‘’Media reports of a rising tide of anti-Semitism in Ukraine as a result of the political upheaval. are false and have no basis in the reality on the ground across Ukraine,’’ said Vadim Rabinovich, President of the Ukrainian Jewish Congress, after holding a nationwide teleconference with the country’s Jewish community on Tuesday.
‘’This nationwide teleconference provides conclusive proof,’’ he said.
Rabinovich co-hosted the teleconference with Ukraine's Chief Rabbi Moshe Asman and Iosif Akselrud, Executive Director of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine.
They spoke to Jewish community representatives and rabbis from every Ukrainian region in a bid to gain an overview of the current situation across the country.
‘’We will continue to monitor the situation and would like to stress the importance of listening to those who are on the spot and not trusting accounts provided by people located far from Ukraine,’’ Rabinovich said.
Following is is an account of the teleconference provided by the Ukrainian Jewish Congress:
Alla Krasnovid (Chair of Sevastopol Jewish Community):
“Everything is calm and quiet here. The only recent incident came yesterday when I received a number of phone calls from local Jewish community members following the broadcast of a Russian TV talk show on RTR channel which featured anti-Semitic comments. In general, everything is fine. There have been no acts of anti-Semitism here.”
Boris Pesin (Chair of Dnepropetrovsk region Jewish Community):
“Everything is fine and the situation in the city is calm. The Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community is okay.”
Rabbi Shlomo Vilgelm (Chief Rabbi of Zhytomir region):
“We are all good. There has been no evidence of anti-Semitic activity detected in the region.”
Inessa Nosenko (Director of Zaporozhe Jewish Community Center):
“Everything is calm. We are in constant contact with representatives of all the local political parties and Jewish community groups – we exchange information on the current situation and make sure that everything is calm in the city.”
Rabbi Moshe Kolesnik (Chief Rabbi of Ivano-Frankovsk region):
“We are in touch with all political groups in the city. At present the situation is quiet and there have been no threats.
Mikhail Galin (Chair of Trans-Carpathian region Jewish Community):
“In the Trans-Carpathians everything is absolutely quiet and calm. Members of the Jewish community came together today to attend the opening of an exhibition by a Jewish painter. It is actually surprising to note just how calm the atmosphere is.”
Emma Spektor (Chair of Kirovograd Jewish Community):
“We are fine. There have been no anti-Semitic acts reported in the city.”
Rabbi Shaul Gorovitz (Chief Rabbi of Vinnitsa):
“In terms of both the local Jewish community and Vinnitsa Synagogue, there have been no reported acts of anti-Semitism.”
Ada Dianova (Chair of the Lviv Jewish community):
“There have been no reports of any anti-Semitism and the city is calm. Thank you for supporting us.”
Glitsenshteyn Menahem Mendel (Rabbi of Chernivtsi):
“There is a lot of concern among the Jewish community and throughout local society over the situation in the country, but there has been no evidence of any anti-Semitism.
Mihail Goldenberg (Chair of the Nikolaev Jewish community):
“The situation here is calm and there have been no manifestations of anti-Semitism.”
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Wolf (Kherson):
“The situation is stable and there is a sense of security among the Jewish community. Thank you very much for taking an interest in the nationwide situation during these testing times – we appreciate your support.”
Rabbi Yosef Segal (Poltava):
“With God's help , all is quiet!”
Yakov Imbrik (Chairman of the Kiev Region Jewish community):
“The situation in the Kiev Region is stable and we have not been able to establish any evidence of a rise in anti-Semitism.”
Gennadiy Fraerman (Chair of the Rivne Jewish community):
“There is plenty of concern about developments in Ukraine but the local Jewish community remains calm and there has been no evidence of anti-Semitism.”
Rabbi Alexander Faingold (Khmelnitsky):
“We have stepped up security measures as a precaution, but at this stage there have been no reported acts of anti-Semitism. Members of the Jewish community are more afraid of reports in the media than any actual threat.”
Rabbi Sholom Guoping (Lugansk):
“The situation is calm and there have been no anti-Semitic acts. The Jewish community generally keeps out of local politics.”
Valeria Kholodova (Director of Donetsk Jewish Charity Foundation):
“We have not experienced any disruption or increased anti-Semitic threat. In fact, we have not even canceled lessons at our school, despite the events taking place on the national level.”
Sergei Shvardovsky (Chair of the Lutsk Jewish community):
“Everything is fine here and there have been no manifestations of anti-Semitism.”
Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz ( Chief Rabbi of Kharkov region):
“Everything is calm and we are currently going ahead with our plans for this year’s Purim celebrations.”
David Letichevsky (Chair of the Cherkassy Jewish community):
“We’re getting ready for Purim. Everything is calm here and the life of the Jewish community continues.”
Semen Belman (Chair of the Chernihiv Jewish community):
“The local Jewish community has not experienced any disruption to everyday life or rising in hate crimes. We’re also busy getting ready for the Purim holiday.”
Rabbi Ehiel Levitansky (Sumy):
“The situation is totally calm in our city and there has been no evidence of anti-Semitism.”
Menachem Mendel Cohen (Chief Rabbi of Mariupol):
“The situation in Mariupol is absolutely calm and there have been anti-Semitic incidents reported.”
Kira Verkhovskaya (Director of the Odessa Jewish Community Center):
“The situation is calm and Odessa citizens are cheerful as always. In light of the deteriorating security situation in the country in general, we have taken the precaution of installing a new security door. However, there have been no acts of anti-Semitism reported.”
Victoria Plotkin (Director of the Simferopol Jewish Charity Center):
“Anti-Semitic inscriptions and swastikas conveniently appeared in Simferopol just as the Russian forces invaded, but now the situation is much calmer. Everyone in Crimea is afraid of sparking an escalation in the conflict and so there are now fights or protests in the cities – just movement of troops and military vehicles.”
Rabbi Dov Axelrod (Cherkasy region):
“Everything is okay. We’ve not witnessed any acts of anti-Semitism or had any reported to us by members of the local Jewish community.”
Igor Bonzeruk (Chair of the Ternopil Jewish community):
“There have been no reported incidents of anti-Semitism - everything is calm.”
Itskhak Karmel-Kogan (Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine):
“The Israeli Embassy in Kiev is guarded by Titan special forces and members of the Israeli security services. We have not encountered any problematic situations.”