The footage was posted by Yisroel Gotlieb, son of the city’s chief rabbi, Sholom Gotlieb.
One firebomb was thrown at the door of the synagogue, which was
unoccupied at the time, and another was lobbed at a window, according to
the blog.
The junior Gotleib told Shturem
that “miraculously a person passing by the shul was equipped with
a fire extinguisher, and immediately put out the fire that had
erupted, preventing massive damage.”
Chief Rabbi of Donetsk now says leaflet was a hoax
The Chief Rabbi of Donetsk now says that he believes that an anti-Semitic leaflet that was handed to the town's Jews as they left synagogue on the first night of Passover was a 'hoax.'
A Ukrainian rabbi whose congregation was the target of an
anti-Semitic leaflet that drew global media interest and condemnation
from the US government believes it was a hoax and wants to put the
matter to rest.
But five days after the incident in the restive
eastern city of Donetsk, Ukraine's prime minister, anxious to maintain
US support against Russia, issued a statement accusing Moscow and told a
US TV channel he would find the "bastards" responsible.
...
Pinchas Vishedski, chief rabbi of the Donetsk area's 15,000 Jews,
told Reuters on Saturday that while it was initially shocking, he was
now satisfied it was a political hoax - "a crude provocation" - though
its authorship was still unclear.
"I'm asking those behind this
not to make us tools in this game," he said. Anti-Semitic incidents in
the Russian-speaking east were "rare, unlike in Kiev and western
Ukraine," he said.
Quoted on the community's website, Vishedski
had said on Thursday: "Since it's only a smear, we should react
responsibly - draw a line under it and close the matter."
...
On Saturday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk vowed to use
"every legal means" to prevent the "import" of anti-Semitism and
xenophobia and indirectly blamed Russia.
"The ideology and practice of pogroms, exported by a neighbouring state, will not be allowed into Ukraine," he said.
Anti-Semitism
remains a feature of militant nationalism in both Ukraine and Russia.
During unrest that saw the overthrow of Kiev's Kremlin-backed president
in February, several attacks on Jews and synagogues were blamed on
Ukrainian far-right groups.
Yatseniuk also spoke of "reports of
pro-Moscow terrorists" conducting "pogroms" against Roma near Donetsk -
an allegation repeated by the interior minister, who, like the SBU state
security service, also issued a press release promising action.
Asked
about the "ghastly reports" by a US television interviewer, Yatseniuk
pointed to his statement and told NBC's "Meet the Press" program he had
urged troops and police "to find these bastards and to bring them to
justice."
I don't find this particularly comforting. It still means that there are anti-Semites out there - plenty of them - who apparently fear nothing.
US says it 'doesn't know' who's behind anti-Semitic flyers in Ukraine
The Untied States government has now told the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center that it 'doesn't know' who is behind anti-Semitic flyers calling on Jews to 'register' their persons and property or face deportation. This is from the first link.
In response to an email query, Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt told the
Wiesenthal Center that the fliers were “clearly part of a general effort
to sow fear among Ukrainian Jews.” Beyond that, the U.S. doesn’t know
much.
“The Wiesenthal Center denounces this grotesque action that is
clearly designed to spread more fear among the Jewish community, already
reeling from the increased instability that has racked the region for
the past few months, “said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper in a
statement released in Los Angeles. “We urge authorities to take all
necessary measures to ensure the safety of Jewish communal
institutions.”
The Anti-Defamation League noted that the leader of the Donetsk
People’s Republic, whose name appeared in the document’s signature, has
publicly disavowed the flier.
“We are skeptical about the flier’s authenticity, but the
instructions clearly recall the Nazi era and have the effect of
intimidating the local Jewish community,” said ADL national director
Abraham H. Foxman. “We have seen a series of cynical and politically
manipulative uses and accusations of anti-Semitism in Ukraine over the
past year. The perpetrators and their targets are opposing politicians
and political movements, but the true victims are the Jewish
communities. We strongly condemn the anti-Semitic content, but also all
attempts to use anti-Semitism for political purposes.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said it’s critical that the international
monitors from the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in
Europe deploying to Ukraine as part of yesterday’s Geneva agreement
“examine this issue closely to ensure that religious and ethnic
minorities do not become targets.”
“This sort of intimidation and persecution is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated in the 21st century,” he said.
This is from Thursday's US State Department briefing on the issue. Let's go to the videotape.
CNN report on anti-Semitic flyers in eastern Ukraine
Here's a CNN video with old friend Jake Tapper talking about whether the reports of anti-Semitic flyers coming out of the Ukraine are real. The consensus is that they are.
The leaflet, signed by Chairman of Donetsk's temporary government Denis Pushilin, was
distributed to Jews near the Donetsk synagogue and later in other areas
of the city where pro-Russians activists have declared Donetsk as an
independent "people's republic", defying an ultimatum from Kiev to
surrender.
The leaflet was written in Russian and had Russia's national symbol on it, as well as the Donetsk People's Republic insignia.
"Dear Ukraine citizens of Jewish nationality," the flyer began, "due
to the fact that the leaders of the Jewish community of Ukraine
supported
Bendery Junta," a reference to Stepan Bandera, the leader of the
Ukrainian nationalist movement which fought for Ukrainian independence
at the end of World War II, "and oppose the pro-Slavic People's Republic
of Donetsk, (the interim government) has decided that all citizens of
Jewish descent, over 16 years of age and residing within the republic's
territory are required to report to the Commissioner for Nationalities
in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and register."
