Right-Wing Blogger and the Bobs 2013 Award

According to the results of the contest in nomination “The best blog in Ukrainian” the winner became Olena Bilozerska whose blog (http://bilozerska.livejournal.com) is a sheer propaganda of racist views and other anti-democracy and discriminating ideas. The propaganda of such racist and discriminating ideas is clearly forbidden by the terms of the contest. Thus, the decision to declare this blog a winner is abusive for Ukrainian bloggers and other Internet-users.

To: Editorial board Deutsche Welle, Deutsche Welle Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse 3 53113 Bonn Germany T +49.228.429-0

Dear colleagues,

We have recently got information that blog of Olena Bilozerska (http://bilozerska.livejournal.com) had won the International Contest among blogs, sites and media-activists ‘The Bobs’ (Best of the Blogs) organized by the Deutsche Welle (in nomination ‘The Best Blog in Ukrainian’). We are greatly disappointed by the jury’s decision. As far as we know The Bobs clearly forbids participating of the blogs containing propaganda of the racist and other discriminatory ideas.

http://thebobs.com/english/about/rules-2/

«We do not accept submissions that contain or link to any form of insulting, racist, sexist or in any other way discriminatory or obscene content».

However, the blog of Olena Bilozerska contains too many posts with announces of xenophobic actions organized by Ukrainian ultra-right and Nazi organizations (‘Patriot of Ukraine’, ‘Social-Nationalists Assembly’, ‘Tryzub of Stepan Bandera’, ‘Autonomous Resistance’ and others). This blog contains many xenophobic posts and thus it became a mouthpiece for the ultra-right movement in Ukraine. Moreover, Olena Bilozerska has repeatedly and publicly expressed her support of the actions organized by odious ultra-rightist groups including actions of clearly racist and xenophobic character.

We’d like to attract your attention in particular to her report of the torch-light procession of the neo-Nazi organization ‘Patriot of Ukraine’ held in the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute – one of the largest high schools in Ukraine with a great number of foreign students. Mrs. Bilozerska in her blogpost expresses public support and solidarity with this action of intimidating foreign students. “I see the action as right and necessary. I’m not sure if some foreigners will really understand that they are just guests here but not hosts, but maybe they think it over”.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/61866.html

It’s also worth to pay attention that Bilozerska adds in the comments to the post photos (in big resolution) of the antifascist activists protesting against the torch-light procession of the racists. And it was her answer to the request of one of the ultra-right activists. It is well-known that Nazis use such photos so that to identify and then attack antifascists.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/61866.html?thread=1598890#t1598890

Her own attitude to the African immigrants she expressed definitely and in brutal manner in one of the posts:

“Jedem das Seine! What about my attitude to Negroes? Quite earnestly – without any jokes – my attitude is very simple. If they live somewhere outside Ukraine – my attitude is neutral – I don’t care. But those who live in Ukraine – they are a real threat for the country. However, in the current stage of historic development – they are not the main threat. When a bear comes to the house – you don’t poison mice”.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/7483.html

In another blogpost Olena Bilozerska comes out against protest action organized by the students union ‘Priama Diya’, human-rights and feminists groups against violations of human and civil rights of Ukrainians. Mrs. Bilozerska claims this action as “very harmful” and successively reveals her homophobic, anti-feministic and anti-democratic views. She publicly comes out against struggle for women’s and migrants’ rights, she speaks out against ‘perverts’-gay people as well as against all supporters of the struggle against fascism and xenophobia.

“Nobody suppresses women’s rights in our country – a woman even hardly became our president. Legal migrants are not suppressed too. Illegal migrants should be arrested and deported. Who could oppose it? Sexual minorities are not persecuted in our country too. Gay and lesbians do not hide somewhere in catacombs but have an impudence to appear on TV and look from lightboxes. They are not being sent to prisons or mental hospitals. Nobody prohibits them to meet. They are still luckily not allowed to walk in parades and marry – and it shouldn’t be allowed because it is against the interests of the nation and state. Gays and lesbians are perverts. One issue – not to persecute them (because one can persecute somebody only for crimes) and quite another issue – legalizing such a perversion and equating them to normal families. There will be no children from gay marriages and adopted children – when they grow up – will be perverts too. Thus, what is the struggle against such an imaginary suppression or struggle for the rights of those who are not persecuted? Isn’t it propaganda of perversions?

