Ukraine: Council of Churches condemns anti-Semitic provocations in Kyiv

05. Dezember 2019

The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations issued a statement condemning the desecration of the monument to the Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem in Kyiv, according to the Institute of Religious Freedom. "This is undoubtedly an act of vandalism and an attempt on interethnic and interreligious peace in Ukraine. ...But we know that anti-Semitism and vandalism do not enjoy the support of the broad masses of Ukrainian society."

The statement was published on November 25 on the website of the AUCCRO:
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which unites more than 90 percent of believers of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, strongly condemns desecration of  the monument to the Jewish writer Sholem Aleichem in Kyiv. This is undoubtedly an act of vandalism and an attempt to disrupt interethnic and interreligious peace in Ukraine.

We consider such acts unacceptable and draw attention to the fact that the systematic manner in which the attackers commit acts of vandalism and desecration indicates the interest of a third party to harm Ukrainian-Jewish relations and expose Ukrainians to the world as hardened anti-Semites. But we know that anti-Semitism and vandalism do not enjoy the support of the broad masses of Ukrainian society. Therefore, we ask all our fellow citizens to put a decisive barrier to hostile attempts to ignite the fire of ethnic and religious hatred in Ukraine.

We appeal to the National police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice under law. (Quelle: www.risu.org.ua, 25. November 2019)