The leaflet detailed what type of documents the Jewish citizens would
need to supply: "ID and passport are required to register your Jewish
religion, religious documents of family members, as well as documents
establishing the rights to all real estate property that belongs to you,
including vehicles."
If the message was not made clear enough, the leaflet further
stipulated the consequences that would come to those who failed to abide
by the new demands: "Evasion of registration will result in citizenship
revoke and you will be forced outside the country with a confiscation
of property."
...
According to Alex
Tenzer, a Kiev native and one of the directors of the National
Association of Immigrants from the Former USSR in Israel, said: "The
Jewish-Ukrainian leadership supports Ukraine's new government, but it's
hard to tell whether the leaflet is valid or simply a provocation.
"Anyway, the material is very anti-Semitic and reminds me of the kind of material distributed by the Nazis in WWII."
Emanuelle Shechter, from Israel, received a copy of the leaflet via
Whatsapp from his friends in Donetsk. "They told me that masked men were
waiting for Jewish people after the Passover eve prayer, handed them
the flyer and told them to obey its instructions."
Olga Reznikova, a member of Donetsk's Jewish community, told Ynet
that "we do not know if the leaflet was spread by pro-Russian forces or
someone else, but it did manage to create quite a fear. This reminds me
of texts from darker times. Other members of the Jewish community I
spoke with are not afraid, but it is unpleasant.
"I do not intend to register, I am 32, I have lived in Donetsk my
entire life and have never had to deal with anti-Semitism until I laid
eyes on this piece of paper. Though I take it very seriously, I am
uncertain of its authenticity."
Jenia from Israel,
who also received the letter from a Jewish acquaintance, said "the Jews
in Donetsk are uncertain of anything; it is unclear who is responsible
for the leaflet and who controls the city at the moment.
"We don't feel safe like we used to because of the political
instability in the area; there isn't a legitimate president or
sovereign. Currently Donetsk is ruled by a junta."
In a response to a request by a Ukrainian Jewish website, Pushilin,
the interim government's regional chairman, confirmed that the flyers
were distributed by his organization, but denied any connection to the
leaflet's content.
I've read a number of claims that attach significance to the fact that no one has registered yet. Consider that (a) they have until May 3, (b) the flyers were handed out on Monday night which was the first night of Passover, (c) Tuesday and Wednesday were Passover holiday days in Ukraine and (d) these reports are all likely based on Wednesday night or Thursday morning interviews in Donetsk and the Ukraine.
Same day some criminals vandalized a Jewish cemetery, painted
swastikas, curse words and tried to make it look like Right Sector
(the Ukrainian nationalists) did it, but Chief Rabbi of Odessa and Southern
Ukraine Abraham Wolf said that he
understands its a provocation by the pro-Russian movement (Link down
the page) (To me, the vandalism looks like a typical teenage/drunk
idiot job, cheap and childish)
Pics and video: http://antisemitism.org.il/article/86489/jewish-cemetery-desecreted
Im not the best translator and i don't want to send you a wall of
text, so ill sum it up: The UNA-UNSF representative said its a
matter of honor now to find the responsible people
and punish them and the Rabbi said that he understand its a
pro-Russian provocation)
P.S. Yep lots of Jewish news but somehow i'm sure that most of it
never translated or published in English Jewish media
P.P.S. here is a link to all antisemitic acts aggregated in one
place, they have some pics of that murderer from USA too
In an earlier post, I reported on the Jews of Donetsk, which has been declared an 'independent republic' within the Ukraine, being forced to 'register' themselves and their property or to face forfeiture on May 3. I now have more details about those leaflets, which I received via email.
they also added more info; They said that Nathan Shcharansky (I'm sure
you at least heard about him LOL) was on Radio Kol Israel talking about
this issue (apparently he was born in Donetsk)
I also found a news article about that Rabbi from Simferopol (Crimea) he
was forced to run from Crimea after it was occupied by Russian
Federation and his Synagogue 'Ner-Tamid' was Vandalized literary the day
Russian soldiers moved in on February 28 http://rus.newsru.ua/ukraine/21mar2014/kapustin.html http://glavnoe.ua/news/n170400
His name is Mikhail Kapustin, he says that he was forced to flee to Kiev, in fear of anti-Semitism
I hope you speak german or know someone, because his only intervew was to German-Jewish website.....
Following him, HABAD representatives also left Crimea, Rabbi
Itskhak-Meir Lifshits and his wife Lea, he says that he managed to move
out Torah scrolls from Beyt Habad in Crimea to Ukraine mainland.
(actually he used the word 'saving', if its that serious we can assume
that he believes that Beyt Habad can be vandalized so he had to move out
Torah) http://rus.newsru.ua/ukraine/21mar2014/kapustin.html http://glavnoe.ua/news/n170400
Hmmm. I used to be in touch with Rabbi Yitzchak and Leah Lipszyc (that's how it's spelled on LinkedIn and that's how I recall them spelling it) through a couple of mailing lists many years ago. When my daughter and I went to Ukraine in September, I tried to contact them via Facebook, but did not hear back from them.
But I've also heard that Chabad has been backing the Russians (that's what's been reported here in Israel) so I have asked for an explanation. I will post about this again when I hear back.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
