Russian culture
Lindsey Taxman
ltaxman at ucsj.com
Fri Dec 17 17:38:25 UTC 1999
Regarding the Russian Orthodox Church, the Union of Councils for Soviet
Jews (UCSJ) recently published a new report which details rising
antisemitism in Russia. Thre is an extensive chapter on the Russian
Orthodox Church and how they contribute to rising antisemitism. This would
definitely be considered an outside source if you are still in need of
information on the ROC.
The URL is below in the press release that I have attached.
Thanks,
Lindsey Paige Taxman
UCSJ National Outreach Director
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
1819 H Street, NW Suite 230 Washington, DC 20006
(202) 775-9770 Fax (202) 775-9776
E-mail ucsj at ucsj.com http://www.fsumonitor.com
DECEMBER 16, 1999
Contact: Gideon Aronoff (ext. 15)
Press Release
NEW REPORT ON ANTISEMITISM, XENOPHOBIA AND RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN RUSSIA'S
REGIONS ISSUED TODAY
Elie Wiesel, Government, Academic, Russian Religious and Rights Leaders
Highlight Importance of Report
Just days before the December 19th parliamentary elections in Russia, the
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) today issued a new report on the
increasing problems of antisemitism, xenophobia and religious persecution in
Russia that concludes, "Not only do Jews face specific dangers through
incidents of antisemitism, but an infrastructure of antisemitism - at the
grassroots and official levels - is taking hold throughout much of the
country, influenced by communist, neo-Nazi, Russian Orthodox and other
sources of antisemitic activity. These forces act with complete impunity.â¦"
After reviewing a pre-publication copy of UCSJ's report "Antisemitism,
Xenophobia and Religious Persecution in Russia's Regions: 1998-1999" Nobel
Laureate Elie Wiesel said, "Antisemitism in various parts of the former
Soviet Union has been gaining ground. This is dangerous, and this is the
substance of this report. Obviously the newly won democracy in those
countries has not succeeded in educating their populations on the perils of
racial and religious hatred directed towards the Jews. The situation has
become serious, and human rights organizations as well as governments must
intervene on behalf of tomorrow's possible Jewish victims."
The report, including 62 regional chapters and five brief synthesizing
essays, documents, in detail for the first time, threats to Jews and other
religious and ethnic minorities in the vast territory of the Russian
Federation, and is being released exclusively online at www.FSUMonitor.com.
Copies are available at: http://www.FSUMonitor.com/99report/index.shtml.
Other pre-publication reactions to "Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Religious
Persecution in Russia's Regions: 1998-1999" include the following. [Full
quotations and contact information attached at the end of this release.]
"In documenting rising antisemitic trends, as well as other manifestations of
religious persecution across the Russian regions, UCSJ's latest monitoring
report breaks important new ground. This achievement is a valuable and
practical contribution to the Clinton Administration's work to advance
religious freedom worldwide." Rabbi David Saperstein (Washington, DC),
Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Rabbi Saperstein
is also Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom.
"I think that UCSJ's report on monitoring antisemitism is objective and
extremely important due to the fact that our mutual goal is precisely to
fight that negative phenomenonâ¦As our wise forefathers used to say,
'knowledge of an illness is already half the treatment.'" Chabad Lubavitch
Rabbi Beril Lazar (Moscow), Chief Rabbi of FEOR (Federation of Jewish
Communities of Russia), a federation of more than 200 large and small,
religious and secular Jewish communities across Russia.
"Therefore, the thorough monitoring of all forms of xenophobia, including
antisemitism, conducted by UCSJ is of great importance today, when extremist
and fascist attitudes are so strong." Ludmilla Alexeeva (Moscow), Chair of
the Moscow Helsinki Group and President of the International Helsinki
Federation.
"This excellent, well-documented study demonstrates that the process of
Nazification of Weimar Russia has accelerated dramatically in the last 18
months." Semyon Reznik (Washington, DC), author of The Nazification of
Russia: Anti-Semitism in the Post-Soviet Era.
"The new UCSJ report on antisemitism, xenophobia, and religious persecution
in Russia's regions is an invaluable source of information and analysis for
everyone concerned about the future of Russia and of the world." Stephen
Shenfield (Providence, RI), Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown
University's Watson Institute for International Studies, and author of the
forthcoming book, Russian Fascism: Traditions, Tendencies, and Movements.
