PERSPECTIVES: Politics Ukrainian-style in 2002 (11/24/02)

PERSPECTIVES

by Andrew Fedynsky

Politics Ukrainian-style in 2002

Major news stories from Ukraine have not been pleasant. In September, tens of thousands took to the streets in the largest demonstrations since independence. The protests featured a coalition of strange bedfellows marching in thick columns, sharply delineated by their respective colors: Communists with their red banners, centrists under the blue and yellow of Ukraine and on the fringes of the crowd, a sliver of nationalists waving red and black flags.

United under the slogan of "Ukraine without Kuchma," the protesters accused the president of corruption, abuse of office and election tampering. The most serious charges concern his alleged involvement in the killing of investigative journalist Heorhii Gongadze and now, in defiance of a U.N. arms embargo, the sale of an advanced radar system to Iraq. As proof, Mr. Kuchma's critics cite secret tape recordings on which he is heard ordering the elimination of Mr. Gongadze and approving the Iraq deal. In response, President Kuchma acknowledges that, indeed, it is his voice on the tapes, but he denies their authenticity, denouncing them as fakes assembled by disinformation experts and then leaked to discredit him. (It doesn't help his cause that Mr. Kuchma orders restrictions on press freedom. Never mind that President Vladimir Putin does the same in Russia.)

In the West, media reaction to all this has been blistering: "Rogue Merchants," one editorial trumpeted. "U.S. Plans to Shun Ukraine President over Radar," another headline read. A prominent columnist advises President George W. Bush to "call for a unified effort of NATO's 19 member-nations to single out Mr. Kuchma for diplomatic isolation."

The controversy in Ukraine is also reflected in the pages of The Ukrainian Weekly. Well-meaning readers advise Ukrainian Americans to rally support for President Kuchma. Others, equally well-meaning, campaign for his removal.

As for me, I don't know what to make of it. It's all so redolent of the by-gone Soviet era: hidden microphones, murders, arms deals, mysterious auto accidents, harassment of the media, conspiracies...You read the accusations and the denials and wonder: Who's telling the truth? What is the truth? Who gains? Who loses? Who's behind all this? From a distance of 10,000 miles, I can't pretend to sort it all out.

Instead, I fall back on my mother's advice from an earlier and far worse era in Ukraine of mass arrests, censorship and stifling repression. The best politics, she said, is raising children to respect and love the heritage of their ancestors.

So it's in that spirit that I drove to Columbus during the first week of November to help with Cleveland's Kashtan Dance Group, the featured act at an international festival there. For 25 years now, David Woznak, Mark Komichak and others have been teaching children from age 5 to adults, moving them through the ranks of the Kashtan School of Dance until they're ready for the stage, with all the applause and praise that follow. In a nice touch, the 20-year-old, Columbus-based Cultural Association of Ohio, headed by Maria Gordon, treated the 40 or so children to dinner after the show.

Further south in Cincinnati, the Sister City Project between that city and Kharkiv, coordinated by Helen Mess, is now in its 14th year. Over that period, more than 2,000 citizens of both cities have participated in exchanges, including business classes for young entrepreneurs from Kharkiv, taught by Cincinnati University's Dr. Lew Melnyk.

At Ohio State University, American kids learn Ukrainian history and culture in the class that Dr. George Kalbouss has been teaching for the past four years. OSU also has a demonstration project in Ukraine's Khmelnytsky Oblast, spearheaded by Brad Beeler from the School of Agriculture.

In Cleveland where I'm from, we also have exchange programs with Ukraine. The Cuyahoga County Health Department is engaged in a partnership designed to help the Lviv Oblast develop a family medicine practice. Coordinator Barbara Galloway enjoys telling stories about her trips to Lviv and the reaction she gets as an African American, when she tosses off greetings in Ukrainian. A highlight of each exchange is a trip to the Ukrainian Museum Archives for a reception with the community. Dr. Ihor Zachary, head of the local chapter of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America, invariably extends a greeting, and Vasyl Liscynesky, the head of Greater Cleveland's United Ukrainian Organizations, gives his standard speech about how thrilled he is to work with guests from Ukraine. He means it.

In Bowling Green and Toledo, Al Baldwin and others at the Great Lakes Consortium work with the Catholic Church, academic institutions and other entities in Ukraine to organize classes, exchanges and small-scale entrepreneurial projects.

I list all these people, not because they're famous but because they do good work, as do so many others in Ohio: physicians like George Jaskiw, who chairs the parents' committee for the Ridna Shkola Ukrainian-language school and Mark Bey who heads up Plast; retired Army Maj. Oleh Holowatyj, the head of Cleveland's SUM Branch; and attorney Oleh Mahlay, director of the Ukrainian Bandura Chorus. Still others make pyrohy on Fridays to benefit the church, tend bar at a carnival or sweep up after a zabava.

The innovative projects, the volunteerism and enthusiasm that I see around me in Ohio, exist elsewhere in the United States, Canada, Ukraine, etc. Just leaf through the pages of The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda, if you don't believe me. People contributing their energies are the foundation of our communities. In the final analysis, they provide the political strength for Ukraine's struggle to remain independent and to become prosperous.

The columnist who denounced President Kuchma, also made a point of urging continued support for the Ukrainian people. Amen to that. Their vote in 1991 for freedom, independence and democracy changed history, transforming their own country, as well as those of their neighbors into something vastly better. Greed, corruption and murky conspiracy must not be allowed to frustrate their legitimate aspirations.

I believe - know - that the underlying strength of Ukrainians, reflected in myriad activities, will see them through this era, just as it has in the past. So, if you're driving a child to Ukie School, to Plast or SUM, to dance class or to church on Sunday, if you're welcoming guests from Ukraine or simply preparing borshch for Christmas Eve - whatever - add yourself to the list of Ukraine's political assets - those irreplaceable people whose energies are essential to a better future.

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