Kyiv Post - 12.26.02

 

Kyiv Post

Academic Debate?

 

By Roman Olearchyk

 

A private university associated with high-profile politicians is drawing fire for its links to a U.S. white supremacy activist and for publications containing what one scholar described as “xenophobic motifs directed toward all Jews.” 

Officials at the university deny having adopted a biased stance on Jewish issues and insist that they are merely trying to represent a variety of opinions.

The private Interregional Academy for Personnel Management has for the last year dedicated a large part of its monthly magazine to covering various Jewish issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

The magazine, Personnel, consistently publishes articles by university management and others that are highly critical of Israeli policy, which it describes as based on an expansionist Zionist ideology. 

Zionism is a movement formerly for re-establishing, now for supporting, the Jewish national state of Israel. 

In addition to commenting directly on events in the Middle East, the magazine has carried articles commenting on the role of Jews in Ukraine’s history. 

It has also published work by U.S. white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who the university invited to lecture at an international conference last May. 

Duke, who has spent the last three years traveling and lecturing outside the United States, was arrested on Dec. 18 on federal income tax evasion and mail fraud charges days after returning to the United States.

Arab newspapers have carried numerous comments by the school’s president, George Shchokin, and vice president, Ihor Slissarenko. 

In one article, Shchokin told Khaleej Times, an English-language newspaper published in the United Arab Emirates, that the interests of Israeli Zionists have “integrated with the interests of its allies, Zionist institutions in the United Kingdom and the United States, in a bloody conflict that knows no boundaries.”

Slissarenko, who is also Personnel magazine’s editor, was quoted by Gulf News, also from the United Arab Emirates, as saying that Ukraine is Israel’s compliant ally because “Zionists control its economy, banking policies and media.”

The strong opinions expressed by the school’s leaders and Duke’s ties to the university have alarmed some academics and local Jewish leaders.

“A lot of what they say and print seems like anti-Semitic comments,” said Yaakov Bleich, chief rabbi of Ukraine. “And who in his right mind would reprint an article written by David Duke?”

Oleksandr Mayborada, a professor of ethnic relations at the National Academy of Sciences, agrees.

“It’s hard to say whether the university’s management is anti-Semitic, but certainly, many of their publications have anti-Semitic underpinnings,” he said. “There seem to be xenophobic motifs directed toward all Jews. But then again, no person would allow oneself to be called anti-Semitic for fear of raising too much direct negative attention.”

The views expressed by the university’s leadership and Duke’s active ties to the school have even attracted the attention of the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League. An ADL investigator contacted the Post to inquire about the school and Duke’s relationship with it.

A ‘humanistic position’

In an interview with the Post, Slissarenko rebuffed the criticism. He said that the school’s leaders pay close attention the Arab-Israeli conflict because they feel it is important. 

“We are not anti- or pro- anything,” said Slissarenko. “We take a normal humanistic position in all of our public statements and publications.” 

Slissarenko said the academy is unfairly accused of harboring anti-Semitic views just because its leadership openly oppose what he described as unfair, aggressive and expansionist “Zionist-Israeli policies” in the Middle East.

“We believe that Israel has adopted an overly aggressive policy towards the Palestinians and that it has at the same time violated numerous UN resolutions,” he said. “We are for a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Though Shchokin, the school’s president, supports the views expressed in the school’s magazine, Slissarenko said that the university itself is non-political and does not force any particular view upon its students.

Instead, he said, the controversial views are those of the International Personnel Academy and its members. The Academy is a non-government organization founded by and closely associated with the school. He said the NGO, which awarded Duke an honorary doctorate, includes about 1,000 members from more than 50 countries. 

Slissarenko described the views expressed in Duke’s book “The Jewish Question Through the Eyes of an American,” which was published in Russia in 2001, as “interesting.” 

Slissarenko claims he was fired from a job as news anchor at 1+1 television because of his ties to the academy and its publications. He suggested that Zionists own the channel. “Through its editorial policies, the channel has shown that it adheres to a pro-Israel and pro-Zionist position,” he said.

He denied telling the Arab press that Zionists dominate Ukraine’s economy but restated his opinion that they control much of the country’s media. 

He pointed to Stolichnye Novosti as an example of a publication promoting Zionist ideology in the country. Vadym Rabinovych, who also heads the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, owns the newspaper. 

In contrast, the school’s publications have tried to serve as a field for fair public debate, he said. “We publish Jewish authors, including those who oppose Zionist ideology and those who promote it,” he said. 

Hazy borders

Despite Slissarenko’s attempts to segregate the NGO’s controversial views from those of the university, the lines between the two often blur. Personnel (circulation 10,000) and Personnel Plus (circulation 5,000) are publications owned by the school. Slissarenko said that the opinions he and Shchokin convey in the publications and in the media reflect their personal views, as well as the stance of the NGO. 

The private school and its senior officials are also associated with the NGO.

In one case, the school’s board of trustees, which is composed of high-profile political figures, issued a statement of support that praised and defended the school for is work exposing “international Zionism.”

The school’s board of trustees is headed by former President Leonid Kravchuk, now a member of the pro-presidential Social Democratic Party (united). Other trustees include Our Ukraine head Viktor Yushchenko, as well as Borys Tarasyuk and Viktor Pynzenyk, also Our Ukraine leaders. Communist Party member Borys Oliynyk and Anatoly Tolstoukhov, a member of the pro-presidential People’s Democratic Party, also serve on the school’s board.

All six signed the statement of support, published in the academy’s weekly newspaper, Personnel Plus. The statement praised the school for what it described as its consistent and balanced position on local and international issues. 

“The academy without a doubt has openly condemned the actions of NATO in the Balkans, and has most recently attempted to draw the attention of the progressive world to the dangerous actions of international Zionism, not only against the Arab world, but against other regions and continents,” the statement read.

Bleich said members of the Jewish community have tried to convince the politicians on the school’s board of trustees to resign. “It’s a problem, and you need to keep your thumb on the pulse,” he said. “As someone who believes in freedom of speech, I don’t think they should be prevented from printing their point of view, but Ukrainian law does prohibit the incitement of inter-ethnic hatred.”

When the Post attempted to contact members of the school’s board of trustees, none were available for comment.

Busy students

Bleich also expressed concern that the stance of the school’s leaders may influence the university’s curriculum. The academy has 33,000 students enrolled at campuses throughout Ukraine and exchange programs with schools in other countries. Several thousand students study at the main campus in Kyiv.

“I hope they are not teaching their views to their students,” Bleich said.

Slissarenko said the university doesn’t promote his and Shchokin’s views among its students. The academy, which grants degrees in finance, management and law, follows a curriculum approved by the Education Ministry, he said. In classes such as humanities where a related topic may arise, students are offered objective facts reflecting all points of view, he said.

Two students interviewed by the Post said the school’s instructors had no political agenda.

“Teachers sometimes express their opinion supporting pro-Arab or pro-Israel position but it is far from being propaganda, they are open for discussion,” said Stanislav Nekrasov, a second-year law student.

“I read Personnel magazine from time to time and sometimes see articles devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict, but I dodn’t pay attention to it,” said Maryana Kovalchuk, a first year international relations student. “Students don’t discuss these questions, they are busy studying.”

– Svetlana Selyutina contributed to this story.