100 YEARS TOO LATE
By LAHAV HARKOV - The Jerusalem Post
© (photo credit: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)
Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday criminalizing antisemitism.
As defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, antisemitism when committed by an individual is punishable by a fine or a prison sentence of up to five years.
Public officials would also be fined or imprisoned for up to five years, and banned from holding certain offices for up to three years.
Organized groups committing acts of antisemitism, or acts with severe consequences, are punishable with prison sentences of up to eight years.
The new legislation amended an existing law passed in 2021, “On Preventing and Countering Antisemitism in Ukraine,” to add criminal liability.
© Provided by The Jerusalem PostUkraine's biggest national flag on the country's highest flagpole and the giant 'Motherland' monument (credit: REUTERS/VALENTYN OGIRENKO)
The IHRA definition states that “antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Jewish Confederation of Ukraine President Boris Lozhkin wrote in September, when the first law passed, that it “brought Ukraine closer to Europe and the civilized world. Together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, JCU has been conducting joint monitoring of manifestations of antisemitism for a long time, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs promptly responds to all cases of physical or online antisemitism.
“However, for an effective fight against these manifestations, the legal component was missing... A real tool has appeared now for combating a phenomenon that has a much broader meaning than hatred toward Jews.”
By LAHAV HARKOV - The Jerusalem Post
© (photo credit: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)
Ukraine’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday criminalizing antisemitism.
As defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, antisemitism when committed by an individual is punishable by a fine or a prison sentence of up to five years.
Public officials would also be fined or imprisoned for up to five years, and banned from holding certain offices for up to three years.
Organized groups committing acts of antisemitism, or acts with severe consequences, are punishable with prison sentences of up to eight years.
The new legislation amended an existing law passed in 2021, “On Preventing and Countering Antisemitism in Ukraine,” to add criminal liability.
© Provided by The Jerusalem PostUkraine's biggest national flag on the country's highest flagpole and the giant 'Motherland' monument (credit: REUTERS/VALENTYN OGIRENKO)
The IHRA definition states that “antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Jewish Confederation of Ukraine President Boris Lozhkin wrote in September, when the first law passed, that it “brought Ukraine closer to Europe and the civilized world. Together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, JCU has been conducting joint monitoring of manifestations of antisemitism for a long time, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs promptly responds to all cases of physical or online antisemitism.
“However, for an effective fight against these manifestations, the legal component was missing... A real tool has appeared now for combating a phenomenon that has a much broader meaning than hatred toward Jews.”
Ukraine asks U.N. Security Council to discuss Russian bid to recognize separatists
By Michelle Nichols -
UNITED NATIONS/KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine has asked the United Nations Security Council to discuss on Thursday a bid by Russia's parliament to recognize self-proclaimed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The 15-member council was already due to meet on Ukraine's crisis and discuss the Minsk agreements, which it endorsed in 2015, that are designed to end the separatist war. The meeting comes amid high tensions after Russia massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders in recent weeks, though Russia denies planning an attack.
In a letter to Security Council members seen by Reuters, Ukraine's Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said the move by the Russian parliament on Tuesday "further aggravated the threats to both Ukraine's territorial integrity and global security architecture following the ongoing military build-up by the Russian Federation in the vicinity of the borders with Ukraine."
Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - collectively known as the Donbass - broke away from Ukrainian government control in 2014 and proclaimed themselves independent, sparking a conflict with the Ukrainian army.
Russia's lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to ask President Vladimir Putin to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk as independent. Putin declined to be drawn out on how he plans to respond.
Kyslytsya said the decision undermines the Minsk agreements and asked the U.N. Security Council to consider the development during Thursday's meeting in New York.
The U.N. Security Council has met dozens of times to discuss the Ukraine crisis since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. It cannot take any action because Russia is a veto-power along with France, Britain, China and the United States.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Matthias Williams; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)
Russia 'likely' to launch 'limited' military attack against Ukraine, says Estonian intelligence
By Andrius Sytas
(Reuters) -Russia is continuing to move troops to the Ukrainian border and will likely launch a "limited" military attack against the country, the head of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service said on Wednesday.
The attack would include missile bombardment and the occupation of "key terrain" in Ukraine, said Mikk Marran, director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service.
"Right now, our assessment is that they would avoid cities with large populations, as it takes a lot of troops to control those areas. But there is no clear understanding of what avenue the Russian troops might exploit," he told a media briefing held to introduce the service's annual report.
Another possibility could be intensified fighting out of the two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, according to Estonian intelligence. Such escalation is "highly likely," and this way “Russia likely gets plausible deniability and avoids sanctions,” said Marran.
“If Russia is successful in Ukraine, it would encourage it to increase pressure on the Baltics in the coming years," he said. “The threat of war has become main policy tool for Putin.”
Estonian intelligence is aware of approximately 10 battle groups of Russian troops moving toward the Ukrainian border, where 100 Russian military battle groups, or about 170,000 soldiers, are already deployed, the intelligence chief said.
The numbers include soldiers usually deployed in regions around Ukraine, but also troops in Belarus which Russia sent for a military exercise near Ukrainian border.
Some of the soldiers are likely to stay in Belarus beyond the Feb. 20 end of the exercise, a significant worry for the NATO alliance which the Baltics belong to, said Marran. "That would reduce preparation time for an attack against the Baltics.”
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in RigaEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)
By Andrius Sytas
(Reuters) -Russia is continuing to move troops to the Ukrainian border and will likely launch a "limited" military attack against the country, the head of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service said on Wednesday.
The attack would include missile bombardment and the occupation of "key terrain" in Ukraine, said Mikk Marran, director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service.
"Right now, our assessment is that they would avoid cities with large populations, as it takes a lot of troops to control those areas. But there is no clear understanding of what avenue the Russian troops might exploit," he told a media briefing held to introduce the service's annual report.
Another possibility could be intensified fighting out of the two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, according to Estonian intelligence. Such escalation is "highly likely," and this way “Russia likely gets plausible deniability and avoids sanctions,” said Marran.
“If Russia is successful in Ukraine, it would encourage it to increase pressure on the Baltics in the coming years," he said. “The threat of war has become main policy tool for Putin.”
Estonian intelligence is aware of approximately 10 battle groups of Russian troops moving toward the Ukrainian border, where 100 Russian military battle groups, or about 170,000 soldiers, are already deployed, the intelligence chief said.
The numbers include soldiers usually deployed in regions around Ukraine, but also troops in Belarus which Russia sent for a military exercise near Ukrainian border.
Some of the soldiers are likely to stay in Belarus beyond the Feb. 20 end of the exercise, a significant worry for the NATO alliance which the Baltics belong to, said Marran. "That would reduce preparation time for an attack against the Baltics.”
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in RigaEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)
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