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Rector of major Ukraine college says 'no such thing as anti-Semitism'
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: ukraine, chabad 

KIEV, Ukraine - Outwardly, the main campus of the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, known in English by the acronym MAUP, looks like a college in every way. Assorted buildings are dispersed around lawns of the campus on the outskirts of town, with a group of young students milling about between them in a somewhat informal atmosphere.

Notice boards display announcements regarding academic matters and entertainment events. On the surface, there is nothing to indicate the facts that have made MAUP a staple of every report on anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe published over the past five years. There are indeed a great many statues, symbols and small picturesque buildings that underscore the nationalist and religious identity of the place. Pravoslavic crucifixes abound, along with signs marking milestones in the history of the Ukrainian nation, and everywhere one can find the picture of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the 17th-century Cossack leader who also led the attacks that killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, and who is a national hero in Ukraine.

But who can complain about Khmelnitsky's presence in Kiev, where a huge statue of him on a charging steed stars in one of the city's main squares. And besides, there are also statues of such giants of the human spirit as Plato and Socrates and pictures of contemporary politicians, local and global, who have extended their patronage or granted prizes to the university, such as former South African president Nelson Mandela. And this fact is perhaps the most troubling of all for the Jewish and Israeli bodies that monitor anti-Semitism worldwide. They are unable to understand how in the middle of the Ukrainian capital there operates an academic center that publishes entire series of books and regular editions of newspapers with explicit anti-Semitic content, and why the central government refrains from taking determined action against it.
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The office of MAUP's rector, Mykola Golavatiy, continues the thematic scenery from outdoors. Its walls are hung with photographs of national heroes and archaeological sites from the glory days of the Ukrainian people, including the usual picture of Khmelnitsky. Beside his desk stands a long wax candle illuminating a religious icon. In the sitting area is a calendar published by the Ukrainian National Conservative party, the most anti-Semitic party in the country, which was founded by MAUP's president, Georgy Tchokin.

Prof. Golavatiy agreed to be interviewed for an Israeli paper only after some hesitation. On the one hand, MAUP officials want to present a front devoid of racism and anti-Semitism. On the other hand, they are determined to preserve their "academic freedom" and are not willing to appear to be groveling before Jewish pressure groups. He protests the reports against them by Jewish organizations and efforts by the "socialist" education minister not to recognize MAUP degrees. He points with pride to the certificates from the Ukrainian council for higher education and to the 2004 report by a government committee, one of whose members - he stresses - was even Jewish, which confirmed that they are tolerant and teach the history of all peoples equitably. He even managed to locate an official MAUP textbook that has stories from Ukraine's various nationalities, including one story about the Holocaust. He himself had a Jewish friend, "a man who is better than a lot of Ukrainians," who emigrated to the United States eight years ago.

Just discussions

Golavatiy cannot understand how his school can be tarred with the brush of racism. The university has students of 40 different nationalities, including several hundred Jews, and there are also Jews on the faculty. So how, the rector is asked, can books be sold under the MAUP imprint accusing Zionism and Jewish organizations of posing a danger to Ukraine and to world peace? His response: "When the issues of terror and globalization arose, discussions were held here on these matters, and also about Zionism and anti-Semitism. The publications in question merely report on the discussions. It was only discussions," he explains.

MAUP also invited Jewish figures to those discussions, but they declined. "But there were also Jewish lecturers, even one from Israel named Shahar; I don't think he's connected to any academic institution in Israel, but he's from there," he said.

MAUP, he insists, is not anti-Semitic. "There is no such thing as anti-Semitism anyway, it's a concept invented by scientists," he maintains. "Those [Jewish] organizations are anti-Semitic. Every time there is talk of Jews, they say it's anti-Semitism."

Golavatiy holds one organization responsible for everything: Chabad - the most prominent and best-known Jewish entity in Ukraine today, which in the eyes of many locals represents all Jews.

Evil Chabad

"Chabad gave the world nothing good," he grumbles. "Something is wrong with them. This is an international organization with branches around the world and you cannot say they are for peace; they do evil things. They are also tied to extremism and terrorist actions."

As far as he's concerned, what is really at issue is a battle over academic freedom. "There are not only positive things in Jews and Judaism, there are also negative things, and nobody will deprive me of the possibility to research these negative things in the history of the Jews," he said. "The UN ruled in 1975 that Zionism is racism. It is necessary to study this as well and understand why it was said."

The vast majority of MAUP's 50,000 students, enrolled at 18 branches across Ukraine and additional branches in other Eastern European countries, are not engaged in anti-Semitic activity. However, according to Amos Hermon, head of the Jewish Agency's task force on countering anti-Semitism, "MAUP has not only become the main producer of anti-Semitic literature in Ukraine, but it distributes these materials in various languages throughout Eastern and Central Europe."