"It helps to further the establishment of a genuine civil society in our
countryâ¦UCSJ has made a great contribution to religious freedom in Russia."
Father Gleb Yakunin (Moscow), former Prisoner of Conscience, Chairman of the
Public Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Conscience, and member of the
Moscow Helsinki Group.
"While Jews now have more freedom to practice their religion than in the dark
days of the Soviet period, today, more than ever, Jews and other minorities
in Russia face a dangerous and complex web of antisemitic, fascist and other
extremist forces," declared Yosef Abramowitz, UCSJ's president. "These
elements, both inside regional and national governmental structures and in
grassroots social, political and religious organizations, express hate-filled
rhetoric and even perpetrate violent hate-crimes that place Jews and Russia's
democratic future in grave jeopardy."
In announcing the results of the year-long monitoring effort, Micah Naftalin,
UCSJ's national director, said, "We and our colleagues in Russia applaud
recent statements by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin seeking information on the problem of antisemitism and
pledging to lead the struggle to end this sadly common blight in Russia's
history. But words without deeds are insufficient. UCSJ's report provides
the roadmap to hate in Russia's increasingly independent provinces and a
challenge to Russian and Western leaders to make concrete action on
antisemitism and related issues a top policy priority."
Specific recommendations in UCSJ's report include:
For the Russian Government:
· Through the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service
(FSB), vigorously investigate and prosecute antisemitic and extremist
organizations and individuals, and incidents of hate crimes, under the
currently existing law prohibiting the incitement of ethnic or religious
hatred (Article 282 of the Criminal Code). Redirect FSB resources currently
being used to investigate and prosecute environmental scientists and
journalist towards the crucial task of fighting extremism.
· Utilize all available resources to encourage the Duma to enact the draft
law "On Political Extremism" to bolster the Article 282-based efforts to
confront antisemitic extremism. Repudiate the 1997 law on religion and
introduce legislation in the Duma to restore full freedom of religion in
Russia.
· Dismiss Russian federal officials in regional and/or municipal offices who
collaborate with, or are tolerant of, extremist groups and individuals.
For the United States Government:
· Enhance the status of human rights and antisemitism issues on the formal
agenda of bilateral meetings between Russia and the United States and support
the inclusion of strong human rights considerations in guidelines for the
approval of new loans or other forms of bilateral and multilateral
assistance.
· Urge the Russian government to take legal action against antisemitic
extremist groups and individuals, encourage the Duma to pass a strong law
against extremism and to repudiate the 1997 law on religion.
· Continue to provide a strong humanitarian response to the problem of
refugees in the former Soviet Union - including vulnerable religious
minorities like Jews and Evangelical Christians - through a generous US
refugee admissions program.
UCSJ is a grassroots Jewish human rights organization with monitoring bureaus
in Russia and six other countries of the former Soviet Union that has
monitored and reported on antisemitism and other violations of human rights
for 30 years. UCSJ and its affiliated local councils across the United
States act in partnership with indigenous activists and NGOs in the former
Soviet Union, promoting human rights, democracy, rule of law and pluralism,
and assisting emerging Jewish communities with humanitarian, cultural and
educational assistance.
Of the seven "courageous" activists honored on December 9, 1999 by the New
York-based International League for Human Rights, two have close ties to
UCSJ. Yevgeny Zhovtis, whose office was burned by arsonists in November, is
director of UCSJ's human rights bureau in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Yuri Schmidt,
attorney for environmental activist Aleksandr Nikitin, on trial for blowing
the whistle on nuclear contamination in the North Sea, is a board member of
UCSJ's bureau in St. Petersburg, the Harold and Selma Light Center for Human
Rights Advocacy, administered by UCSJ San Francisco affiliate Bay Area
Council for Jewish Rescue and Renewal. UCSJ, the Belonna Foundation, Amnesty
International and the Sierra Club coordinate the advocacy campaign in the
U.S. on behalf of Nikitin.
- ### -
Reactions to UCSJ's new report, "Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Religious
Persecution in Russia's Regions: 1998-1999," released December 16, 1999.
1. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate.
