A rabbi in Kiev was assaulted Thursday in the street by two unidentified men in what appears to be an anti-Semitic attack.
Rabbi Hillel Cohen, who runs the Ukrainian branch of the Hatzalah emergency services organization, was knifed in his leg and back as the attackers called him a “Zyhd” (Jew), the derogatory Russian slur for Jew and other unclear words which he said sounded like Russian, his wife was quoted say saying. “This was clearly an anti-Semitic attack,’’ she said.
The rabbi suffered from minor injuries and was treated in hospital.
When it occurred the rabbi was on his way to a hospital to visit a sick tourist from Britain.
Last month Hillel Cohen said that he believed the Ukrainian revolution, which ousted former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych’s , increased the risk of anti-Semitic attacks because of the general breakdown of public order.
One of the three main political parties that led the three-month-long protests which ousted Yanukovich, the ultra-nationalist Svoboda – Freedom – party, has been accused of anti-Semitism in the past.
Ira Forman, the US special envoy on anti-Semitism, dismissed Russian President Putin's claims that Ukrainian revolutionaries were Jew-haters.
"We have no indication that what President Putin has been saying about anti-Semitism has been a true reflection of what's happening on the ground," he said.
Ukraine is home of around 200,000 Jews and many are reported to have actively supported the revolution.
Putin has said that Russia's biggest concern was "the rampage of reactionary forces, nationalist and anti-Semitic forces going on in certain parts of Ukraine, including Kiev".
However, earlier this week, a leading Ukrainian rabbi said he saw no sign of hostility toward Jews from nationalists involved in last month's uprising but was cautious on whether there could be a rise in anti-Semitic threats.
Moshe Reuven Azman, a Chief Rabbi in Ukraine, told a press conference he was not aware of new anti-Semitic acts since Yanukovich's fall and had not heard anti-Jewish statements from leaders of extreme-right parties. He cautioned against speculation on the issue being "exploited" for political ends.
"There's no big, general Ukrainian problem," Azman said, playing down some instances of Jews being attacked in the street and the firebombing of a provincial synagogue during the past few months of protests. He contrasted post-Soviet Ukraine's tolerance with "official anti-Semitism" in Soviet times.
Of newly prominent movements like the paramilitary Right Sector, active in fighting police last month, he said: "I make a distinction between nationalism and Nazism. With nationalism, you love your own people. Nazism is when you hate others.
"Unfortunately there can often be a slide into Nazism. Please God, that doesn't happen."Time will tell. For now there is nothing like that,’’ he said.
Another prominent figure in the Ukrainian Jewish community, Vadim Rabinovich, President of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress and Co-Chairman of the European Jewish Parliament, organized recently a teleconference with the regional leaders of the community during which all participants confirmed that there has been no evidence of any surge in anti-Semitism in the country.
“I categorically refute the statements appearing in a number of foreign media outlets of facts of massive anti-Semitism and xenophobia in Ukraine that do not correspond to reality,” he declared.
Questioned about statements made elsewhere in the Jewish community which would seem to contradict this evidence, Rabinovich answered : "Not everything in this world is black and white – we must appreciate that complex issues cannot be understood in simple terms".
He added : ‘’The Jewish community is not a political organization and anyone attempting to draw the community into politics is not being true to Jewish tradition. The issues facing Ukraine are not black and white, there are many shades and nuances. This is also reflected within the Ukrainian Jewish community, where a full range of opinions can also be encountered. No single member of the Jewish community can seek to impose their vision as correct or representative. Many Ukrainian Jews stood on Maidan (Independence Square) with the protesters, but others felt differently. In the final analysis, the Jewish community is not a political force and Ukraine’s Jews should focus their efforts on community life, security and the pursuit of peace.’’
‘’I believe that whoever is right and wrong in today’s Ukraine, we must all strive for peace. As the Talmud tells us: when all attempts at peacemaking have been exhausted, one must try again,’’ he said.