Rabbi Hillel Cohen, the chairman of Hatzalah Ukraine was attacked and stabbed in Kiev, according to a report by Rotternik.
Cohen was on his way to the Kiev hospital to visit a sick Jewish tourist who had been hospitalized a few weeks earlier.
Passing through an alley on the way to the hospital, Cohen was attacked in broad daylight by two youths, at 10 AM on Thursday.
Cohen was hit hard by the attackers, who yelled “Zhid” (Jew) at him, and other words in Russian.
Cohen was knocked down, injuring his hand in the fall. At that point the attackers began to stab him in the leg and back.
After the attackers ran away, Cohen managed to drag himself to the main street and catch a taxi which took him to the hospital.
In January of this year, an Orthodox student in Kiev (picture above) was also attacked in a violent antisemitic attack. The attack was part of a series of attacks that were specifically targeting Jews.
The photographer who took the photo attached to this article was Rabbi Hillel Cohen of Hatzalah Ukraine.
In an interview published Thursday in the Jewish Daily Forward, Ira Forman, the Obama administration’s special envoy on anti-Semitism, disputed claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian revolutionaries were spreading hatred of Jews. Forman said Putin’s assertions were not credible.
“We have no indication that what President Putin has been saying about anti-Semitism has been a true reflection of what’s happening on the ground,” he said.
Tell that to Rabbi Cohen.
While there are Shelichim (emissaries) in the Ukraine doing important work, last week JewishPress.com reported on a group of Jews who want to make Aliyah. Maybe it’s time.