Jewish religious organizations condemned draft law № 4128

Yevgeniy Ziskind, executive director of the Association of Judaic Religious Organizations of Ukraine, member of the presidium of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, is confident that the proposed amendments to the Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” will drive a wedge into all denominations.

At the Round Table “Legislative Regulation of the Religious Sphere of Ukraine: Current Issues and Challenges” Yevgeniy Ziskind expressed an opinion that the “self-identification” term, used by the authors of draft law № 4128, can mislead and entail a number of adverse implications for religious communities.

“Draft law № 4128 appeals to such notion as “self-identification”, though there is no clear definition at all of what is actually meant there, he explained. – For instance, personal interest and certainty are insufficient in the Judaic tradition – there must be a range of ceremonies, rites to be observed. The doors of out shrines are always open to each and everybody, yet it does not mean at all that all those people, who come to a synagogue, may be called members of our religious community and, furthermore, to define its destiny. Therefore, this draft law gives a carte blanche to raiding, seizures of church buildings and lands just by virtue of the “self-identification” fact.