General Category > World News
Jews ordered to register in east Ukraine
happyg:
by OREN DORELL
USA TODAY
Posted on April 17, 2014 at 10:57 AM
Updated today at 11:32 AM
Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to "register" with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Israeli media.
Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city's Jews to provide a list of property they own and pay a registration fee "or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated," reported Ynet News, Israel's largest news website.
Donetsk is the site of an "anti-terrorist" operation by the Ukraine government, which has moved military columns into the region to force out militants who are demanding a referendum be held on joining Russia.
The leaflets bore the name of Denis Pushilin, who identified himself as chairman of "Donetsk's temporary government," and were distributed near the Donetsk synagogue and other areas, according to the report.
Pushilin acknowledged the flyers were distributed by his organization but he disavowed their content, according to the web site Jews of Kiev, Ynet reported.
Emanuel Shechter, in Israel, told Ynet his friends in Donetsk sent him a copy of the leaflet through social media.
"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," he said.
The leaflet begins, "Dear Ukraine citizens of Jewish nationality," and states that all people of Jewish descent over 16 years old must report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and "register."
It says the reason is because the leaders of the Jewish community of Ukraine supported Bendery Junta, a reference to Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement that fought for Ukrainian independence at the end of World War II, "and oppose the pro-Slavic People's Republic of Donetsk," a name adopted by the militant leadership.
The leaflet then described which documents Jews should provide: "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."
Consequences for non-compliance will result in citizenship bein g revoked "and you will be forced outside the country with a confiscation of property." A registration fee of $50 would be required, it said.
Olga Resnikova, 32, a Jewish resident of Donetsk, told Ynet she never experienced anti-Semitism in the city until she saw this leaflet.
"We don't know if these notifications were distributed by pro-Russian activists or someone else, but it's serious that it exists," she said. "The text reminds of the fascists in 1941," she said referring to the Nazis who occupied Ukraine during World War II.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/world/Jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-Ukraine-255652231.html
happyg:
See the Shock Flyer Distributed to Some Ukrainian Jews Calling on Them to Register With Separatist Government
Sharona Schwartz
The Jewish community in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was stunned earlier this week when flyers were distributed calling on all Jews age 16 and older to register with separatists, list real estate and vehicles they own and pay a special tax, or face deportation, loss of citizenship and confiscation of their property.
The International Business Times reported that the flyer ordered Jewish citizens to register at one of the government buildings that was taken over by separatists earlier this month and that a special registration fee of $50 due May 3 was being levied.
The Israeli news site Ynet wrote that the leaflet specified what documents Jewish citizens would need for the registration process.
“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,” the document read according to Ynet’s translation from Russian.
International Business Times also provided translation of excerpts from the flyer, which said the fee was a result of Jewish leaders having “supported the nationalist junta of [Stepan] Bandera in Kiev” and who are hostile “to Orthodox Donetsk republic and its citizens.” Bandera was the Ukrainian national movement leader who in the 1940s initially allied himself with Nazi Germany to fight the Soviet Union.
The Novosti Donbassa news agency reported that the paper was handed out near the Donetsk synagogue by “three unidentified men wearing balaclavas and carrying the flag of the Russian Federation,” and alleged that the aim was to incite strife which would then be blamed on separatists, International Business Times reported.
.
According to the news service the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, pro-Russian separatists — who earlier this month occupied several government buildings in Donetsk and declared their own state separate from Ukraine — have denied that they were behind the circulation of the intimidating document. This, despite photos of the flyer posted online which displayed a stamp of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and the name of its government chairman Denis Pushilin.
The news site tvrain.ru on Wednesday quoted Pushilin denying being behind the flyers and calling them a provocation, JTA reported.
Olga Reznikova, a Jewish woman in Donetsk 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,” she added.
Kiev native Alex Tenzer, who is now a director of the National Association of Immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel, told Ynet, “The Jewish-Ukrainian leadership supports Ukraine’s new government, but it’s hard to tell whether the leaflet is valid or simply a provocation.”
“The material is very anti-Semitic and reminds me of the kind of material distributed by the Nazis in WWII,” Tenzer said.
Emanuelle Shechter, who lives in Israel and was sent a copy of the leaflet from friends in Donetsk told Ynet, “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.”
TheBlaze is unable to independently verify the authenticity of the flyer.
News of the intimidating document came as Israel was bracing for a sharp rise in immigration of Jews from Ukraine who are concerned about anti-Semitism in the wake of the domestic strife.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/04/17/see-the-shock-flyer-distributed-to-some-ukrainian-jews-calling-on-them-to-register-with-separatist-government/
flowers:
bkmk
Oceander:
There we go. This is part and parcel of Putin's strategy of fomenting civil unrest as a fig leaf to justify sending russian troops in. How? Putin has already accused neo-nazis of being behind the protests in Kiev that brought the government down, so it seems reasonable to assume that his agents will now try to drum up a non-existent neo-nazi threat that, in addition to being anti-semitic, is trying to frame the pro-Russian forces by doing things like making up false fliers that appear to be from the pro-Russian groups when they are not. once the appearance of violent anti-semitism in eastern ukraine has been established, putin can easily bring his troops in to "protect" ukraine jews from such because the ukraine gov't itself will have been unable to do so.
happyg:
--- Quote ---The Lead CNN ✔ @TheLeadCNN
Follow
#BreakingNews US Amb to Ukraine @GeoffPyatt confirms authentic, 'chilling' anti-Semitic leaflets from pro-Russian groups in eastern Ukraine
1:03 PM - 17 Apr 2014
195 Retweets 27 favorites
--- End quote ---
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version