Some of you may be acquainted with Oleh Tiahnybok, leader of the "Svoboda" party of Ukrainian nationalists. Today, he's hosting a concert on the Maidan, in honour of the "Day of Heroes," a day that he seems to have thought up himself and would like to see become a public holiday in Ukraine.
The man is out of his tree.
Four years ago, he came steaming into public view for a anti-Semitic and anti-Russian speech given on Hoverle in Western Ukraine. Largely for this speech, Yushchenko kicked "Svoboda" out of the "Our Ukraine" Bloc, although Tiahnybok himself says that this was done "in accordance with the Talmudic principle - find and destroy the best of the non-Jews."
Lest you think that gave him time to reflect and, perhaps, re-assess his position on some of Ukraine's non-titular ethnic groups - think again!
To wit (http://www.tiahnybok.info/inshi_dopysy/dokument000325.html):
Антисемітизм це не самостійне явище, а похідне від семітизму. Так коли після аварії на Чорнобильській станції підвищився різко рівень радіації - почались заходи проти цієї радіації, яка лізла скрізь і всюди. Поливали шляхи і дахи водою, оприскували якоюсь рідиною з вертольотів, вживали якісь хімічні сполуки, що зв'язували вільні радикали, приписали всім йодовану сіль, щоб врятувати щитовидну залозу. Так і з антисемітизмом - він є реакцією на підвищений рівень семітизму в суспільстві. І ніяка влада з цим нічого не зробить, хоч би закрила всі вищі навчальні заклади.
До того ж слово "антисемітизм" це слово фантом, слово машкара, яка насправді нічого не означає. Ніби антисеміт, це той хто проти семітів. Так до сім'ї семітів входять і араби, які ніби найбільші антисеміти у світі."
Poor translation (though not for lack of trying,) with which help will be greatly appreciated:
"Anti-Semitism is not a free-standing phenomenon, but derives from Semitism. When, after the Chernobyl nuclear station accident, radiation levels rose sharply, steps were taken against that radiation, which seeped out everywhere. [...] That's how it is with anti-Semitism: it's a reaction to rising levels of Semitism in society. And no government can do anything about it, even if they shut down all insititutes of higher education.
The word Semitism itself is a phantom, a mask, that doesn't really mean anything. An anti-Semite is one who dislikes Semites. Arabs also belong to the Semitic family - the biggest anti-Semites in the world."
Ahem...apart from anything else (i.e. Jews, Jewishness, Jewish influence being compared to deadly radiation that killed many Ukrainians and made thousands more extremely ill,) I'm truly tired of seeing that latter argument. It's as weak as an argument can be, but if Tiahybok would be happier, I'm more than willing to call him what he is: someone who hates Jews. Not as pithy as "anti-Semite," but the gist is the same.
I'll be posting more about this over the next couple of days, so stay tuned!
