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NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF Washington, DC March 24, 2017 Ukraine Is Governed By NCSEJ WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF Washington, D.C. March 24, 2017 Ukraine is governed by "people with non-Ukrainian blood", says Savchenko LB.ua, March 21, 2017 https://en.lb.ua/news/2017/03/21/3385_ukraine_governed_people.html People's deputy Nadiya Savchenko says Ukraine is governed people with "non-Ukrainian blood." During an appearance on NewsOne TV channel on Tuesday, 21 March, Savchenko answered a telephone question from a woman from Krivyy Rih. "Nadya, why does not anyone say what people say? I stood at a bus stop and heard an old woman saying what has been written in the Bible: there was a Tatar-Mongol yoke, there was a Polish yoke for Ukraine, and now its Jewish yoke. Why do you keep mum about it?" the viewer asked. Savchenko replied: "Yes, thank you, a good question. If the people are talking about this, it must be the truth. And yes, we have the people at the power with, let's say, non-Ukrainian blood. We can talk about that, we should think and act!" Boryslav Bereza reaction on Savchenko’s interview MP of Jewish origin Borislav Bereza commented on the statement by his colleague on the parliament Nadezhda Savchenko that Ukrainian authorities have "non-Ukrainian blood". He wrote about this on his Facebook page. "I found the information about the anti-Semitic statement of Savchenko in Paris at a meeting with French parliamentarians. A journalist from Ukraine called me and asked to comment on the situation. After my comments french politics asked me what I was talking about, they were interested in my facial expressions and intonations. I showed them a video and told what the MP of Ukraine, a former member of the PACE delegation, Nadezhda Savchenko said. "Then the only their phrase was:" For such a statement the French MP would be discarded in the shortest time, regardless of his merits before the Republic." "It's all you need to know about an adequate reaction to such demarches." After all her antics, from statements to joint pastime with the pro-Russian separatists and the lack of reaction from the state, I doubt that something will happen. "Savchenko provocateur. Or did it by stupidity, but it works against Ukraine. This topic is closed, the page is turned in. Now we can wait for the reaction from the regulatory committee or the GPU, but the time will show everything. But I want to recall the name of the famous etching by Francisco Goya "The dream of the mind generates Monsters. "If you do not react, then the monster will devour those who try not to notice it," - said Bereza. Rabbi Lazar urges to legalize circumcision in Russia Interfax-Religion, March 23, 2017 http://interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=13656 Chief rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar speaks for legalizing the procedure of circumcision in the country. "I believe it is extremely important to consolidate efforts on legalizing this procedure. Any bans in this field will lead to appearance of underground doctors that will not bear any responsibility for their actions," Lazar said at his meeting with the head of the State Duma Committee on developing civil society, questions of public and religious associations Sergey Gavrilov in the Jewish Museum and Center of Tolerance in Moscow. According to the rabbi, if there is a clear and comprehensive mechanism of control in this sphere from the side of religious organizations and authorities, "it will settle many questions." Lazar reported that the Jewish community had worked out a draft document on legalizing circumcision. Russian Jewish Congress, Footballers' Union Unveil Anti-Racism Project Sputnik, March 21, 2017 https://sputniknews.com/politics/201703211051816968-anti-racism-project/ Russian footballer's trade union head Roman Shirokov and Russian Jewish Congress President Yury Kanner signed a cooperation memorandum to implement the project in the presence of the Russian Football Union's anti-racism and anti-discrimination inspector, Alexei Smertin, according to the statement. "Today, on March 21, on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination established by the UN General Assembly, the #WeareRussia#Against Discrimination national project was launched to tackle racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in Russian football," Russian Jewish organization said in a statement. The project involves conducting sociological research, training experts to deal with ethnic tensions in sports, producing guides and education programs for schools and universities, monitoring xenophobia in sports, working with fans, holding educational events and making documentaries, the statement added. The project will run at least until next year, when Russia is due to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Russia is also hosting the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup this summer. Russia's Federation of Jewish Communities Calls for Return of Synagogues Soviets Seized By Paul Goble Window on Eurasia, March 21, 2017 http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/03/russias-federation-of-jewish.html Following the path