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Inter TV, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 25 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tuesday, May 25, 2004
KIEV - A Ukrainian MP has denied that controversial articles published in an
opposition newspaper last year were anti-Semitic. Socialist MP Valentyna
Semenyuk was speaking at a rally outside a Kiev appellate court that is
today hearing an appeal against a court order to close down Silski Visti, a
publication close to the Socialist Party, for publishing the articles. The opposition has depicted the ruling as part of a campaign by the
presidential administration to eliminate opposition media ahead of this
autumn's presidential election. Meanwhile, members of the Jewish community
held a counter demonstration nearby calling for the earlier ruling to be
upheld. The following is the text of a report by Ukrainian Inter TV on 25 May: [Presenter] Traffic in the centre of Kiev was blocked this morning. About
500 people assembled on St Sofia's Square for a rally of solidarity,
inter-ethnic peace and accord. With slogans of "No to anti-Semitism in
Ukraine!" and "Anti-Semitism is socialism for fools!", representatives of
the Jewish community and the International Anti-Fascist Committee [the
organization that brought the law suit against Silski Visti] attempted to
uphold their ideas. Meanwhile, outside the [Kiev] appeal court, the opposition was calling for
the newspaper Silski Visti not to be closed down. They say it is the eyes of
the people, and not a publication that incites inter-ethnic and
inter-confessional hostility. [Socialist Party MP Valentyna Semenyuk] We have Jews, Russians, Ukrainians
and other ethnicities here with us today. We have nothing to fight over. It
is they [presumably the authorities] who are sowing this discord, and not
us. Because the newspaper was against the oligarchs, and not against Jews.
The anti-Semites are not here in this column, but on the other side - where
they are standing. [Vadym Rabynovych, captioned as leader of the Jewish community of Ukraine,
in Russian] Everything that Silski Visti writes is lies and paranoia. Why
did they do it? Because they want to set different groups of the population
against each other, to break up the people so it is easier to manipulate and
control them. [Rabynovych, a businessman, heads the United Jewish
Community of Ukraine.] [Counter reading 0505-0600: Video shows the Jewish community rally calling
for Silski Visti's closure; opposition demonstrators with flags, banners
reading "Kiev Region is for Silski Visti"; a musician with a traditional
Ukrainian bandura; Semenyuk being interviewed; Rabynovych addressing rally.]
[Audio and video available. Please send queries to kiev.bbcm@mon.bbc.co.uk]
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