Ukraine (closed; covers till August 2014)

[Firn]

The Jewish perspective:


I posted earlier that some facts are stranger then fiction, ex-IDF soldiers who participated partly under Svoboda command in Euromaidan:

But Delta says the Kremlin is using the anti-Semitism card falsely to delegitimize the Ukrainian revolution, which is distancing Ukraine from Russia’s sphere of influence.

“It’s bull####. I never saw any expression of anti-Semitism during the protests, and the claims to the contrary were part of the reason I joined the movement. We’re trying to show that Jews care,” he said.

Now we have a chief Ukrainian Rabbi, vice president of the World Jewish Council who agrees with him and accuses the Kremlin of false-flag operations.

Asked about anti-Semitism among Ukrainian nationalists, particularly two far-right parties that have been included in the new government, Bleich acknowledged concerns but said the Jewish community has received assurances from top government leaders that their safety will be protected.

“The Russians are blowing this way, way out of proportion,” he said, referring to the issue of anti-Semitism among some Ukrainian nationalist factions.

He said that Ukrainians were united in response to the Russian intervention.

“There were many differences of opinion throughout the revolution, but today all that is gone,” he said. “We’re faced by an outside threat called Russia. It’s brought everyone together.”

Of course there are still stark divisions but he is just one of many who said that the Russian attack had also an uniting effect.

Interestingly the same newspaper had an entry about a Rabbi shot in Russia several months ago in an attack believed to be anti-semitic. Such a case doesn't mean of course that the even a small part of the Russian population is anti-semitic.