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{{Short description|Jewish non-governmental organisation in the former Soviet Union}}
{{Infobox organization {{Infobox organization
|name = Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ) |name = Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
⚫ |type = ]
|motto = ''The Voice of Human Rights Throughout Eurasia''
⚫ |type = Non-profit<br />]
|founded = 1970 |founded = 1970
|location = Global<br />Main Office in ] |location = ] (USA), ] (Russia), ] (Ukraine)
|key_people = Lawrence Lerner, ''President and Executive Director''<br /> Leonid Stonov, ''International Director'' |key_people = Lawrence Lerner, ''President and Executive Director''<br /> Leonid Stonov, ''International Director''
|fields = Monitoring, reporting, research, lobbying, direct-appeal campaigns |fields = Human rights
|services = Defending human rights and the rule of law |services =
|homepage = {{URL|www.UCSJ.org}} |homepage = {{URL|www.UCSJ.org}}
}} }}


'''Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union''' (abbreviated '''UCSJ''') is a ] that reports on the human rights conditions in countries throughout ] and ], exposing hate crimes and assisting communities in need. UCSJ uses grassroots-based monitoring and advocacy, as well as humanitarian aid, to protect the political and physical safety of ] people and other minorities in the region. UCSJ is based in ] and is linked to other organizations such as the ]. It has offices in Russia and Ukraine and has a collegial relationship with human rights groups in the countries of the former Soviet Union that were originally founded by the UCSJ.. '''Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union''' ('''UCSJ''') is a ] that reports on the human rights conditions in countries throughout ] and ], exposing hate crimes and assisting communities in need. UCSJ uses grassroots-based monitoring and advocacy, as well as humanitarian aid, to protect the political and physical safety of ] people and other minorities in the region. UCSJ is based in ], and is linked to other organizations such as the ]. It has offices in Russia and Ukraine and has a collegial relationship with human rights groups that were founded by the UCSJ in the countries of the former Soviet Union.


The UCSJ was formed in 1970 as part of the ], a response to the ] and other countries of the ].<ref></ref> The UCSJ was formed in 1970 as part of the ], a response to the ] and other countries of the ].<ref></ref>

==Activities==
⚫ Activities of the UCSJ include reporting on the human rights situation in countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU), as well as assisting communities in need, providing support for ] and ] and exposing ]s and ]s, whether directed against ]s or other minorities in the region, such as ] or ]s. According to a UCSJ report in 2013 approximately 1.71 million Jews remained in the post-Soviet states at that time.<ref>. (July 3, 2013). Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. Retrieved 2015-09-24. The report states that the figures were "compiled by researcher Allan Miller," without further explanation.</ref>

The reports it produces on the situation in various countries are often presented to the ].


==Leadership== ==Leadership==
The founding president of the UCSJ was ]. Other former presidents include Hal Light, ], Irene Manekofsky, Bob Gordon, ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Pamela Cohen. |url=http://jwa.org/people/cohen-pamela |access-date=22 November 2015 |website=Jewish Women's Archive}}</ref> Leadership after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 includes ] and Larry Lerner, Leonid Stonov as Director, and Meylakh Shekhet as Director of the Lviv Bureau.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meet Our Staff - UCSJ|url=http://www.ucsj.org/contact-us/meet-our-staff/|access-date=2015-11-25|website=UCSJ|language=en-US}}</ref> Leonid Stonov has been involved with the UCSJ since before his emigration to the U.S. in 1990, when he was a prominent ] and author of the first emigration law in Soviet history, which was presented to the ] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meet Our Staff - UCSJ|url=http://www.ucsj.org/contact-us/meet-our-staff/|access-date=2015-11-25|website=UCSJ|language=en-US}}</ref> ] served as National Vice President during the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=palevsky|first=stacey|title=Soviet Jewry activist chosen to head BJE {{!}} j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California|url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/32685/soviet-jewry-activist-chosen-to-head-bje/|access-date=2016-10-26|newspaper=J|date=8 June 2007 }}</ref>
Former presidents include ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pamela Cohen.|url=http://jwa.org/people/cohen-pamela|website=Jewish Women's Archive|accessdate=22 November 2015}}</ref>


==Funding== ==Activities==
⚫ Activities of the UCSJ after 1991 include reporting on the human rights situation in countries of the former Soviet Union, assisting communities in need, providing support for ] and ], and exposing ]s and ]s, whether directed against ]s or other minorities in the region, such as ] or ]s. According to a UCSJ report in 2013 approximately 1.71 million Jews remained in the post-Soviet states at that time.<ref>. (July 3, 2013). Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. Retrieved 2015-09-24. The report states that the figures were "compiled by researcher Allan Miller," without further explanation.</ref> The reports it produces on the situation in various countries are often presented to the ].{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}
Previously, UCSJ received its funding from the ] of the ] as part of a three-year project designed to combat ], ] and ] in Eastern European countries.


