Ukraine’s Jews caught in a propaganda war based on the ‘political manipulation of anti-Semitism’

[Behind the Aegis]

When masked men distributed leaflets last week in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk advising Jews they needed to register with authorities or face deportation, shivers were felt well beyond Ukraine’s borders.

“In the year 2014, after all the miles travelled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable — it’s grotesque,” John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, said in Geneva.

The origin of the tract remains murky and the group whose name was attached, the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, has denied any involvement. Jewish leaders in the city have said they see the incident as a provocation, rather than a real threat to their community of about 17,000 people.

But regardless of whether the leaflets were a dirty trick aimed at smearing pro-Russian separatists or the hateful handiwork of local fascists, they illustrate how the plight of Jews has become fuel for propaganda in a region with a long, bloody history of anti-Semitism.

“From our perspective, the real issue is, whatever the motivation, whoever the source, this was an incident of anti-Semitism that echoes the treatment of Jews in Germany by the Nazis in the 1930s, a message of intimidation,” said Michael Salberg, director of international affairs for the New York-based Anti-Defamation League.

‘Putin is just using anti-Semitism as a kind of tool to discredit the Euromaidan process. He doesn’t care about anti-Semitism’
.

more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/04/25/ukraines-jews-caught-in-a-propaganda-war-that-uses-the-political-manipulation-of-anti-semitism/

[hr]

Putin ain't the only one!

[jakeXT]

1. Kerry mentioned it pretty quickly after it occured/nt

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Yes, as SOS, he should have ignored it.

[jakeXT]

3. A bullhorn for fake leaflets or fake photos ... silence for real extremists in West Ukraine /nt

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Funny, how you lead with misdirection, as if to provide an example for the article.

Shiny!!!

Oh, can you point to where Kerry claimed the Russians or their proxies were responsible? I have read so many articles about this I can't remember where I saw that tidbit.

[jakeXT]

5. You were talking about the SOS, I didn't mention Russia

only the job performace of the State Departmemt.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. My bad! Point out the article where he knew they were fake and still made his comments.

I missed that one too.

[JI7]

7. even if it was "fake" it still deserves to be condemned

he didn't put the blame on anyone. he condemned what was out there. and when you consider the history of the area it especially deserves to be criticized.

it was fake in that the person it claims to be from isn't actually from them. but the stuff was still being put out there . the fact that it was out there was not a lie.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. I agree. Tell the other poster!

Of course, there is a certain irony in the sub-thread given the nature of the article.

[jakeXT]

13. I can only give you Kerry talking about photographs, the opposition in Ukraine knew from day one it

was brilliant disinfo.

But even though Novosti Donbassa is not the most reliable source even by the less than exacting standards of Ukrainian media, the story was apparently too scandalous to ignore. It ricocheted around the Internet on Wednesday before winding up in the Israeli press and, finally, on the website of USA Today. By Thursday evening, the article had reached U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who commented on it during high-level talks in Geneva. “In the year 2014, after all of the miles traveled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable, it’s grotesque. It is beyond unacceptable,” Kerry told reporters after talks meant to resolve the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. By that point, this flier was making news around the world.

But even if it looked like the start of some racist purge, the flier was more likely part of an ill-conceived extortion plot or a propaganda ploy against the separatists. For one thing, the sign-off at the bottom of the flier — “Yours, the People’s Governor of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin” — seemed off. This was a reference to the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, which was formed a week and a half ago by a group of armed separatists who seized the headquarters of the regional government. Theirs is perhaps the smallest breakaway republic in the world, as its territory is confined to that one building and a small patch of the plaza around it. Since April 7, they have barricaded themselves inside with a cache of weapons and demanded a referendum on secession from Ukraine. At the bottom of the flier was a reproduction of the stamp these separatists use on the press badges they have issued to journalists.

...

That was part of the reason suspicion fell on their political opponents as soon as the fliers started making the rounds online. Dmitro Tkachenko, who helped organize a large rally in Donetsk on Thursday to support the unity of Ukraine, called the flier “a brilliant piece of disinformation” against the separatists. Asked if one of his fellow activists for Ukrainian unity could have staged it, Tkachenko says it’s possible. “But this is a sophisticated trick, and to be honest, I don’t think any of our folks are that smart,” he tells TIME.

http://time.com/67272/ukraine-jew-register-donetsk/

APRIL 22, 2014


Scrutiny Over Photos Said to Tie Russia Units to Ukraine

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/world/europe/scrutiny-over-photos-said-to-tie-russia-units-to-ukraine.html?ref=world&_r=0

APRIL 24, 2014


“Some of the individual Special Operations personnel who were active on Russia’s behalf in Chechnya, Georgia and Crimea have been photographed in Slovyansk, Donetsk and Luhansk,” Mr. Kerry said. “Some are even bragging about it by themselves on their Russian social media sites.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/world/europe/ukraine-crisis.html?_r=1

[Behind the Aegis]

14. Oh yes, the "Ukrainian opposition" knew "what was what" from "day one."

OK.

[jakeXT]

15. The opposition to the seperatists, I should have been clearer /nt

[Behind the Aegis]

16. Ah. I see.

They, too, were imbued with the power to know it was all "a ruse."

[LeftishBrit]

9. Antisemitism is a big problem in both Russia and Ukraine...

so that as best playing 'who is more antisemitic' games is unseemly. At worst, and especially when Jews and anti-Semitism are used as pawns and as props for false info and deception, it becomes decidedly dangerous.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Something I said long ago when this type of shit was cropping up.

Of course, there are those who like to ignore it to make their own bigoted points. Anti-Semitism is a topic that scares many people, so they mock, use it as a game, or use to attack other Jews.

[m-lekktor]

11. a pox on both their houses sadly.

Also I am sure us gay folk don't have it so well in either place , it's not just russia with the virulent anti gay crap (i just did a quick google to verify this). I don't trust either side, the pro west with their austerity and other strategic and local resource pillaging wants/ ( Obama wants to introduce fracking over there) OR russia. face it, our state department has a shady history (USAID etc.) so i see the pro state department folks and the few RT referencing , Russia sympathetic folks as two sides of the same coin. As I said, a pox on BOTH their houses. it's hard to get truthful and accurate info on the Ukraine situation.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. recently, Crimea enacted Russia's "Gay Propaganda" law.

Gays aren't going to fare well either. Seems other groups are getting a raw deal too.