Neo-nazism on rise in Ukraine

(CFCA)-July 17, 2008

Antisemitism is rising in Ukraine following a year of attacks on the Jewish community, according to an Amnesty International report released on 11 July 2008. Neo-Nazism is “on the march” in the country after authorities failed to challenge racism, often classifying violence as “hooliganism” by “skinheads”.
The report quotes figures from the Eurasian Jewish Congress which recorded 29 violent attacks against Jewish people and their properties in 2007.
A study by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, which questioned more than 25,000 Ukrainians, revealed that only 20 per cent of people “were willing to have a Jewish person as a close family member or friend” in 2006, as compared to 38 per cent in 1994. Tim Hancock, Amnesty International UK campaigns director, said: “Neo-Nazism and other violent racism is definitely on the march in Ukraine and attacks against Jewish people are a very worrying aspect of this. Any country that can see a doubling of antisemitic views in a little over a decade has a serious problem on its hands."

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