⚫ The Lviv office of UCSJ, in addition to running a soup kitchen for the poor of Lviv and running Jewish services for the Jews of Lviv, he has taken on the task of working to protect Jewish historical sites and to fight for human rights. He has been successful{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} in lawsuits against the authorities in Lviv to preserve cemetery sites and destroyed synagogues from commercialization. He has also been successful in pursuing actions against officials who violated the human rights of individuals.
==Supporters and Contributors==
Today, UCSJ supporters and contributors include individuals around the world who are concerned about ] transgressions, as well as the fate of the 1.71 million Jews who still reside in countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU). Those wishing to contribute have four options.<ref></ref>


In 2006, the UCSJ spoke against the members of the ] from ] and the ] party who have signed a letter demanding Jewish organizations be banned in Russia.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061227194026/http://lantos.house.gov/HoR/CA12/Human+Rights+Caucus/Briefing+Testimonies/06-08-06+Testimony+of+Nickolai+Butkevich+Russia+Religious+Briefing.htm|date=December 27, 2006}}. CHRC Members' Briefing: Human Rights in Russia – Religious Freedom Under Attack. (US Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC)) May 17, 2006</ref>
==Notable cases==


In 2007, the UCSJ condemned the conviction of journalist ], who was accused of ].<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014933/http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/112006PR.shtml|date=September 27, 2007}}. News from UCSJ. November 20, 2006</ref>
===Statement of UCSJ on alleged antisemitism in the Russian State Duma===
Nineteen members of the ] from ] and the ] party have signed a letter demanding Jewish organizations be banned in Russia. The letter referred to ] as a ] promoting ] and made reference to the ]. In that regard, UCSJ made the following statement:


⚫ The UCSJ alerted<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609022922/http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/091697aa.shtml |date=June 9, 2007 }} - The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) Action Alert - campaign against antisemitic programming on state TV. September 16, 1997</ref> the public to the revival of the cult of ] child saint ] and related blood libel accusations in ], after the Belarusian state TV showed a film alleging that his ] was a true story.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011021212/http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/belupd.shtml |date=October 11, 2006 }} Belarus Report, Dr. Yakov Basin, August 10, 1997. UCSJ Position Paper. Belarus - Chronicle of Antisemitism. April–December, 1997.</ref><ref>{{in lang|ru}} by Leonid Stonov, International Director of Bureau for the Human Rights and Law-Observance in the Former Soviet Union, the President of the American Association of Jews from the former USSR (''Vestnik'' magazine)</ref> Subsequently, a branch of the UCSJ was closed by the ] as part of what many observers saw as a wider crackdown on political ] in the region.
<blockquote>"The best example of how far some members of the national parliament are willing to go to demonize minorities came in January 2005, when 19 members of the ] from ] and the ] party signed an open letter to the Prosecutor General’s office demanding that Jewish groups be banned in Russia. The letter referred to ] as a ] and made reference to the medieval ] (the belief that Jews ritually murder Christian children during ] and use their blood to bake matzo). Russian Jewish groups—who have long ago grown accustomed to more modern-day ] accusations of controlling the media, the financial system, etc.—reacted with horror to this intellectual descent into the ] of the ]".<ref>. CHRC Members' Briefing: Human Rights in Russia – Religious Freedom Under Attack. (US Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC)) May 17, 2006</ref></blockquote>


In 2012, the USCJ supported the ], a legislation adopted by the US Congress directed against Russian officials suspected of human rights violations.
An investigation was launched.<ref> - Bigotry Monitor. Volume 5, Number 4. January 28, 2005. Published by UCSJ. Editor: Charles Fenyvesi</ref><ref> - Bigotry Monitor. Volume 5, Number 26. July 1, 2005. Published by UCSJ. Editor: Charles Fenyvesi</ref>
The Prosecutor dropped charges of antisemitism against Duma deputies.<ref> - Bigotry Monitor. Volume 5, Number 24. June 17, 2005. Published by UCSJ. Editor: Charles Fenyvesi</ref>

