UKRAINE HONOURS ANTI-SEMITE

Western media close their eyes on everything that could taint the reputation of pro-western Ukrainian leader Victor Yushchenko. However, this gentleman has a lot to hide, especially his sympathies with anti-Semitic Ukrainian nationalists. Several days ago the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that President of the Ukraine Victor Yushchehko awarded the Ukraine's highest honour -- the "Hero of the Ukraine" medal -- to a notorious anti-Semite, Ivan Spodarenko. Western media, usually very sensitive to any manifestation of anti-Semitism, especially in Russia, ignored this gesture by the Ukrainian leader. "Spodarenko, a Socialist lawmaker, is the head of the editorial board and former longtime editor of Silski Visti, the JTA reported. In 2004, the newspaper published an article asserting that 400,000 Jews served in Nazi SS forces during the German invasion of the Ukraine in World War II. With its circulation of 500,000, Silski Visti is one of the most widely read Ukrainian newspapers, catering mainly to rural readers. In 2002 and 2004, the newspaper published a series of anti-Semitic articles that outraged the Jewish community. The paper was sued over anti-Semitic articles in 2004 but the case was closed in 2005 without a verdict. Last April, Spodarenko was among the signatories of an anti-Semitic letter calling 'to stop the criminal activities' of the organized Jewish community in Ukraine.”
It’s an open secret in the Ukraine that anti-Semitism is common in nationalistic circles. It is damped by foreign mentors working with Yushchenko but anti Jewish rhetoric resurfaces from time to time. Such situation seems to arrange the United States who still lists the Ukraine as the largest American aid recipient after Israel and Egypt.