18 January 2008
Aleksandr Feldman, a Jewish member of the Ukrainian parliament, has demanded an apology from a regional official over an anti-Semitic remark. Feldman, who is also president of the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine and head of the Kharkov Jewish community, told the JTA news agency that he was incensed over Vasily Salygin’s remark made at the Kharkov City Council session at the end of December. Salygin, a the leader of the Kharkov Regional Council, said he hoped “never to hear the sound of the greeting 'Shalom' at the council hall in the coming year." Feldman told JTA that he would bring an action against Salygin and expressed alarm that no Ukrainian politicians or public figures have so far condemned the remark. “I am profoundly indignant over the incident, as it is not the first manifestation of xenophobia and anti-Semitism from Kharkov officials," he said. "Ukraine is still too far from the civilized Europe."
Meanwhile, a man who distributed anti-Semitic leaflets in Kiev has been sentenced to four years in jail. Vasiliy Ostrinsky, 43, was convicted on two charges but the Kiev district court dropped a third charge of inciting ethnic hatred and deferred the sentence for two years, the Ukrainian newspaper “Segodnya” reported. Jewish leaders in Ukraine have expressed disappointment that Ostrinsky was not prosecuted for the incitement of ethnic or racial strife.