===The case of Boris Stomakhin===
Former UCSJ president ] condemned the conviction of journalist ], who was accused of ]:
<blockquote>"This sentence exposes the underlying hypocrisy of the Russian government's half-hearted struggle against extremist groups and hate speech." "This month alone, the ] refused to investigate the distribution of a neo-Nazi hit list containing the names and addresses of human rights activists whom the authors 'sentenced to death,' a publisher of a newspaper in Ulyanovsk who publicly called for the murder of Jews got a suspended sentence, and three youths who broke the jaw and fractured the skull of the Minister of Culture of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic while screaming racist slogans were sentenced to just six months to a year in prison. You don't have to agree with Mr. Stomakhin's radical, though non-violent, views on Chechnya to see that his sentence was disproportionate and unjust." <ref>. News from UCSJ. November 20, 2006</ref></blockquote>

===In Belarus===

⚫ The UCSJ alerted<ref> - The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) Action Alert - campaign against antisemitic programming on state TV. September 16, 1997</ref> the public to the revival of the cult of ] child saint ] and related blood libel accusations in ], after the Belarusian state TV showed a film alleging that his ] was a true story.<ref> Belarus Report, Dr. Yakov Basin, August 10, 1997. UCSJ Position Paper. Belarus - Chronicle of Antisemitism. April–December, 1997.</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} by Leonid Stonov, International Director of Bureau for the Human Rights and Law-Observance in the Former Soviet Union, the President of the American Association of Jews from the former USSR (''Vestnik'' magazine)</ref>

A branch of the UCSJ was closed by the ] as part of what many observers saw as a wider crackdown on political ] in the region. (''main article - ]'')

== Recent history ==

=== Magnitsky legislaton; ===
Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer in Moscow ford an international financial company. He advised the Russian authorities that the tax agents he was dealing with was stealing $320 million from Russia. He was arrested, tortured and eventually killed by the Russian authorities. The Russian Human rights NGOs wanted to support a bill in the US Congress to punish those responsible for his torture and murder by denying them visas to the US and freezing their assets in the US. The UCSJ supported the legislation at the behest of the Russian NGOs and put together a coalition of international religious freedom organizations to petition the Congress. The State department fought against the legislation and the Jewish establishment organizations opposed the bills, until they saw that it was going to pass and then publicly supported the bills.. The Magnitsky bill has been used by President Obama to punish Russia for violations of human rights today.

=== US grants ===
UCSJ was given a grant by US Ambassador to Moscow to bring together Russian pro-democracy human rights with their US counterparts to aid the NGOs in their work.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) granted UCSJ grants to monitor human rights violations and anti-semitism and the actions of the Russian Judicial system. The UCSJ sponsored a trip to the Ukraine when the Russians were trying to take over Eastern Ukraine by meeting with high Ukrainian government officials to see if the UCSJ could help.

=== LVIV office of the UCSJ ===
⚫ Meylach Schochetl heads the UCSJ office in Lviv. In addition to running a soouup kitchen for the poor of Lviv and running Jewish services for the Jews of Lviv, he has taken on the task of working to protect Jewish historical sites and to fight for human rights. He has been successful in lawsuits against the authorities in Lviv to preserve cemetery sites and destroyed synagogues from commercialization. He has also been successful in pursuing actions against officials who violated the human rights of individuals.


==See also== ==See also==
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
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==External links== ==External links==
* *
* at the ], New York.


===Other Jewish organizations in the former Soviet Union=== ===Other Jewish organizations in the former Soviet Union===
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*] *]
*The Congress of Jewish Religious Communities of Russia (KEROOR) headed by Adolf Shaievich *The Congress of Jewish Religious Communities of Russia (KEROOR) headed by Adolf Shaievich
* *
* *
*Vaad (Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Russia) *Vaad (Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Russia)
*Moscow Jewish Community *Moscow Jewish Community
*Jewish Association of St. Petersburg (JASP). *Jewish Association of St. Petersburg (JASP).
* *
* *
* *
* *


{{Refusenik movement and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah}}
⚫ ]
{{Authority control}}
]

]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
] ]
⚫ ]

Latest revision as of 23:43, 21 January 2024

Jewish non-governmental organisation in the former Soviet Union
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
Founded1970
TypeNon-governmental organization
Location
FieldsHuman rights
Key peopleLawrence Lerner, President and Executive Director
Leonid Stonov, International Director
Websitewww.ucsj.org

Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ) is a non-governmental organization that reports on the human rights conditions in countries throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, exposing hate crimes and assisting communities in need. UCSJ uses grassroots-based monitoring and advocacy, as well as humanitarian aid, to protect the political and physical safety of Jewish people and other minorities in the region. UCSJ is based in Washington, D.C., and is linked to other organizations such as the Moscow Helsinki Group. It has offices in Russia and Ukraine and has a collegial relationship with human rights groups that were founded by the UCSJ in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

The UCSJ was formed in 1970 as part of the Movement to Free Soviet Jewry, a response to the oppression of Jews in the Soviet Union and other countries of the Soviet bloc.

