Jewish Telegraphic Agency - 02.06.2006

Kiev synagogue attacked

(JTA) -- Jewish leaders in Ukraine blamed Ukrainian authorities, law enforcement and societal attitudes for an attempted attack on Kiev’s central synagogue. 

Last Friday night, a man stormed into a Kiev synagogue and disturbed the Sabbath service by shouting anti-Semitic threats. The incident took place when the Central Brodsky Synagogue in downtown Kiev was full of worshippers. The man, whom police later identified as Georgy Dobryansky, 53, burst into the synagogue and demanded he be brought to a rabbi. The guard stopped him at the entrance. The attacker shouted that he came to desecrate the synagogue and that he hated Jews and wanted to act on their holy day of the week. Some witnesses reported that a large knife was found on the floor near the entrance. The man is now in police custody.

Jewish leaders said authorities have not responded properly to previous anti-Semitic and hate incidents. “We won’t be silent,” Eduard Dolinsky, executive director of the United Jewish Community in Ukraine, said minutes after the attack.