In 2008, the activities of law-enforcement bodies in their fight against radical nationalism (and anti-Semitism as its important component) increased significantly. Their attention now extends to those areas which have been previously ignored (the publication of anti-Semitic literature, online publications, the posting of flyers and anti-Semitic graffiti).
In 2008, a total of 60 people were convicted for crimes and offenses of anti-Semitic nature (twice as many as in 2007 when 30 persons were convicted for such crimes). This increase can be explained by the intensification of the law enforcement and the expansion of criminal and administrative liabilities.

Among those convicted of anti-Semitic crimes in 2008, 16 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6 months to 3.5 years, one man was sentenced to 7.5 years of imprisonment for multiple offenses, and three – to 1-3 years of settlement colony.
Please, note the high share of suspended sentences versus prison terms (such sentences were handed down to 23 defendants).
The majority of persons sentenced to suspended imprisonment did not commit crimes of violence. The best punishment for them would have been not a suspended sentence, but penalty. In 2008, a system of fines was used more than in 2007 (11 and 5 of those penalized, respectively). In some cases, fines were not quite symbolic – the largest payout amounted to 100 thousand rubles. It seems that the paying of penalties is often more effective than probation.
The exemption from liability of two defendants, one of whom was B. Mironov, a well-known radical anti-Semite, again raises the question of lengthening the period of limitation for crimes described in Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code, to prevent the possibility of radical nationalists indefinitely dragging feet during the investigation and trial, thus, evading responsibility. A rise in the activities of law-enforcement bodies in the field of prosecution of anti-Semitic literature distribution can be also seen in the rapid growth of the federal list of extremist materials which, as of September, 2009,
numbered 400 publications. Nearly all materials named in the list come from the Islamists or Russian radical nationalists, and to different degrees are anti-Semitic in nature. Among the materials added to the list are K. Dushenov’s film “Russia with a Knife in the Back. Jewish Fascism and Genocide of the Russian People “, the Cherepovets “Artomans” magazine, the Samara “Khors” Almanac (Khors is a Slavic pagan deity), the “Basics of Russianism” brochure by A. Ivanov-Sukharevsky, V. Nicolskiy’s brochure “Russian National Initiative. What Do I Do Now (the minimum program for the Russian people)”, George Butmi’s book “Kabala [“bondage” in Russian] or Freedom,” which includes one of the versions of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, V. Istarhov’s books “The Blow of the Russian Gods” and “What is Dead Water?”
In December, it became known that the Rossvyazokhrankultura (Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Mass Communication, Telecommunications and Protection of Cultural Heritage) and the Roskomsvyaznadzor (Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Mass Communication) that replaced it earlier that year had issued no less than 15 warnings to mass media for anti-Semitic publications.
According to preliminary data, over the first nine months of 2009, there were 51 sentences entered into force towards persons accused of anti-Semitic offences and/or neo-Nazi propaganda (including the production, spreading and demonstration of the Nazi insignia, painting fascist graffiti and selling literature declared extremism).

According to the data of our monitoring, three people became victims of street attacks in 2008. Another two received light injuries as the result of the so-called “pogrom” of the Jewish Education Center in Lviv in July (the two elderly neighbors who carried out the attack also suffered as a result of the resistance shown, however, this does not negate the fact that it was they who initiated the confrontation). In other words, five persons, at the maximum, became victims of anti-Semitic violence in 2008. According to preliminary data, within eleven months of 2009, one Jew suffered a street attack.
It should be noted that the number of anti-Semitic attacks has declined as compared with the situation of the mid-2000s.
In 2007, there were five anti-Semitic attacks in which eight people suffered (if we include one case which was not fully confirmed then we are talking of six attacks and nine victims). In 2006, five incidents were recorded in which eight Jews were assaulted, and also a non-Jew passer-by who interceded. In one case (an attack with the use of weapons on Hitler’s birthday in Dnipropetrovsk) it was a miracle that the victim was not killed. There were also two other questionable cases where we were unable to receive reliable information. In 2005, more than eight people were harmed in six incidents (it is difficult to be more exact since one of the cases was an attack on a group of students in Simferopol). As a result of one of the attacks, the victim, a Kyiv yeshiva student, was brutally beaten up by skinheads and received life-threatening injuries. We should note that neither in 2007 through 2009 were there such serious cases.
According to the data of our monitoring, during 2008 and 2009, there was also a certain decline in anti-Semitic vandalism. In 2008, almost half as many such offences were recoded compared with the years of 2006 and 2007 (13, 21 and 20, accordingly). Within eleven months of 2009, there were 17 such incidents.
The reduction in such offences during the last two years is, perhaps, the result of some unexpectedly harsh sentences (including terms of imprisonment of several years) against anti-Semites proved in court cases to have taken part in acts of vandalism. Previously, such crimes had, practically, always gone unpunished or the punishments had been of a symbolic nature.

