NCSJ - 08.30.2005

PRESS RELEASE

Release Date: August 30, 2005

Contact:

Mark Levin  Lesley Weiss (202-989-2500)

NCSJ Urges Ukrainian Government Crackdown on Anti-Semitic Incitement

Washington, D.C. – NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia expressed shock and alarm about a violent attack against yeshiva students in Kyiv, Ukraine, and called on the Ukrainian government to stop the ongoing dissemination of anti-Semitic propaganda by MAUP (the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management) in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Conservative Party, and other anti-Semitic organizations that contribute to the incitement of violence against Jews.

The two students, from the Brodsky Central Synagogue Yeshiva, were beaten with bottles and sticks by a group of skinheads on August 28 in Kyiv. The attackers crushed the skull of one student, who remains in a coma after undergoing brain surgery.

There have been numerous incidents of anti-Semitic harassment and vandalism in cities throughout Ukraine. At the same time, there has been an increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric coming from different anti-Semitic groups.

NCSJ Chairman Dr. Robert J. Meth extended sympathies to the families of the victims, and pledged, “We will do everything we can, utilizing all available mechanisms to end the targeting of Jews in Ukraine.”

NCSJ President Dr. Joel M. Schindler expressed appreciation for President Yushchenko’s public statements condemning anti-Semitism and noted the arrests of three suspects in this recent incident, but insisted that “more must be done.” He urged the government to use the full force of the law to go after those who are inciting religious hatred and anti-Semitism, which promote a climate of hate against Jews.

NCSJ continues to be in close contact with senior U.S. and Ukrainian government officials, as well as the Jewish community, about the rising problem of anti-Semitism in Ukraine.

NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, is the mandated central coordinating agency of the organized Jewish community for policy and activities on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews in the former Soviet Union, including the estimated 500,000 Jews in Ukraine.