Leadership

The founding president of the UCSJ was Louis Rosenblum. Other former presidents include Hal Light, Si Frumkin, Irene Manekofsky, Bob Gordon, Lynn Singer, Pamela Braun Cohen, and Morey Schapira. Leadership after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 includes Yosef Abramowitz and Larry Lerner, Leonid Stonov as Director, and Meylakh Shekhet as Director of the Lviv Bureau. Leonid Stonov has been involved with the UCSJ since before his emigration to the U.S. in 1990, when he was a prominent Refusenik and author of the first emigration law in Soviet history, which was presented to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1989. David Waksberg served as National Vice President during the 1980s.

Activities

Activities of the UCSJ after 1991 include reporting on the human rights situation in countries of the former Soviet Union, assisting communities in need, providing support for asylum seekers and migrants, and exposing human rights violations and hate crimes, whether directed against Jews or other minorities in the region, such as Romani or Muslims. According to a UCSJ report in 2013 approximately 1.71 million Jews remained in the post-Soviet states at that time. The reports it produces on the situation in various countries are often presented to the US State Department.

The Lviv office of UCSJ, in addition to running a soup kitchen for the poor of Lviv and running Jewish services for the Jews of Lviv, he has taken on the task of working to protect Jewish historical sites and to fight for human rights. He has been successful in lawsuits against the authorities in Lviv to preserve cemetery sites and destroyed synagogues from commercialization. He has also been successful in pursuing actions against officials who violated the human rights of individuals.

In 2006, the UCSJ spoke against the members of the State Duma from Motherland and the Communist party who have signed a letter demanding Jewish organizations be banned in Russia.

In 2007, the UCSJ condemned the conviction of journalist Boris Stomakhin, who was accused of hate speech.

The UCSJ alerted the public to the revival of the cult of Russian Orthodox Church child saint Gavriil Belostoksky and related blood libel accusations in Belarus, after the Belarusian state TV showed a film alleging that his ritual murder was a true story. Subsequently, a branch of the UCSJ was closed by the government of Belarus as part of what many observers saw as a wider crackdown on political dissent in the region.

In 2012, the USCJ supported the Magnitsky Act, a legislation adopted by the US Congress directed against Russian officials suspected of human rights violations.

See also

References

  1. History of UCSJ
  2. "Pamela Cohen". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  3. "Meet Our Staff - UCSJ". UCSJ. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  4. "Meet Our Staff - UCSJ". UCSJ. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  5. palevsky, stacey (8 June 2007). "Soviet Jewry activist chosen to head BJE | j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California". J. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  6. Report: Estimated Jewish Population in the former Soviet Union (FSU). (July 3, 2013). Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. Retrieved 2015-09-24. The report states that the figures were "compiled by researcher Allan Miller," without further explanation.
  7. Testimony of Nickolai Butkevich, Research and Advocacy Director, UCSJ: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union Archived December 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. CHRC Members' Briefing: Human Rights in Russia – Religious Freedom Under Attack. (US Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC)) May 17, 2006
  8. Press Release: Jewish Activist Convicted in Russia Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. News from UCSJ. November 20, 2006
  9. "Blood Libel" Documentary Broadcast in Belarus Archived June 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine - The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) Action Alert - campaign against antisemitic programming on state TV. September 16, 1997
  10. July 1997. Blood Libel Accusation Revived Archived October 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine Belarus Report, Dr. Yakov Basin, August 10, 1997. UCSJ Position Paper. Belarus - Chronicle of Antisemitism. April–December, 1997.
  11. (in Russian) Is the New in the Post-Soviet Space Only the Forgotten Old? by Leonid Stonov, International Director of Bureau for the Human Rights and Law-Observance in the Former Soviet Union, the President of the American Association of Jews from the former USSR (Vestnik magazine)

External links

Other Jewish organizations in the former Soviet Union

Refusenik movement and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah
(c. 1970 – 2000)
Background
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Events
People
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