The Ukrainian political situation in this regard is somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand, people known for their anti-Semitic (or, more broadly, xenophobic) rhetoric are active in very different political forces and neither the public nor the political elite have the sense that the very presence of such figures on the electoral candidate lists is anything compromising or unacceptable.
Anti-Semitism is viewed as being insignificant. The only case when the leadership of a political force took disciplinary measures with regard to a politician publicly making xenophobic statements was the expulsion of Oleh Tyahnybok from the “Our Ukraine” faction after his famous remarks in the summer of 2004. And that happened in the specific circumstances of a presidential campaign. Anti-Semitic utterances of, for example, the patriarch of the Ukrainian national movement Levko Lukyanenko did not stop him from being a respected member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc during the previous parliamentary term (and it did not disturb him in any way to be in the same faction, for example, with Alexander Feldman).
On the other hand, radical right-wing political forces as such, especially those which focus on anti-Semitic rhetoric, have been suffering a crashing defeat in election after election.
In the 2007 snap parliamentary elections only one radical right-wing political force was running - the ultra-nationalist All-Ukrainian Union (AU) “Svoboda” (“Freedom”) party, led by former National Deputy [MP] and now Deputy of the Lviv Regional Council Oleh Tyahnybok. “Svoboda” which espouses a racist policy of ethnic proportional representation gained 0.76% of the votes in 2007, doubling its result in the 2006 elections (when Tyahnybok’s party gained 0.36% of the voters). It seems that this improvement could be explained by the lack of any radical nationalist competitors in 2007. During the 2006 elections, other parties were running: the radical right-wing Ukrainian National Assembly, the People’s Movement of Ukraine for Unity, the overtly anti-Semitic Ukrainian Conservative Party and the Bloc “Solntse” [“Sun”] with its religious messianic rhetoric. Altogether, they received less than 1% of the votes. It should admittedly be kept in mind that a certain number of votes from the radical national electorate were “siphoned off” by the Ukrainian People’s Bloc of Kostenko-and-Plushch, and partly by the PORA – PRP Bloc.
Of particular interest for us is the fact that the general volume of anti-Semitic propaganda during the election campaign in 2007 was on a different, considerably lower scale, than in 2006. Then the vast majority of such material was circulated by the Ukrainian Conservative Party which is linked with the Interregional Academy for Personnel Management (details below). Despite considerable activity, at least in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Conservative Party totally lost the electoral race receiving only 0.09% of the votes.
Admittedly, in March of 2009, the AU “Svoboda” was very successful at regional elections to the Ternopil Oblast Rada (Council) where it gained over 30% of the voters. However, the success was situational and unlikely to be consolidated on the all-Ukrainian scale. According to opinion polls, Oleh Tyahnybok who decided to run for presidency in the election that is scheduled for January 2010, is favored by only about 2% of the votes.
Alongside Oleh Tyahnybok, there is another anti-Semite running for the Ukrainian presidency: Sergey Ratushnyak, the Mayor of Uzhhorod (administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast). At the time he was registered as a presidential nominee, a case was filed against him under Article 282 of the Criminal Code (“rousing national hatred”). Ratushnyak became widely known in August of 2009 as a result of his offensive anti-Semitic statements against Arseni Yatsenyuk, another much more popular presidential nominee, the People’s Deputy and the former Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (which caused the filing of the criminal case). Though Yatsenyuk is not a Jew, his rivals actively use his alleged Jewishness to lower his rating (while opinion polls show that he occupies third place in voters’ preference next to Victor Yanukovich and Yulia Timoshenko). Yatsenyuk’s Jewishness is announced not only by anti-Semites but also by actual and self-constituted representatives of Jewish organizations (most likely, not disinterestedly). Political technologists and opponents have previously resorted to the theme of alleged Jewishness to discredit various Ukrainian political leaders, including Yulia Timoshenko. However, the passed experience shows that these technologies do not affect noticeably either voters’ electoral preferences or the level of anti-Semitism in the country.
Surely, the very participation of such a nominee in a campaign attaches certain “correctness” to anti-Semitic statements in Ukrainian information space which are very alarming. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel even voiced a protest against registering Ratushnyak as a presidential nominee. We would note that technically the Central Election Commission had no grounds to refuse to register him. However, from an analytical point of view, his participation in the presidential election is of considerable interest. Beyond Uzhhorod, he is known only for his anti-Semitic statements. The number of votes that Ratushnyak will gain at the January 2010 presidential election will be the number of votes Ukrainians are ready to give to “pure” anti-Semitic ideology.
The last time when we had such a case were the 2006 parliamentary elections with the Ukrainian Conservative Party laying stress precisely on anti-Semitism: we have already mentioned what they gained.
One can therefore confidently assert that anti-Semitism is not in any way a popular subject in electoral rhetoric. Efforts to bet on the anti-Semitism card end in failure. Right-wing radicals, gaining relative success, can on a personal level experience negativity towards Jews, however they prefer not to focus on this subject, at least do not actively use anti-Semitic rhetoric and their electoral support is due to other reasons.

