Russian Jewish community hopes rabbi beating in Kyiv won't develop into trend
MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR) hopes Ukraine will avoid an outbreak of anti-Semitism. The statement was made in the light of the recent beating of a rabbi in Kyiv.
"The Russian Jewish community is especially alarmed by the graphic demonstration of anti-Semitism under the circumstances of socioeconomic instability, for instance, the latest attacks against Jews and Jewish facilities in Ukraine," Federation press service head Andrei Glotser told the Interfax-Religion portal on Monday.
"However, our community would like to hope that such incidents will not develop into a trend in Ukraine," he said.
In his words, the beating of a volunteer of Hatsala Ukraine Jewish rescue organization, Rabbi Gilel Cohen, "is a typical demonstration of street anti-Semitism."
"Anti-Semitism is an old xenophobic plague, which manifests itself from time to time in one country or another. Unfortunately, such attacks sporadically happen on the streets of Kyiv, other European cities and Russia," he said.
It was reported last week Cohen was attacked in Kyiv on his way to visit a patient at a hospital. The rabbi was beaten and wounded with a sharp object in his leg. The assailants insulted the rabbi and used the offensive term 'Yid'.
