The Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine (Vaad of Ukraine) is worriedly observing the public use of anti-Semitic rhetoric by Ukrainian radical nationalists, above all – by members of the political party All-Ukrainian Union “Svoboda.” Subsequent to the latest parliamentary elections, Svoboda was able to form its own parliamentary party and has delegated its representative to the post of deputy speaker. The leaders and active members of this political power have been known for their multiple anti-Semitic statements, as well as for being actively xenophobic towards other groups. Notably, the leader of the party, Oleg Tyagnybok has denied the anti-Semitic character of Svoboda's ideology immediately after the elections took place, publicly and on multiple occasions, and some optimistic observers even expressed hope that Svoboda, having made it into the parliament, will cast off its radicalism and xenophobic rhetoric. Unfortunately, this hope did not come to fruition.

During the period between the elections and the first session of the parliament, an entire group of Svoboda's active members who had been elected to the parliament have been noticed in rather profane anti-Semitic statements. For example, the leader of Svoboda's Kharkiv division Igor Shvaika organized an unsanctioned march, the participants of which raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and sang a song which called for “knifing the kikes.” Igor Miroshnichenko, the leader of the Sumy division of the party called Mila Kunis, an American actress who was born in Ukraine and who shared her childhood impressions of Soviet anti-Semitism with the press, a “kikess.” The community's outrage at Miloshnichenko's outburst provoked more inappropriate remarks from other newly-elected Svoboda parliamentarians. For example, the official Svoboda spokesperson Alexander Aronets, who called the American actress “kikey,” also made an entire speech about “kikes denying the Holodomor.” Philologist Iryna Farion, elected from Svoboda in a single mandate majority constituency, reminded the public of her arguments, which she used earlier to attempt to justify Svoboda's leaderg Oleg Tyagnybok after his notorious speech of 2004, in which he made a stand for a fight against “kikes, moskals (derogatory term for Russians – ed.) and other vermin,” and after which he refused to apologize for this statement “to the occupants” and was excluded from the Nasha Ukraina parliamentary party for it. According to Farion, who cites 19th century literary works, “kike” (“jyd”) is not an expletive in Ukrainian.

It must be noted that the western regions of Ukraine, partly under the influence of Polish and partly due to the archaic character of the dialects which have been preserved in the countryside, often do not use “jyd” as an expletive, but as a common synonym for “Jew.” However, as a whole it cannot be said that “jyd” does not have a derogatory connotation. Farion's statement also contradicts the current academic dictionary of the Ukrainian language, which defines “jyd” either as “profane and offensive” or as “an outdated term for 'Jew.'” Enough to say that the last time it had been officially used in public announcements was by the Nazi occupational administration, in an address to the “Jyd residents of Kyiv,” an outright lie to collect the Jews of Kyiv for the Babiy Yar shootings. In this context, justification attempts citing the language of Taras Shevchenko or Ivan Franko seem scurrilous, hypocritical, and inadmissible. The only proper way to denote nationality in any context – for example, in the nationality roster for the official population census – is “Jew.” This seems to be understandable, self-evident, and does not require any additional arguments in favor of it. In contemporary Ukrainian, as in contemporary Russian, the word 'jyd' is profane and offensive.

In respect of the above, Vaad of Ukraine would like to once again point out the inadmissibility of manifestations of anti-Semitism in public declarations and calls for adequate evaluations of those that occur. Furthermore, in the political context current existing in Ukraine it seems warranted to once again ask the parties of the opposition that adhere to liberal, democratic, and civilized values to reevaluate the very possibility of cooperation with a national and radical party, the very basis of whose rhetoric contains anti-Semitism. The question of having an alliance with a faction openly utilizing Judophobia is a test on adherence to European values. Vaad of Ukraine believes that any alliance with the national radicals legitimates anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and politically-motivated violence in the public sphere. In addition, such an alliance discredits the entire opposition.

Even though the latest statements on the Jewish question made by Svoboda parliamentarians were extremely inappropriate, the use of 'kike' in Svoboda's rhetoric is not nearly the most serious grievance against it. Far more worrying are the recent physical attacks on human rights advocates and political opponents by Svoboda members and supporters, which were fully justified in official Svoboda propaganda.

However, for some reason it was the obstinate use of “kike” by Svoboda's parliamentary deputies in their public rhetoric that garnered the most resonance in society. Worried citizens even wrote to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice for an explanation, which themselves garnered a wide resonance and a very ambivalent reaction. According to the Ministry of Justice official response, there are no legal restrictions on using the words “kike,” “kikess,” and “kikes” in Ukraine. This answer spread like wildfire on the Internet, and provoked a very lively and emotional, though also meaningless and pointless discussion.

Naturally, the use of the word “kike” is not prohibited by the law, and, in fact, cannot be prohibited, just as any other offensive and insulting word. But this does not excuse the Ukrainian authorities from the necessity of giving a decisive political evaluation to impudent manifestations of anti-Semitism in Ukraine.

Vaad of Ukraine would like to stress that, certainly, not only the use of an inappropriate form of appellation for the Jewish people makes many of the statements made by xenophobes anti-Semitic, but their meaning. Anti-Semitic statements in political discussions are inadmissible in any form. Even if the leader of the national radicals had spoken of the necessity of fighting “Russians, Jews, and other vermin” and not “moscals and kikes,” that would not have made his speech less anti-Semitic and xenophobic. Outrage over the inappropriate form of the anti-Semitic statements is understandable and entirely justified, but must not replace a proper analysis of their meaning and place in the current socio-political situation.

Notably and obviously, many observers indignant at the anti-Semitic statements of Svoboda deputies needlessly generalize a specific problem, calling for the international community to react to the “rapid growth of anti-Semitism in Ukraine,” which allegedly urges Ukrainian Jews to emigration. Such statements are not only baselessly emotional, but factually incorrect.

The experts of Vaad of Ukraine have been monitoring manifestations of anti-Semitism in Ukraine for twenty years. The analysis of the data base which has been accumulated over the years allows to make a confident statement that recent years have shown a positive dynamic in this respect. The peak of practically all registered forms of anti-Semitic manifestations was in 2005-2007. Generalizing the existing data, it can be said that the number of anti-Semitic publications in the media, acts of vandalism aimed at cemeteries, memorials, and synagogues, attacks on Jews in the streets has been steadily declining over the last 4-5 years, as have been the indexes of negative attitude towards the Jews in public consciousness (according to the study of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology). For a detailed analysis, Vaad of recommends the “Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in Ukraine – 2012 Report” (to be published in English soon). The situation is, naturally, far from ideal. But the cries about its rapid deterioration are based only on emotion and are the result of mistakes, a lack of awareness, or conscious manipulation.

Naturally, the fact that national-radicals inclined towards xenophobia are widely supported among the electorate provokes worry and needs to be analyzed. However, the statements of particular parliamentarians do not make or break the attitudes of society. Once more stressing the inadmissibility of the justification of anti-Semitic rhetoric by pseudo-scientific linguistic arguments, Vaad of Ukraine also calls for refraining from unwarranted generalizations and fear mongering that capitalizes on particular aspects of word use in the public discourse.