US GIFT TO ANTI-SEMITES

The United States made a gift to the Ukraine on the first anniversary of the Orange Revolution. It is not a generous sum of money, the penniless regime of Victor Yushchenko needs so desperately, but only a vote in the Senate, of great significance to Kiev. Last Friday, the Upper House of US Congress exempted the Ukraine from the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act adopted to punish the nations who restrict free emigration of their citizens. The amendment stipulates that the abusers should be deprived of the most favoured nation’s status in trade with the US. This measure had been introduced in 1974 to pressure the Soviet Union to let Soviet Jews emigrate to Israel. Though both the Ukraine and Russia abandoned the practice of keeping their citizens travel under strict control long ago American lawmakers kept the amendment in place. The White House routinely waives it every year on the grounds that both nations respect the right to free emigration.
The Senate vote last Friday also pursued another goal. The US lawmakers sent a message to Moscow implying that her former dependent territory got a privilege that herself will not receive at least in the near future. Russia is used to humiliation and patronage of Americans, always eager to show off their alleged superiority, and Moscow will take the beating as it did in the past. On the other hand, American senators made a very stupid and serious mistake. If in 1974 they had voted for the Jackson-Vanik amendment to support Soviet Jews, now they have revoked it to support Ukrainian anti-Semites. During a recent visit to Paris president Victor Yushchenko and his wife laid flowers at the grave of Ukrainian nationalist leader Simon Petliura often accused of fomenting pogroms in the Ukraine in the short period of his regime in 1919. Quiet recently, Ukrainian chargé d'affaires in Israel was summoned to the Department of External Affaires in Jerusalem and had an unpleasant talk with its official on an incident in Kiev. On November 2, the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management issued a statement in support of the appeal by the president of Iran “to erase Israel from the map of the world”. The Israelis expressed their concern and requested the Ukraine to finally rein in the militant advocates of her statehood at the Interregional Academy. This institution is notorious for other anti-Semitic outbursts, like Jew-bashing articles in its periodicals, and Kiev ignored previous Israeli protests.
It would be naïve to assume that the US will reverse its decision because of the above mentioned episodes. On the contrary, president Bush welcomed the first anniversary of the revolution and said: “America is proud to call Ukraine a friend”. The Interregional Academy of Personnel Management might be happy to hear it.