New York conference examines Ukrainian-Jewish relations (02/11/96)

New York conference examines Ukrainian-Jewish relations

by Irene Jarosewich
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

NEW YORK - The Society for Ukrainian-Jewish Relations (SUJR) in cooperation with the American Association of Jews from the Former Soviet Union (AAJFSU) held a one-day conference at the Shevchenko Scientific Society on December 3, 1995.

The conference was a continuation of two separate traditions. The first is an ongoing dialogue between leaders of the Jewish and Ukrainian communities in the United States for the past 50 years, a relationship that was summarized by Evhen Stakhiv, president of the SUJR. The second is academic conferences on Ukrainian and Jewish topics that were begun in Ukraine during the period of "glasnost."

Oleksander Burakovsky, chairman of the Culture and Education Committee of the AAJFSU and a vice-president of the SUJR, noted that in the summers of 1991 and 1993, under the direction of author, human rights activist and former Ukrainian Minister of Culture Ivan Dzyuba, academic conferences were held in Kyiv and in Jerusalem to address Jewish and Ukrainian topics.

With the New York conference, the organizers said they hope to establish a similar forum for dialogue between Ukrainians and Jews in the United States.

At the beginning of the conference, Mr. Stakhiv requested a moment of silence in honor of the recently slain prime minister of Israel, Itzhak Rabin.

A few moments later, Anatoliy Zlenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, recalled President Leonid Kuchma's recent visit to Israel and meetings with Israeli leaders, including the new prime minister, Shimon Peres. The position of the Ukrainian government is to support the complex peace process that was being negotiated by the late Mr. Rabin and his successor, Mr. Peres.

Ambassador Zlenko outlined the steps that had been taken by the government of Ukraine to support the growth and revival of Jewish community life in Ukraine since Ukraine's declaration of independence, as well as foreign relations between Israel and Ukraine.

Among the speakers were Prof. Taras Hunczak of Rutgers University, who identified and compared some of the stereotypes and double standards that exist within both communities with regard to each other.

Josyp Lekarev, chairman of the board of directors of the AAJFSU, stated that both communities should spend less time focusing on history and old wounds, and more time on common issues in the United States, such as immigration laws.

Nella Horovska of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences proposed the idea that Ukrainian and Jewish "renaissance" in Ukraine not emphasize recreation of, or yearning for, the past, but that this renaissance should be seen as potential for something new.

Mr. Burakovsky, the former chair of the Rukh Nationalities Council, recounted how the Communist government, in order to discredit Rukh during the years 1989-1991, accused the popular movement of anti-Semitism, and planned provocations. Rukh successfully fought off these attempts, however.

Poet Semen Vihuchin recalled the ambivalent attitudes of his teacher, the renowned Ukrainian Communist poet Andriy Malushko, who on one hand was very supportive of Jewish poets and writers, but on the other often publicly disdained Jews, and in particular Jewish political activism.

The roundtable at the end of the presentations was lively and touched upon many points of contention between Ukrainians and Jews, including accuracy of historical facts, interpretation of historical facts, world views, stereotypes and priorities. Animated discussions took place between the participants and members of the audience well after the conference had officially closed.

Both Ukrainians and Jews who had emigrated from the former Soviet Union fairly recently were generally unfamiliar with the specifics of the tensions in the relations between Jews and Ukrainians in America. Several commented that they noticed the level of hostility between the Jewish American and Ukrainian American communities is high, much more so than in Ukraine, and that the frequent reliance by both individuals and communities on gross stereotypes is more extreme.

It was proposed that a conference be organized which does not focus on the historical aspects of Ukrainian-Jewish relations or the current status of relations between Ukrainians and Jews in Ukraine, but instead analyzes and discusses the nature of the relationship in the United States.

Over all, three themes were mentioned as possible themes for future conference; relations between Ukraine and Israel; relations between two cultures - historically; and the nature of the Jewish and Ukrainian emigre communities and their relationships in the United States and other countries.

Members of the audience and several speakers expressed deep pessimism about any sincere interest in either the academic or general communities to explore these topics with flexibility and a genuine interest to broaden the base of information and change world views.

Nonetheless, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, improved access to archives, and more fluid movement of scholars, community leaders and people in general offers a unique opportunity to re-examine the roots of certain stereotypes, and re-evaluate the events and attitudes that make up the parallel 1,000-year common history of Ukrainians and Jews.

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