While still feel that the the government transition in the Ukraine will likely lead to an upsurge in anti-semitism.<\/p>\n
The Ukraine has a long and inglorious tradition of virulent Jew hatred, and periods of social unrest lead to an upsurge in bigotry of all kinds.<\/p>\n
That being said, Mark Ames, former editor in chief of the eXile<\/i>, a former Moscow based English language tabloid, knows a LOT<\/b> more about the former Soviet Union than I do.<\/p>\n
One of the things that he knew was that Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, whom I quoted as advising that Jews leave Kiev, is a Chabad rabbi, and Chabad is really tight with the Kremlin.<\/p>\n
So, I have to question the reliability of Reb Azman’s pronouncements.<\/p>\n
Ames’ thesis is basically that the sh%$ is f%$#ed up and sh%$, and that teasing out alliances and philosophies is simply not a productivity, or as he sums up, “Everything you know about Ukraine is wrong<\/a>“: <\/p>\n \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n Everyone looking for a proxy side to support or oppose in the Ukraine political dynamic will be disappointed. Ukraine politics go by their own rules. Today\u2019s neoliberal ultranationalist could be tomorrow\u2019s Kremlin ally, and visa-versa. Just look at what happened to the Orange Revolution\u2014nothing<\/a>. To wit:<\/p>\n a) One Orange Revolution leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, wound up turning against her partner Viktor Yushchenko and allying with Yanukovych<\/a> to strip Yushchenko of presidential powers; later, Tymoshenko allied with the Kremlin<\/a> against Yushchenko; now she\u2019s free from jail and the presumptive leader<\/a> of the anti-Yanukovych forces.<\/p>\n b) The other Orange leader\u2014the pro-EU, anti-Kremlin Viktor Yushchenko\u2014wound up allying with pro-Kremlin Yanukovych to jail Yulia Tymoshenko<\/a>.<\/p>\n c) John McCain has been the big driving force for regime change against Yanukovych, but McCain\u2019s 2008 campaign chief\u2019s lobby firm, Davis Manafort, managed Yanukovych\u2019s political campaigns<\/a> and his lobbying efforts in the US.<\/p>\n d) Anthony Podesta, brother of President Obama\u2019s senior advisor John Podesta, is another Yanukovych lobbyist<\/a>; John Podesta was the chief of Obama\u2019s 2008 transition team. There\u2019s another false meme going around that because the World Bank and IMF are moving in to \u201creform\u201d <\/a>Ukraine\u2019s economy \u2014 for the umpteenth time \u2014 that somehow this means that this was a fight between pro-neoliberal and anti-neoliberal forces. It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
4. Yanukovych was not fighting neoliberalism, the World Bank, or oligarchy \u2014 nor was he merely a tool of the Kremlin.<\/b><\/p>\n