In 2007, after almost a five-year period of continuous increase, a reduction was observed in the amount of anti-Semitic propaganda. While in 2006, according to data gathered by Vladimir Mindlin, who monitors anti-Semitic propaganda in the central press for Vaad of Ukraine, there were 676 anti-Semitic publications identified, in 2007 the figure was already 542. In 2008, there was a sharp decline in the amount of such publications when only 54 of them were identified as anti-Semitic.
The huge increase in the number of anti-Semitic publications between 2002 and 2006 was caused by the activities of the Interregional Academy for Personnel Management [MAUP]. MAUP publications contained up to 90% of the full amount of anti-Semitic materials in the print media. From 2002-2005, the number of anti-Semitic materials was increasing each year by 1.5-2 times, including publications with a print run of tens or even hundreds of thousands of copies coming to the fore. In autumn 2007, for a number of reasons MAUP curtailed its anti-Semitic campaign as dramatically as it launched it. According to preliminary monitoring results over the first nine months of 2009, this trend continues to exist.
We thus see that the 2007 trend of noticeable reduction in the amount of the gravest manifestations of anti-Semitism (such as attacks against Jews, vandalism and anti-Semitic publications) continued in 2008 through 2009.

Here we can speak about radical Islamists and some politicians employing anti-Semitism in their activity. In 2008, adherents of Hizballah attempted to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan, but were in time stopped by the security service.
On December 15, 2008, Movsum Samedov, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Islamist Party, which is supported by Iran, called upon the authorities to close the Israeli Embassy in Baku and to sever all relations with the Jewish State. In December 2008 – January 2009, during the Gaza operation “Cast Lead”, in Baku and the neighboring Nardaran, there were held a number of anti-Israeli public actions instigated by Iranian diplomats and local Islamists.
There were also some anti-Israeli statements on the part of public authorities.
On December 29, 2008, Ali Gasanov, Chief of the Sociopolitical Department of the Presidential Administration said, “Azerbaijan condemns the military actions in the Gaza Strip”.
On January 12, Elmira Suleimanova, Human Rights Commissioner and Ombudswoman of Azerbaijan, talked about a mass breach of human rights by Israel in Gaza. On February 4, Lala Abbasova, the Mejlis deputy, claimed that she had left the Azerbaijan-Israel friendship group because she believed that “innocent children, women and old people died in Palestine because of the war policy of Israel”.
On July 29, 2009, the Baku Nariman district court acquitted Avaz Zeynal, the Hural newspaper Chief Editor who was charged with publishing Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf in Azerbaijanian.
On August 2, 2009, M. Gyulaliev, the Chairman of the Azerbaijan “Green” Party claimed that the Jewish community enjoyed too many privileges.
Armenia-Israel relations are aggravated by Israel’s non-recognition of the massacre of Armenians committed by Ottoman Turkey in 1915, as genocide (the last discussion in the Knesset on the problem took place in May 2009, and the decision was postponed indefinitely). Representatives of the Jewish community regularly take part in meetings dedicated to the anniversary of the Armenian genocide. On April 20-21, 2005, in Yerevan they participated in the International symposium dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
On October 27, 2006, a monument to the victims of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust was solemnly opened in Yerevan. The monument was erected on the initiative of the Armenian Jewish community and its chairman, in particular. The Republican Party of Armenia offered financial participation in the creation of the monument.
Nevertheless, some Armenians (mainly, adherents of marginal oppositional parties) hold the Jews responsible for the genocide of 1915. Some mass media people are not devoid of anti-Semitism either.
Several publicists mentioned the “Jewish trace” in the events on March 1-2, in Yerevan, when the opposition protested the results of the presidential elections. They also spoke about the intention of Israel and international Jewish bodies, with the help of Armenian opposition, to make Armenia retract its condemnation of Turkey for the 1915 Armenian genocide.
In October 2007, during his visit to Armenia, Iran’s President M. Ahmadinejad, notorious for his anti-Israeli utterances, was awarded the honorary Doctor’s degree of the Yerevan State University. The Jewish community of Armenia came out with a sharp statement on the occasion, comparing Ahmadinejad to Gebbels.
In the summer of 2009, there was a scandal when some Israeli journalists and political analysts accused Armenia of aiding the transit of armaments from Iran to Hizbollah.
Besides, on July 26, 2009, in the newspaper “Yerkramas”, there was published a response to the statement of Israel’s President S. Peres about the recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The article with the headline “The Israel-Turkey tandem against Armenia, Russia and Iran: why Armenians are forbidden to have two states” claimed that “the Jews and Turks decided to position themselves above other peoples and to possess, on the whole, four states”, while forbidding Armenians to have their second state. It also stated that Israel did not need peace in the Southern Caucasus since it would leave Israel no chance to pursue an anti-Iranian policy.

