Apparently it wasn't the US after all, it was the Israelis who provided the funding for Yuschenko. Yahoo! News - Crisis erupts between Israel and Russia over aid to Yushchenko: report.
This makes it sound like a political problem only. But it isn't. The real problem with this is that there has been a tendency in Russia to blame it on the Jews when things go wrong. Looks like the Putin government is doing it again. Point is that anti-Semitism is alive and well there, still.
First things first.
ReplyDeleteFrom that very article: "Contacted by AFP for a response, no Israeli official was prepared to comment on the report. " Also note the use of the word "allegedly."
Secondly, IF it turns out to be true, clue me in on where the aleged anti-Semitism is. If any and all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic in nature, does it follow that any criticism of Russia is Russophobia? How is Israel a special case?
Would you call the USSR's early recognition of Israel as a case of "pro-Semitism?"
In short, wheareas you claim that this alleged event proves that anti-Semitism is alive and well in Russia, the fact is that it proves nothing.
I believe it is anti-Semitism as "there is a tendency in Russia to blame it on the Jews" which is true. Like Putin's comment in a press conference about the people around Yush "sionistskih" (which was even identified on the Kremlin web site as anti-semitic).As well as creating a Yush-Israel connection is to smear Yush, not criticism of Israel. It is like the story reported that the first thing Yush will do as President is go for cosmetic surgery in Israel. It is similar to trying to put fleas on someone and is in no way legitimate criticism of Israel.
ReplyDeleteIf you have proof of incidents (the author of this blog writes "Looks like the Putin government is doing it again,") I'd sure like to hear it. Are there anti-Semitic politicians in Russia? Sure - Zhirinovsky comes to mind, as does that nutty bald Communist, whose name I can never remember. But I don't believe (as I have seen no proof) that Russian policy is in any way anti-Semitic or even anti-Israel.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I will concede is the tendency among the people to have a go at the "oligarch Jews." My feeling is that they're unpopular because they're thieving oligarchs, not because they're Jews. The fact that the ones we hear about most (Berezovsky, Gusinsky, Abramovich, etc.) are Jewish is - how to put this - an unforunate coincidence.
Putin's comment, to my mind, was simply a verbal slip. It makes no sense otherwise. And they retracted it. You could argue that it was a Freudian slip of some kind, but I'm skeptical.
The Yush-Israel connection has nothing to do with Russia. Whoever thought that one up was trying to influence Ukrainians, not Russians. If you look at it, anti-Yush smears in the predominantly Russian-speaking east were of the "American puppet" type.
Anti-Yush smears were across the board - from remixing his voice from a speech where he stated that he would kneel before the miners to have the miners kneel before him, to creating an Israel-Yush bond (a fellow blogger from Kyiv had her letterbox stuffed with anti-semitic post regarding Yush's visit to a synagogue) to Putin's remark (a SLIP? A LEADER OF A MAJOR COUNTRY HAS A SLIP? if this had been Bush, it would have made headlines!, to stories in Russian newspapers, etc.) And Putin was not speaking to Ukrainians, he was speaking to Russians. The report of Yush going for surgery in Israel - Russian newspaper. It is anti-Semitic and it is, what it is.
ReplyDelete>Anti-Yush smears were across the board - from remixing >his voice from a speech where he stated that he would >kneel before the miners to have the miners kneel >before him,
ReplyDeleteDid Russians do it?
>to creating an Israel-Yush bond (a fellow >blogger >from Kyiv had her letterbox stuffed with anti-semitic >post regarding Yush's visit to a synagogue)
Printed in Russia?
>to Putin's remark (a SLIP? A LEADER OF A MAJOR COUNTRY >HAS A SLIP?
I find it hard to believe that you could possibly be American, if you're asking this question :-) What about Bush's remark on ob-gyns not being able to "give their love" to female patients? If you're telling me that wasn't a slip, I think you've got more problems with Bush than you think. How about Reagan's gaffes, which gave the world Larry Speakes and the infamous phrase "The President misspoke?" "We begin bombing Russia in 5 minutes..." Hardy-har-har.
>if this had been Bush, it would have made headlines!,
It did make headlines. How else would you have known about it?
>to stories in Russian newspapers, etc.) And Putin was >not speaking to Ukrainians, he was speaking to >Russians.
And he gaffed. Think about it: Yushchenko is accused by many of his opponents, here and abroad (largely unfairly, especially after he got rid of Tyagnybok) of harbouring anti-Semites in his bloc. Which makes more sense: that Putin would accuse him of "anti-Semitism" or "Zionism?"
>The report of Yush going for surgery in Israel - >Russian newspaper.
Which one?
>It is anti-Semitic and it is, what it is.
So you say. I think you're wrong and your evidence is extraordinarily circumstantial.
But israel did do it.
ReplyDelete"Israel did it" is the truth everytime there is an international crisis.
Semitism has a bogus war raging in Iraq.
Semitism has a bogus war prepared for Syria, and Iran.