Ukraine Crisis: Jewish Views on Maidan Contradict Putin's Anti-Semitism Claims

Did Vladimir Putin really invade Ukraine to save Jewish Ukrainians from mounting anti-Semitism?

It seems a little dubious if you know much about Russia's president. Putin is the man who claimed last year that 80 to 85 percent of the first Soviet government was Jewish. He made the claim during a visit to Moscow's Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.

Of course, the claim is ridiculous. The first Soviet government -- the Council of People's Commissars -- had just one Jewish member out of 16 commissars, as this item in The Jewish Press noted, calling Putin's claim anti-Semitic.

Jewish Ukrainian Leaders Denounce Invasion

What about Putin's claim of invading Ukraine in part to save Ukraine's Jewish people from anti-Semitic attacks?

Of course, anti-Semitism is a critical issue in a country with Ukraine's history of anti-Jewish pogroms.

Yet, Jewish perspectives on this question contrast sharply with the claims of Putin and his officials. Here's a reading list:

- "Ukraine Jews appeal to Russia to 'stop aggression,'" Times of Israel, March 3, 2014.

- "Ukraine Chief Rabbi Accuses Russia of Anti-Semitic 'Provocations' in Crimea: Yaakov Dov Bleich Compares Behavior to Nazi Anschluss," Forward, March 3, 2014.

- "Who's Really Behind Ukraine's Synagogue Attacks," The Daily Beast, March 3, 2014.

- "Ukraine's Unfinished Revolution Sparks Hope for Jews -- Not Fear," Forward, Feb. 27, 2014.

- "It was worth living in this country to experience Maidan," Hadashot, Feb. 2014 (translated and posted on the website of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine; original article in Russian here).

- "Kyiv's Maidan is a Liberationist and Not Extremist Mass Action of Civic Disobedience," Andreas Umland et al., Feb. 2014 (also posted on the website of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine here).

- "An Open Letter on the Ukrainian Revolution in the Russian Language," Ukraina Syehodnya, March 3, 2014 (translated and posted on the website of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine; original article in Russian here).

- "If we don't win, Ukraine will leave the civilization's realm altogether," Ukrainska Pravda, Feb. 14, 2014 (translated and posted on the website of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine; original article in Russian here).

- "The new dilemma for Jews in Ukraine: Anti-Semitism, though a real threat, is being used by the Kremlin as a political football," Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz, Feb. 25, 2014.

- "NCSJ strongly condemns the most recent violent attacks against protestors in Kyiv, Ukraine," National Conference Supporting Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia (NCSJ), Feb. 19, 2014.

- "Ukraine Update #9," NCSJ, Feb. 26, 2014.