and public insulting of a national minority or foreigners will be punished by a major fine or the deprivation of liberty for up to two years.
We see that neo-Nazi movements have influence over football fans. We see a dramatically increased number of incidents of physical violence directed against foreigners or representatives of other ethnic and racial groups. That number has risen tens of times over the last few years.
Our efforts to bring the government’s attention to rising antisemitism are bearing fruit. The greatest amount of attention was paid just before Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko’s state visit to Israel last November, to which delegation I was also invited. Yuschenko invited leaders of Jewish organizations for a meeting to discuss currents affairs. The highest officials from law enforcement were also present at the meeting. As a result, a special department was created within the Ukrainian Security Service.
At that meeting, the President again voiced his support for the Jewish community and also issued a decree returning Torah scrolls to the community. And there was even a special position created at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry – a special representative on antisemitism. These are, of course, very positive developments, but we see them as image-building measures rather than as effective tools for combating antisemitism.
The President also raised the issue of the recognition of the Ukrainian insurgence army. Just recently its former commander, Roman Shuhevich, was named a hero of the Ukraine and many streets were named after him. All this created a controversy in Ukrainian society as well as in the Jewish community. Various Jewish and other sources claim that Shuhevich and his command had taken part in the killings of Jews in Lvov in 1941. Others claim that there is no evidence for this. We believe that part of Shuhevich’s brigade took part in the mass killings and therefore we demand a more careful approach to this painful issue and want to hold back other planned recognition. In Israel, Yuschenko was asked many unpleasant questions. The Ukraine and Israel decided to create a special program to explore painful pages of common history.
We plan to hold a conference dedicated to Ukrainian – Jewish relations which will take place in May with the participation of experts from the Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Europe, the U.S. and Canada. We believe that education is one of the main tools to combat hate. Therefore we provide lessons on the Holocaust and on tolerance for schools, universities and summer camps that teach interfaith tolerance.
We believe that MAUP is ideologically and financially supported by Arab countries. A significant number of students from Arab countries are studying there and this is the only place where ambassadors and representatives from Iran, Syria, Libya and Palestine speak before audiences.
There are a few political parties whose leaders express antisemitic views. Moreover, many representatives of the current political elite have certain antisemitic complexes. But these parties have little support, as the latest parliamentary election showed. The only party sponsored by MAUP that took part in the latest elections – the Ukrainian Conservative party – took less than 1% of the votes.
To strengthen this positive state of affairs, prominent Ukrainian lawmakers and businessmen have formed a group to lobby on behalf of Jews in the Ukraine and Israel. The recently established Ukrainian Jewish Committee, or UJC, seeks to lobby as a politically oriented Jewish umbrella organization and to realize its goals by actively advocating public policies and formulating national and international programs in response to public concerns on the critical issues of the day. The UJC was established in Kiev on March 6th by a group of prominent Ukrainian members of parliament and businessmen to lobby Jewish interests at the parliamentary and governmental level and to enhance the quality of Ukrainian Jewish life, to safeguard the welfare and security of Jews in the Ukraine and Israel, and to protect the human rights of all people, irrespective of nationality or faith. The Ukrainian Jewish Committee works to strengthen inter-group relations in the Ukraine and abroad and to promote civil and human rights.
In closing, I would like to say that we are not powerless and we are not afraid. We are fighting for our cause and we will prevail. We have been able to revive and to build the great community of which we all are proud.
