יום רביעי, דצמבר 06, 2006
Ukrainian anti-Semitism
How sad. One in three Ukrainians do not want Jews to be citizens of their country, a survey found. The Ukrainian Jewish community is experiencing quite a revival. At the same time, attacks on Jewish people and monuments are increasing One recent example was the damage last summer to the Babiy Yar memorial menorah.
Of course, Ukraine is the country where the Cossak Hetman, Bogdan Chmielnicki, is such a national hero that there is a massive statue of him right in the center of Kyiv. (See the Jewish Encylopedia.com entry on Chmielnicki.)
I wonder if the pollsters did any regional breakdown. I would guess these attitudes are much worse in the unreconstructed east than in the west.
(Thanks to Jewschool for the tip.)
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UPDATE: A newer JPost item indicates that the study's authors found attitudes towards Jews to be in about the middle of the spectrum of Ukrainian minorities about which respondents were asked:
For a variety of reasons, Ukraine is a country for which I feel a high degree of affinity. It is so troubling to learn of such high degrees of xenophobia and racism among that country's population.
Of course, Ukraine is the country where the Cossak Hetman, Bogdan Chmielnicki, is such a national hero that there is a massive statue of him right in the center of Kyiv. (See the Jewish Encylopedia.com entry on Chmielnicki.)
I wonder if the pollsters did any regional breakdown. I would guess these attitudes are much worse in the unreconstructed east than in the west.
(Thanks to Jewschool for the tip.)
***
UPDATE: A newer JPost item indicates that the study's authors found attitudes towards Jews to be in about the middle of the spectrum of Ukrainian minorities about which respondents were asked:
71.8 percent of respondents said they did not want to see [Roma] as citizens of Ukraine, and 61.4 percent expressed a similar attitude toward ethnic Romanians.
Moreover, the survey found, that 6.6 percent of Ukrainians do not want to Jews to come to Ukraine, compared to 14.6 percent of those who do not want to see Americans in the country and 0.7 percent of respondents who do not want Russians to visit Ukraine.
For a variety of reasons, Ukraine is a country for which I feel a high degree of affinity. It is so troubling to learn of such high degrees of xenophobia and racism among that country's population.
