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NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF Washington, D.C. July 29, 2016

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NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF Washington, D.C. July 29, 2016 NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF Washington, D.C. July 29, 2016 Firebombs hurled at Hasidic luminary’s grave in Ukraine JTA, July 26, 2016 http://www.jta.org/2016/07/26/news-opinion/world/firebombs-hurled-at-hasidic-luminarys-grave-in- ukraine Unknown perpetrators hurled firebombs at the gravesite of a Hasidic luminary in central Ukraine. The incident in Shpola, a city located 120 miles south of the capital, Kiev, occurred Sunday evening, according to Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee. On Monday, Dolinsky wrote on Facebook that the perpetrators tried to set on fire a structure built near the gravesite of Aryeh Leib, who died in 1811 and was an important disciple of Dov Ber of Mezeritch, an influential 18th-century Hasidic rabbi. Separately, approximately 200 people in the west Ukrainian city of Ternopil presented local authorities with a petition to remove from the city’s coat of arms a star shape they said was a Jewish symbol, the Star of David. The coat of arms of Ternopil features a fortress above the star shape that has six points and comprises 12 triangles – half of them khaki colored and the rest blank. Under the star is a horizontal crescent divided into a khaki half and a blank one. The shield bearing those symbols is crowned by the Ukrainian trident — the Sign of Princely State of Volodymyr the Great, which is the main national symbol and the country’s coat of arms. The petitioners want the city to “replace the Jewish Star of David with the traditional Ukrainian octagon” and “complement the star and crescent with a Christian cross, which must go back to the top of the trident,” the news website Ukraina Moloda reported Friday. They cited the writings of a Ukrainian fundamentalist Christian who said the Star of David is “associated with the symbol of the antichrist.” Moldovan Parliament condemns Holocaust Publika, July 22, 2016 http://en.publika.md/moldovan-parliament-condemns-holocaust_2625535.html The Chisinau Legislature has passed a political declaration on accepting the Report of the International Committee for the Holocaust. The document condemns the persecution and extermination of Jews by the Nazis and collaborators on the current territory of Moldova from 1937 to 1944. The Declaration also condemns any attempts of ignoring and denying the Holocaust and brings homage to its victims and survivors. The Parliament sees the declaration as very timely, under the conditions in which ethno-centrism and xenophobia mutilate people and take new shapes in the whole world. "Condemning and recognizing the Holocaust is not just a political act, it’s a social act, clearly expressing that, by memory and history, we’ll never admit any actions and positions endangering human values. It’s a proof this society is mature, tolerant, European, open, knowing to justly appreciate the past and which will defend its future from intolerance and manipulation," reads the declaration. The MPs urge academics, schools and universities to start courses, discussions and symposiums dedicated to the Holocaust, in order to educate the spirit of tolerance, humanism and mutual respect within society. "We commit not to allow that ideologies, people or organizations should try reviewing history and denying the Holocaust. We consider that by education, research, public discussions, the memory of the Holocaust victims will be honored, and the crimes – condemned, so that xenophobia, anti-Semitism and racism should not find place in Moldova. Suppressing the truth, the collective memories is not specific to the Moldovans, who have resisted all the attempts of revising the past," the document specifies. The Elie Wiesel committee, constituted in Romania, presented the report in 2004, according to which, only in 1941, from 45,000 to 60,000 Jews were killed in Bessarabia and Bucovina, and from 105,000 to 120,000 Jews died after being expelled from the Transnistrian area. Church Procession Passes Peacefully in Kiev Despite Grenade Threat Moscow Times, July 27, 2016 https://themoscowtimes.com/news/controversial-church-procession-takes-place-in-kiev-54750 A controversial Orthodox church procession and prayer service has passed peacefully through Kiev despite earlier reports that grenades had been laid along the route. The service, arranged by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, saw over 5,000 people march through the Ukrainian capital. A prayer service dedicated to the Baptism of Kievan Rus at Saint Vladimir Hill, a symbolic landmark near the site of a 10th century mass baptism, was also used to call for peace in the country. Ukrainian intelligence agencies reported earlier in the week that the Russian special services intended to use the procession to “provoke” Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is the country's only formally recognized Orthodox church, but has faced increasing pressure for its "ongoing allegiance" to Russia. The procession