Union of Councils for Soviet Jews

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
Founded1970
TypeNon-governmental organization
Location
FieldsHuman rights
Key people
Lawrence 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

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

Soviet bloc.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] David Waksberg served as National Vice President during the 1980s.[5]

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

US State Department.[citation needed
]

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] 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

Motherland and the Communist party who have signed a letter demanding Jewish organizations be banned in Russia.[7]

In 2007, the UCSJ condemned the conviction of journalist Boris Stomakhin, who was accused of hate speech.[8]

The UCSJ alerted

ritual murder was a true story.[10][11] 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

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Union_of_Councils_for_Soviet_Jews&oldid=1197792011"