The Moscow Times— The lack of an official explanation for the abrupt expulsion from Russia of U.S. lawyer and former Justice Department official Thomas Firestone earlier this month has led to a flurry of speculation about what may have prompted it. Firestone, an expert on corruption in Russian law enforcement agencies who worked as a lawyer for the Moscow office of the Baker & McKenzie law firm, was detained […]
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Top Psychologists Ask Putin to Allow U.S. Parents to Adopt 100 Children
From The Moscow Times— A group of top Russian child psychologists, psychiatrists and educators have appealed to President Vladimir Putin to allow about 100 Russian children who were in the final stages of the adoption process to be allowed to join their new U.S. parents. The open letter says the children had met with the potential parents many times and developed an emotion attachment, but the courts were unable to finalize the adoptions […]
Moscow Jewish Museum Depicts the ComplexHistory of Jews in Russia
From JSpace— The world’s largest and most expensive Jewish Museum opened to great fanfare in Russia late last year. And although it has only been open for less than six months, the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow has become a must-see for any visitors to the Russian capital. A high profile project, its […]
Ukrainian Jews Worry About Rise of the Svoboda Party and Antisemitism
KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Marching in formation, six young men in dark jackets approach an anti-government rally in Cherkasy, a city some 125 miles southeast of Kiev. At the appointed moment, they remove their windbreakers to reveal white T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Beat the kikes.” Their jackets carry the name of Svoboda, the ultranationalist […]
UCSJ Letter to the Co-Chairs of the Helsinki Commission
April 15, 2013 U R G E N T Honorable Senator Benjamin Cardin Honorable Congressman Christopher Smith Co-chairs of the Helsinki Commission of the American Congress (Committee on Foreign Affairs) Dear co-chairs of the Helsinki Commission: Alarming information about the escalation of wide attacks on the Russian NGOs comes every day from Moscow. Almost all […]
Anti-Semitic Protesters Injure Opposition
JTA — Several people were injured after protesters displayed anti-Semitic slogans at a political rally in Ukraine. The April 6 rally in Cherkasy, a city situated 100 miles southeast of Kiev, turned violent after six men took off their jackets to reveal T-shirts emblazoned with the words: “Beat the kikes” and “Svoboda,” the name of a Ukrainian […]
Numerous Anti-Semitic Incidents Have Been Reported Throughout Eastern Europe in Recent Days
(JTA) — A string of anti-Semitic events and incidents have been recorded in Ukraine, Poland and Hungary in recent days. A swastika and neo-Nazi symbols was spray-painted last week on a monument in Mykolaiv, near Odessa, to the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In Kiev, anti-Semitic flyers on Monday were placed on a synagogue […]
Cossack Revival in Russia
From the NY Times— STAVROPOL, Russia — Outside this city’s police headquarters on a recent night, a priest in a purple velvet hat and gold stole moved from one man to the next, offering a cross to be kissed and drenching their faces with holy water from a long brush. And so began another night […]
Lautenberg Amendment, Originally for Soviet Jews, Serves as Lifeline to Iranian Religious Minorities
(JTA) – When the Lautenberg Amendment was introduced in 1990, it provided a mechanism for hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews to exit their crumbling country and immigrate to freedom in the United States. Since 2004, it has served as a lifeline for religious minorities fleeing the Islamic theocracy of Iran. The amendment, named for […]
Arson Suspected at Jewish Community Center in Central Russia
(JTA) — A Jewish community center in Perm, a city in central Russia, sustained minor damage in what police suspect was attempted arson with fire bombs. Firefighters in Perm, a municipality located on the banks of the Kama River near the Ural Mountains, put out a small fire inside the center on Saturday, the government-owned […]