Related articles:
  • No anti-Semitism in Ukraine, President Yushchenko insists
  • Ukrainian president condemns anti-Semitism in Knesset speech
  • Ukraine president vows before Knesset to combat anti-Semitism
  • Anti-Semitic incidents rise in Germany, Australia, U.S. in 2007

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      1.   Anyone who says Chabad is evil must be seriously lost 06:38  |  Gili 06/02/08
      2.   we have to be in their face all the time unplesant but necessary 06:40  |  ralph 06/02/08
      3.   NOT ANTISEMITIC; THEY JUST HATE JEWS 06:59  |  Jorge 06/02/08
      4.   How Extraordinary: In a world ... 07:17  |  Brad 06/02/08
      5.   Fight anti-Semitism. 07:39  |  Harold Lane 06/02/08
      6.   Define your terms 07:58  |  Natallie Durson 06/02/08
      7.   major Semite people are the Arabs 08:58  |  djugo 06/02/08
      8.   "Antisemitism" is an accepted term 10:06  |  Mark 06/02/08
      9.   People that ten to accuse Jews (or Israel) of all world evils ... 10:13  |  Mark 06/02/08
      10.   Natallie-not so... 10:17  |  Sam Gonshaw 06/02/08
      11.   rector to join haaretz staff immediately 10:29  |  v hardman 06/02/08
      12.   This little lost sould is confused and a sad excuse for a human 10:58  |  Johnny 06/02/08
      13.   And in Iran there are no homosexuals... 11:09  |  A Jew 06/02/08
      14.   Well, Nathalie since nobody cares... 11:20  |  Michael 06/02/08
      15.   mark #9=jew inherited lying traits 11:22  |  Donnie 06/02/08
      16.   the problem is easily understood 11:30  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/02/08
      17.   antisemitism is quasi non-existent in the world 11:46  |  mehmet 06/02/08
      18.   YOU came to palestine and comit crimes 11:50  |  Donnie 06/02/08
      19.   #15 donnie does not read ny times reports on us forces 11:50  |  v hardman 06/02/08
      20.   Call me a revisionist, but... 11:52  |  David 06/02/08
      21.   The persecution and killing of Jews... 11:57  |  Edith 06/02/08
      22.   # 8 People turn a blind eye to their own... 11:59  |  Edith 06/02/08
      23.   This website is making me feel sad 12:02  |  Edith 06/02/08
      24.   FOR GOD SAKE 12:26  |  indrajaya 06/02/08
      25.   Foolish Jews 12:43  |  Choni Davidowitz 06/02/08
      26.   If the U.N. and the media were not so 12:56  |  Nechama 06/02/08
      27.   There are Jewish terrorists 13:28  |  PETER SM 06/02/08
      28.   Jorge in Honduras (Post No. 3) 13:28  |  Johnny Weintraub 06/02/08
      29.   The truth is 13:35  |  Matthew Kretzmer 06/02/08
      30.   My Mothers family escaped from the Ukraine 13:50  |  Petra 06/02/08
      31.   The article proves some of Proffesors` points 14:08  |  Bogdan Malinki 06/02/08
      32.   And theres no such thing as Ukraine? 14:12  |  David Turner 06/02/08
      33.   #10 Sam Gonshaw 14:13  |  Matthew Kretzmer 06/02/08
      34.   the misuse of the word 14:15  |  kaled 06/02/08
      35.   #25 Choni Davidowitz 14:19  |  Matthew Kretzmer 06/02/08
      36.   This article is FALSE on some facts 14:27  |  Alex 06/02/08
      37.   #30 Petra 14:30  |  Matthew Kretzmer 06/02/08
      38.   lets put em on the target list 14:32  |  tony 06/02/08
      39.   #21 Edith 14:36  |  Matthew Kretzmer 06/02/08
      40.   to indrajaya 14:47  |  a german 06/02/08
      41.   # 40, A GERMAN 15:03  |  indrajaya 06/02/08
      42.   Ukraine is only a scientific concept! 15:18  |  Petraska 06/02/08
      43.   #6,extensive targetting and killing 15:20  |  Vlad 06/02/08
      44.   Matthew Kretzmer that`s what my parents said in 1945 in Germany 15:32  |  Miriam Ashkelon 06/02/08
      45.   REALLY TIRED OF THIS NONSENSE 15:40  |  JPUDENTAIN 06/02/08
      46.   #6 Define your terms, 15:44  |  Mike 06/02/08
      47.   Matthew of the Kretinz 15:46  |  ZISD 06/02/08
      48.   Donnie: A Dim Bulb 15:46  |  Tex 06/02/08
      49.   JP`s on the Loose 15:52  |  Tex 06/02/08
      50.   JP 16:02  |  ZISD 06/02/08
      51.   Missing opening sentence 16:22  |  Shlomo 06/02/08
      52.   Anti semitism 16:28  |  Abu Halil bin yusuf 06/02/08
      53.   #27 Peter SM spreading sewer rumours 16:29  |  Shlomo 06/02/08
      54.   Simite is defined as Afro Asian 16:34  |  reader 06/02/08
      55.   #6 Natalie and others - just look it up 16:37  |  Shlomo 06/02/08
      56.   conflating/combining antizionism/judaism w. 16:40  |  bozhidar balkas 06/02/08
      57.   Yeah, I agree with #1 17:08  |  William 06/02/08
      58.   #44 Miriam Ashkelon 17:11  |  Matthew Kretzmer 06/02/08
      59.   #53 Shlomo 17:14  |  PETER SM 06/02/08
      60.   Anti-Muslims Attitudes - Indrajaya#41 17:17  |  William 06/02/08
      61.   to mehmut from Istanbul 17:18  |  TAZ 06/02/08
      62.   # 17 mehmet the ingorant 17:44  |  Joe 06/02/08
      63.   #54 reader needs to read dictionary 17:57  |  v hardman 06/02/08
      64.   I am telling the truth 17:57  |  mehmet 06/02/08
      65.   #39 Matthew Kretzmer 18:08  |  Edith 06/02/08
      66.   Ukrainians are the biggest enemies of Jews 18:09  |  Moishe Kadish 06/02/08
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