Vaad’s News in English

Speech of the Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, co-President of the Association of Jewish Communities and Organizations (Vaad) Ukraine Andrei Adamovsky

I am officially stating that author Will Stewart and the editors of MailOnline deceived their readers by attributing to me, without any grounds, the phrase about the ethnicity of the killers of the Jews in the context of the story of mass killing of the Jews in Western Ukraine. I have never, under any circumstances, made any statements to this effect. Neither have I made any other statements that could be interpreted this way in connection with the Ukrainian tragedy. I urge MailOnline to stop quoting the statements ascribed to me in this article and to never appeal to them in any public form.

 
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress is deeply outraged by the provocative anti-Semitism statements made by Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, heads of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, at a press conference on February 2.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Bogdanov has attempted to find support among Russian Jewish organizations, claiming that Ukrainian Jews need the kind of support mentioned above. However, a resolution has been adopted at the session of the World Jewish Congress Executive Committee that took place two weeks ago in Paris, which read: “The WJC Executive Committee [...] recognizes the new Ukrainian government’s assurances and actions, that Jews and Jewish life in Ukraine will be protected,” and “urges all governments, media and non-governmental organizations and their representatives not to cause this complex situation to deteriorate by making unfounded accusations, or giving exaggerated accounts, of the situation of the Ukrainian Jewish population.” Representatives of Jewish communities around the world voted for this resolution, including the Russian delegation.

Josef Zisels, chairman of the Association of Jewish Communities and Organizations of Ukraine (VAAD), and several other prominent Ukrainian Jews have written a letter accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of exaggerating the plight of Russian-speaking citizens (including Jews) under the newly established Ukrainian government, as well as exaggerating the need to protect those citizens as an excuse for an armed incursion into Crimea.

News outlets worldwide and in Israel have painted the Ukrainian crisis as a classic conflict between the Ukrainian west and Russian east, between the rural population in the central and western parts of Ukraine and the city dwellers in the east, between those seeking to integrate with the European Union and the "easterners" who want to return to Mother Russia, and, of course, between Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seeks to build a new Soviet Union, and Europe, which has begun to look eastward.

In the last 36 hours, police and irregular pro-government forces have begun a brutal crackdown on protestors at the barricades of Maidan and surrounding buildings. Over 25 people have been killed, and hundreds more seriously injured. 
NCSJ has called on the Ukrainian government to immediately stop this violence and engage in constructive, non-violent dialogue with the opposition.

Up until recently, artist Alexander Roitburd has continually been on Maidan. He is one of the first well-known and influential people who supported EuroMaidan and did it publicly.

On November 21st, Roitburd wrote on his Facebook, "Well, here's what. I understand that not much can be done about what happened, but I'm getting a cab and going to Maidan. So that I could look myself in the eye with clear conscience when I'm looking in the mirror. Whoever wants to see me – come by. Maybe things can still be remedied."

Overt attempts to use anti-Semitism as a propaganda weapon against the EuroMaidan movement have run up against two major hurdles: the facts and a large number of authoritative analysts, historians and human rights activists determined to prevent Ukrainians and the international community from being misled. Given a chilling warning from the most authoritative researcher on anti-Semitism in Ukraine, Viacheslav Likhachev that purported anti-Semitism could be used to silence outrage if force is used against the EuroMaidan movement, the need to set the record straight cannot be overstated.

 Ukrainians like Jews want to live in the country of their own where they can freely speak Ukrainian language, where they can make a European choice and ultimately in the country that will no longer be under the Russian dictate.