Ukrainian university asks UN to 'close' Israel
By VLADIMIR MATVEYEV / JTA
KIEV, Ukraine
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Iran's president, who wants to see a world without Israel, has a vociferous ally in Ukraine.
A Kiev-based university that already has gained international notoriety for its anti-Zionist propaganda and anti-Semitic publications now wants the United Nations to "close" Israel.
The call came in November from the Interregional Academy for Personnel Management, known by its Russian acronym MAUP, whose leadership said the United Nations should revoke its 1947 resolution on the creation of a Jewish state.
"Mankind lived without the State of Israel exactly 2,670 years, but after the second of its creation all the world feels a constant aggression of the old 'sons of the devil,' " according to a university statement, published last month in the school newspaper, supporting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent call to destroy Israel.
MAUP in recent months has become a major purveyor of anti-Semitism in Ukraine. But the silence until recently of Ukrainian authorities - many of whom have ties to the university - has led to criticism from the local Jewish community, international Jewish organizations and Israeli officials.
Critics say the issue could seriously compromise Ukraine's hard-earned reputation as a new democracy seeking full acceptance by the international community, including the European Union and NATO.
Stung by growing criticism, Ukrainian officials may finally be taking the issue seriously. President Viktor Yuschenko this week urged his country's elites to condemn anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
"There can be no ethnicity issue in a European country," Yuschenko was quoted as saying Monday by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. In his remarks, directed toward artists, journalists and academics, Yuschenko specifically condemned MAUP for the first time.
The anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism of MAUP's leaders run against Ukraine's official policy line, but the school appears to have close ties to leading policymakers, including Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk, an expert on Arab countries who only recently gave up his job at MAUP, reportedly under pressure from Yuschenko.
Many of Ukraine's top politicians - including Yuschenko, Tarasyuk, former president Leonid Kravchuk and several members of Parliament - have received honorary degrees or titles from MAUP. Many lesser-known politicians and bureaucrats also call MAUP their alma mater.
These leaders find themselves in good company: The school has bestowed honorary titles and degrees on some internationally renowned hate-mongers, including US white supremacist David Duke, who has a doctorate in history from MAUP and has participated in a number of MAUP-organized anti-Zionist conferences in Kiev.
Zoya Borisova, head of the school's Department of Russian and Ukrainian as Foreign Languages, dismissed accusations of anti-Semitism.
"This is a fight against Zionism, but not against Jews," she said.
MAUP is the country's largest private university. With a dozen branches throughout Ukraine, MAUP has about 35,000 students, including hundreds of foreigners, mostly from Arab and developing countries.
The university offers degrees in law, economics, business administration, accounting, political science, practical medicine and psychology and claims to have a network of alumni and supporters in 60 countries.
Formerly a state-owned college system that offered post-graduate education for the public sector, MAUP went private after the fall of communism in 1991.
"MAUP was created by prominent representatives of the Ukrainian ruling elite," said Josef Zissels, leader of the Ukrainian Va'ad, a leading Jewish group, and one of MAUP's most vocal critics.
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ACT NOW AGAINST UKRAINE'S UNIVERSITY OF HATE
Anti-Semitism is rising sharply in the Ukraine.
This year alone, Ukraine's 300,000 Jews have endured physical assaults and the desecration of their monuments and cemeteries. A yeshiva student was beaten by a group of anti-Semitic thugs and now languishes in a coma, just clinging to life.
Following this attack, 30 Ukrainian rabbis declared: "Calls to violence against Judaism and Jews are published in the press, freely distributed and sold. On the walls of synagogues, buildings and bus stops along the road, anti-Semitic symbols appear more and more often."
The main source of anti-Semitism in Ukraine is a university which is home to more than 50,000 students: The Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, known locally as MAUP.
MAUP calls itself a university, but its sinister activities are anti-Semitic to the core.
White supremacist David Duke "teaches" a course on history and international relations, was awarded a doctorate for a "thesis" on Zionism and was a key participant in MAUP's June 2005 conference entitled, "Zionism: Threat to World Peace."
MAUP President Georgy Tschokin issued a statement of solidarity with Iranian President Ahmadinejad's threat to wipe out Israel. On November 22 he ranted, "We'd like to remind that the Living God Jesus Christ said to Jews two thousand years ago: 'Your father is a devil!'"
MAUP is dedicated to anti-Semitic publications, conferences and statements. It is the only university in the democratic world with an official policy of anti-Semitism.
Join us in urging Ukraine's government to take action against anti-Semitism and against MAUP now!
Sign our letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko demanding that he take action against MAUP!
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