"Antisemitism in various parts of the former Soviet Union has been gaining
ground. This is dangerous, and this is the substance of this report.
Obviously the newly won democracy in those countries has not succeeded in
educating their populations on the perils of racial and religious hatred
directed towards the Jews. The situation has become serious, and human
rights organizations as well as governments must intervene on behalf of
tomorrow's possible Jewish victims."
2. Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism. He is also Chair of the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom. (Washington, DC) (202) 387-2800.
"In documenting rising antisemitic trends, as well as other manifestations of
religious persecution across the Russian regions, UCSJ's latest monitoring
report breaks important new ground. It is especially valuable for combining
all the strands of detailed information into a coherent whole - the
infrastructure of xenophobic extremism that threatens not only Jews but
minority Christian and Muslim faiths, and the Russian society at large. This
achievement is a valuable and practical contribution to the Clinton
Administration's work to advance religious freedom worldwide."
3. Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi Beril Lazar, Chief Rabbi of FEOR (Federation of
Jewish Communities of Russia). (Moscow) (095) 218-0001. (FEOR is a
federation of more than 200 large and small, religious and secular Jewish
communities across Russia.)
"I think that UCSJ's report on monitoring anti-Semitism is objective and
extremely important due to the fact that our mutual goal is precisely to
fight that negative phenomenon. And this goal of ours is almost impossible to
achieve without verified information. As our wise forefathers used to say,
'Knowledge of an illness is already half the treatment.'"
4. Ludmilla Alexeeva, Chair, Moscow Helsinki Group and President,
International Helsinki Federation. (Moscow)
Xenophobia is an inherent part of every "closed" society. Hence, in light of
the fact that Russia only recently stopped being a "closed" society, it still
represents a very fruitful soil for all kinds of manifestations of
xenophobia. The situation is especially problematic because Russian
politicians deliberately kindle such lowly feelings and biased superstitions
of the population, thus increasing the temperature of negative public opinion
to a highly dangerous degree. Therefore, the thorough monitoring of all
forms of xenophobia, including antisemitism, conducted by UCSJ is of great
importance today, when extremist and fascist attitudes are so strong."
5. Semyon Reznik, Author of The Nazification of Russia: Anti-Semitism in the
post-Soviet Era. (Washington, DC) (202) 619-2232.
"This excellent, well-documented study demonstrates that the process of
Nazification of Weimar Russia has accelerated dramatically in the last 18
months. This is the first study that covers most of the regions of the
Russian Federation. It shows how significantly antisemitism and xenophobia
influence the political process both on the local and federal levels, which
is especially alarming on the eve on the parliamentary elections."
6. Steven Shenfield, Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown University's
Watson
Institute for International Studies, and author of the forthcoming book
Russian Fascism: Traditions, Tendencies, and Movements. (Providence, RI)
(401) 863-2809
"The new UCSJ report on antisemitism, xenophobia, and religious persecution
in Russia's regions is an invaluable source of information and analysis for
everyone concerned about the future of Russia and of the world. The main
emphasis of the report is on developments at the provincial level, and this
is completely justified, because it is from the provinces that the threat to
the values of ethnic and religious tolerance comes. Also of great value is
the analysis of the Russian Orthodox Church as a bastion of intolerance, an
issue that has received too little public attention."
7. Father Gleb Yakunin, former Prisoner of Conscience, Chairman of the
Public Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Conscience and member of the
Moscow Helsinki Group. (Moscow) (095) 292-3281 (Work). (095) 949-1965 (Home).
"The monitoring of inter-religious and inter-ethnic relations, antisemitism
and other forms of xenophobia in Russia has been effectively and objectively
carried out by UCSJ within the framework of its project of monitoring human
rights in the majority of Russia's regions.
Such cooperation of Russian and American organizations helps to keep the
international community informed about the situation in the country and aids
in the struggle against antisemitism and other forms of political extremism
and fascism. It also helps to further the establishment of a genuine civil
society in our country. Finally, UCSJ has made a great contribution to
religious freedom in Russia."
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For more information on Jews and human rights in the former Soviet Union,
please contact ucsj at ucsj.com or visit us on the web at
http://www.fsumonitor.com.
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
1819 H Street, NW Suite 230
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 775 9770
(202) 775 9776 (fax)
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