The reputation of Georgia being tolerant in relation to Jews has become part of its image and is always emphasized by authorities of all levels. Nevertheless, manifestations of anti-Semitism are, at times, recorded in the Republic. In 2007, during the Presidential election campaign, the Jewish origin of Arkady “Badri” Patarkatsishvili (1955-2008), M. Saakashvili’s rival, was regularly alluded to, and his supporters were accused of “having sold themselves to an alien”. In April and in the beginning of May 2008, the Jewish cemetery in Batumi was desecrated twice. The popular Asaval-Dasavali newspaper, in every issue, published anti-Semitic materials (written by Count A. Cherep-Spiridovich and G. Klimov). The publications were stopped after the public interference of G. Batiashvili, a writer and a member of the General Council of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

In Kazakhstan, it is the adherents of radical Islamism that are supporters of anti-Semitism. On January 16, an anti-Israeli rally took place near the Jewish Agency office in Alma-Ata. Several dozen people came to hold posters with slogans about “Israel’ aggression against peaceful people of Palestine”.

The oppositional Islamic party – Party of Islamic Revival (PIR) and the illegal Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir are the main sources of anti-Semitic feelings in the republic. In January 2009, during the operation “The Cast Lead”, the PIR came out with a number of sharp statements directed against Israel. The party also tried to organize an anti-Israeli demonstration, but it was banned by the authorities.

Anti-Semitic feelings in the republic are mainly generated by representatives of radical Islamists. In January 2009, during the Gaza “Cast Lead” operation, the unregistered Muslim Union of Kyrgyzstan came out with sharp statements against Israel. On January 14, Nurlan Motuev, the leader of the Union and Tursunbai Bakir uulu, the former ombudsperson were detained by the police in the center of Bishkek while attempting to set Israeli and American flags on fire. Apart from that, T. Bakir uulu organized, at the State Historical Museum, a display of photographs “Victims of Israel in Gaza” allegedly demonstrating the “Zionist atrocities against the Gaza Strip peaceful citizens”. The display also included some anti-Israeli caricatures reprinted from various Islamist websites. On January 9, 2009, Muratali azhi Zhumanov, chief mufti of the country since the year of 2002, held a press conference at which, on behalf of the Muslim Spiritual Board of Kyrgyzstan, he demanded that Israel “stop the killing of innocent people”.
At the end of May, 2009, in the oppositional newspaper “Achyk Sayasat”, there was published an article “Who Falsifies the Koran?” in which, in particular, it was stated that “the Jews want to annihilate the Kirghiz”.

Radical Islamist organizations Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Uzbekistan Islam Movement and others are active in the republic spreading rumors about the “Jewishness” of I. Karimov and the seizure of power in Uzbekistan by the Jews. On July 30, 2004, in Tashkent, four security guards were killed in terrorist acts near the American and Israeli Embassies. In May 2005, adherents of radical Islamists attempted to seize power in Andijan. In the year of 2007, Mark Vail, founder and leader of the theater “Ilhom”, was killed in Tashkent. He may have been a victim of Islamist and anti-Semitic circles.
To fight the propaganda of radical Islamism and anti-Semitism, the Uzbekistan Jewish National Cultural Center initiated the publication of a series of books on “The Ideology of Terrorism”. The first book of the series – “Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami: Myths and Reality” has already been released. The second book of the series has already been prepared for publication. It is called “Walking along, but not with us” and tells about the terrorist group Tablig.