Israel Urges Ukraine to Act on Anti-Semitism

The Fellowship  |  January 3, 2018

As The Fellowship continues to help Ukraine’s Jews on the ground, we are all too aware of the anti-Semitism so many of them face. But such hatred seems to be on the rise, The Times of Israel reports, as Israel urges the Ukrainian government to crack down on a recent rash of anti-Semitic vandalism:

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned three incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti on Jewish institutions in the city of Odessa in southern Ukraine, and asked Kiev to take “decisive measures” to crack down on these incidents.

The graffiti, including the words “Toasting the Holocaust” on the gate of Odessa’s Holocaust museum, were discovered Monday. The city’s Brodsky Synagogue had the words, “Jews out, Ukraine for Ukrainians,” written on its exterior fence.

An offensive symbol appeared on a gate adjacent to the Beit Grand Jewish Community Center. It and the other two incidents of graffiti at the center featured the symbol of the Azov Battalion, a National Guard of Ukraine regiment that was set up after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

“We view these anti-Semitic acts with concern,” the Foreign Ministry said, in a statement. “We expect the Ukrainian government to take the most decisive measures to eradicate anti-Semitism and bring the culprits to justice…”