was originally barred from entering Kiev due to reports that grenades had been laid along the route, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The march was permitted to proceed amid heightened security measures. Parade participants passed through metal detectors with the help of nearly 6000 law enforcement officers, while bus routes were altered and streets were blocked. The route of the march was intended to symbolize the unification of Ukraine coming together, with believers moving along two routes across the country to meet each other in Kiev. IMF To Provide Moldova $179 Million In Loans Linked To Economic Reform RFE/RL, July 27, 2016 http://www.rferl.org/content/imf-provide-moldova-179-million-loans-linked-economic-reform- /27883567.html The International Monetary Fund agreed on July 26 to provide Moldova with $179 million in loans over three years if the government carries out economic reforms. Moldova is one of Europe's poorest nations and the news is a boost to the new government in office since January. The IMF left Moldova in September 2015, saying it would not negotiate loans in light of the disappearance of some $1 billion from three Moldovan banks in a scandal that rocked the country. Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip told The Associated Press that the IMF's return to Moldova "brings back optimism at home and helps restore our credibility abroad." Filip added his government remains committed to European-style reforms and is "keen to attract foreign investment: in this sense we undertook a series of economic and banking reforms, which provide the basis for future sustainable growth." The IMF, whose staff visited Chisinau for 10 days, stressed that the government needs to improve the business climate, carry out critical banking reforms, and ramp up its anti-corruption fight to access the loans. The deal must also be approved by the IMF's board in October. U.S. rabbi calls on Pope to remove church at Auschwitz JTA, July 28, 2016 http://www.jta.org/2016/07/28/news-opinion/united-states/u-s-rabbi-calls-on-pope-to-remove-church-at- auschwitz One the eve of Pope Francis’ visit to Auschwitz, a U.S. rabbi has called on him to remove a Catholic church from the premises of the Nazi death camp. The letter sent from Rabbi Avi Weiss, national president of AMCHA-Coalition for Jewish Concerns, was firstreported by The Algemeiner on Wednesday. Francis arrived in Poland Wednesday to participate in the church’s World Youth Day. He is scheduled to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau on Friday. Weiss’ letter protesting the presence of the Parish Church of Brzezinka on the grounds of Auschwitz was sent to the pope through New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. In the letter, Weiss says that the presence of the church at the former death camp site is a “clear violation” of a 1987 agreement between Roman Catholic Cardinals and Jewish leaders, which he says: “stipulates in clear language that ‘there will be no permanent Catholic place of worship on the site of the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps.'” “I have deep respect for people of all faiths, symbols and places of worship of all faiths, but a church does not belong at the largest Jewish cemetery in the world,” Weiss wrote in the letter. Weiss previously protested against the Carmelite convent established by the nuns in 1984 on a building on the grounds of Auschwitz. It was closed by Pope John Paul in 1993. “It was Pope John Paul who demanded that the nuns leave the convent at Auschwitz One. I ask that you find similar courage and close the church at Birkenau, and have it moved elsewhere,” Weiss concluded. Francis is the third pope to visit Auschwitz. Polish Court Limits World War II-Era Restitution Claims in Warsaw By Joanna Berendt New York Times, July 27, 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/world/europe/polish-court-limits-world-war-ii-era-restitution- claims-in-warsaw.html Poland’s constitutional court on Wednesday upheld a 2015 law that significantly limits the rights of people whose property in Warsaw was seized during or after World War II, and their descendants, to apply for restitution. The decision effectively removes the ability of former owners who missed a December 1988 deadline, set by the former Communist government, to file claims. And for those who met the deadline — but whose cases have languished, in some cases, for decades — the law sets up hurdles that may be nearly impossible to clear. “This is a very unjust decision,” said Gideon Taylor, chairman of operations at the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which is based in Jerusalem. In a statement, he added: “This decision highlights the need for Poland, at long last, to do what all other countries in the former Soviet bloc have done: establish a national program to provide all Jewish and non- Jewish former owners, and their families, the opportunity to claim restitution or compensation for their property confiscated during the Holocaust or by the Communist authorities.” Advocates of restitution objected to three provisions of the law that was upheld on Wednesday.
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