Ukraine's religious communities ask Russia to pull out troops
JTA, March 2, 2014
(JTA) -- Religious communities in Ukraine, including the Jewish
community, called on Russia to "stop its aggression against Ukraine"
and pull out its troops.
The religious communities also appealed to the international
community, including the United States, Great Britain, the European
Union, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe, to "stop foreign invasion into Ukraine and
brutal interference into our internal affairs."
Rabbi Jacob Dov Bleich, president of the Jewish Federation of Ukraine
and a chief rabbi in the country, was among the signatories of the
letter circulated by the Institute for Religious Freedom. Other
signatories include the heads of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the
Kyivan Patriarchate; the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; the
Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine; the Seventh-day Adventist Church
in Ukraine; and the Ukrainian Lutheran Church.
[...]
In a statement released Friday, Rabbi Michael Kapustin of the Ner
Tamid Reform synagogue in Simferopol, in the Crimean Peninsula, said
he would go to his synagogue to light candles even though services
were canceled for security reasons.
"The city is occupied by Russians. Apparently Russians intend to take
over the Crimea and make it a part of Russia," Kapustin said. "If this
were the case I would leave the country. In this case, I will leave
this country since I want to live in democratic Ukraine."
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