the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia’s Muslim groups have already entered, Russia’s Jewish community is demanding that the Russian authorities restore to them synagogues that the Soviet state seized from them, a call that is already provoking a negative reaction by some Russians. Citing the Russian law on the restoration of religious property to its rightful owners, Aleksandr Boroda, the president of FEOR, says that his community “unqualifiedly supports” the provisions of that legislation and wants to see Russian officials, especially at the regional level, respond to its call “more actively” (apn- spb.ru/opinions/article25633.htm). At present, he continues, “historic synagogue buildings in Kaluga and Rybninsk” have been returned and “negotiations are taking place in a number of other cities.” Unfortunately, he suggests, this is “a quite complicated and slow process,” despite the clear intention of the Russian law on this point. The return of synagogues to the Jewish community may be even more important than the return of churches to the Russian Orthodox or mosques to the Muslims, he suggests, because “before 1917, Jewish communities were subjected to various limitations and simply couldn’t physically ‘acquire’ significant property.” That has provoked an angry response by the Russian nationalist APN-St. Petersburg portal which declares that “Boroda doesn’t know the history of his own people. In 1917,” it says, in just the five largest cities of the Russian Empire on the territory of present-day Belarus, there were 231 synagogues. In Minsk alone, the 67,000 Jews could pray in 83 synagogues.” “The Jewish diaspora of present-day Russia,” the portal continues, “numbers fewer than 200,000, of whom more than 50,000 live in Moscow where there are five synagogues” open. “But in contrast to 1917,” APN-St. Petersburg says, “the overwhelming majority of them are non-believers, Christians or agnostics.” “For the rest,” the site says, “there are quite enough” to satisfy demand. Clearly, the Jews of Russia are simply following the “infectious” demands of the Russian Orthodox Church for restitution even though the ROC has far more justified claims given how many more Orthodox Christians there are in the country. The APN-St. Petersburg report is likely to be the openly salvo of a new attack on any religious group other than the ROC which seeks restitution, but the fact that FEOR is seeking the return of Jewish property means that this segment of the war of monuments is likely to heat up still further in the coming months. Russia summons Israeli envoy following IDF strikes in Syria JTA, March 17, 2017 http://www.jta.org/2017/03/17/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/russia-summons-israeli-envoy-following- idf-strikes-in-syria Russia summoned its ambassador to Israel for clarifications following Israeli airstrikes in Syria. Russia, which backs Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad, summoned its envoy, Gary Koren, on Friday less than 24 hours after the Israeli military action on Thursday night, according to The Times of Israel. In a rare statement, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed to having carried out aerial strikes in Syria and intercepted missiles launched at its aircraft from the ground. No Israelis were hurt during the strikes Thursday night or from the anti-aircraft fire, according to a statement by the IDF spokesman. Israel is believed to have carried out several attacks on Syrian soil in recent years, but usually refrains from confirming or denying reports on its alleged actions there. According to the nrg news site, the strikes were against targets affiliated with Hezbollah, possibly on a weapons shipment to the Shiite terrorist group, which is based in Lebanon but is fighting in Syria alongside Assad’s forces against rebels and Sunni militants. Israeli “aircrafts targeted several targets in Syria. Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and IDF Aerial Defense Systems intercepted one of the missiles. At no point was the safety of Israeli civilians or the IAF aircraft compromised,” the IDF spokesman wrote. The missiles were launched at the airplanes minutes after they had left Syrian airspace, according to nrg. Debris from the missiles, which were intercepted by the Arrow defense system over Jordan, landed on residential homes in the west of that country near Inba and Irbid. The Syrian media reported that the country’s Defense Ministry claimed that one Israeli plane was downed and another was damaged from anti-aircraft fire. A ministry statement also vowed “a harsh response against the Zionist regime by all means available.” Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Russia’s contribution to the fight against the Islamic State and al-Qaida during a one-day visit to Moscow. Russia must limit Iranian power in Syria: Israeli intelligence director By Luke Baker Reuters, March 21, 2017 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-syria-iran-idUSKBN16S1IA Russia and other world powers must move to limit Iran's growing military strength in Syria because it poses a regional threat, the director-general of Israel's Intelligence Ministry told Reuters in an interview.
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