In an interview for Israel’s Channel 2 News, which will be broadcast on Saturday and whose parts will be telecast daily during this week, Victor Yushchenko has expressed hopes events that are being held in Ukraine to mark the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy will help prevent xenophobia and ethnic hatred, according to the President`s press-office.
“I think the events to commemorate what happened in Babyn Yar is a good example. It is important to learn to peacefully coexist but also understand one another,” he said.
The President characterized anti-Semitism and xenophobia as “things that degrade people” and said we could only combat them “with active efforts in humanitarian, social and other directions.”
“No doubt, there is no one remedy. There should be lots of activities that can help us eradicate this problem,” he opined.
Mr. Yushchenko also said it was vital to collect and study historical facts.
“People suffer much from knowing their history partly or even knowing the wrong history. I see that in my own nation: ten years ago, nobody dared speak about the Holodomor, there were no books and no movies about it,” he said, adding that such issues “should be discussed by politicians, public leaders and journalists.”