As for ‘antifascism’ – things are much worse. ‘Fighters against fascism’ fight not against fascism because there is no fascism in Ukraine and no mass and influential Nazi organization. There are parties and organizations of nationalists that are not going to conquer other’s land or organize genocide. Thus, ‘anti-fascists’ come out against nationalists and for illegal migration and other things that are dangerous for the interests of the state. It is very easy and comfortable to fight against shadow. If they only try to fight against real ethnic mafia – they will be beaten immediately and then they will calm down at last”.

In this very post Olena Bilozerska informs us that ultra-right Nazis (just after assault on human-right rally and beating its participants) called her and delivered information about this assault and she immediately posted it in her blog. This is the evidence of close and active collaboration of blogger Bilozerska with radical elements of Ukrainian ultra-right movement. Moreover, she posted in her blog the announce of rally in support of the Russian Nazis convicted for notorious murders of the well-known human-right activist Stanislav Markelov and journalist of ‘Novaya Gazeta’ Anastasia Baburova.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/484280.html

It should be also noted that Olena Bilozerska was involved in the election campaign of the extreme rightist party ‘Svoboda’ and its leader Oleg Tyahnybok. She participated in his pre-election tour covering it in her blog.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/208881.html

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/207978.html

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/209331.html

Meanwhile the party ‘Svoboda’ is an ultra-right party well-known for its anti-democratic initiatives – in particular it demands legislative restriction for the right of women to have abortions. The party demands establishing ethnic quotas for ‘native Ukrainians’ in government bodies. It tries to legitimize hate-speech – particularly the use in public space such an abusive for the Jewish people word as ‘zhid’ and others. Besides, mrs. Bilozerska covered the march of the party ‘Svoboda’ demanding to break agreement about readmission of foreign migrants that was signed by the EU and Ukraine. The march was held under sheer xenophobic slogans:

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/194936.html

It was pointed out in the amendment to the adopted resolution of the Euro parliament in relation to the electoral success of the ultra-right Ukrainian party ‘Svoboda’: “The European Parliament is concerned about the rising nationalistic sentiment in Ukraine, expressed in support for the Svoboda Party, which, as a result, is one of the two new parties to enter the Verkhovna Rada; recalls that racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic views go against the EU's fundamental values and principles and therefore appeals to pro-democratic parties in the Verkhovna Rada not to associate with, endorse or form coalitions with this party”.

Bilozerska has also posted announce of the homophobic action against, as she called it, ‘pornographic’ art-exhibition in Pinchuk Art Centre. Members of ‘Svoboda’ party have also taken part in this homophobic rally.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/217241.html

“An ideal solution for this problem – to have power or at least enough influence so that to quietly prohibit such expositions” – has pointed out Bilozerska.

Thus, the full list of posts in the blog of Bilozerska - that clearly and convincingly displays that ideological and political content of the blog essentially doesn’t meet the terms of the Bobs contest – could be much longer. More than enough to say that Olena Bilozerska doesn’t hesitate to use the following phrases in her blog: “By the way, I tell you such a seditious idea – there will be the monuments to Hitler – not in Kyiv but somewhere in Berlin”. She posts in this blog fragments of her fiction devoted to Adolf Hitler;

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/146149.html

She regularly publishes reports from rallies and actions of the ultra-rightists who publicly deny Holocaust and use slogan ‘Germany is Israel of Europe’. http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/144181.html

Moreover, Bilozerska actually supported the assault of the Ukrainian Nazis on the German embassy in Kyiv that was organized as ‘an answer’ to the trial over Ivan Demjanjuk – Ukrainian suspected in torturing prisoners when he was a guard in the Nazi concentration camp.

http://bilozerska.livejournal.com/196780.html

It should be also noted that Ukraine (as well as many post-soviet and East-European countries) faces the rise of ultra-rightists’ popularity. Such sentiments are the main reason of the support provided to the blog of Bilozerska by Internet-users from Ukraine. Furthermore, the second place in the nomination “The Best Blog in Ukrainian” takes blog No.Ua (where “NO’ stands for ‘Narodny Obozrevatel’ – a loan translation of the Nazi edition ‘Volkisher Beobachter’). This blog makes another activist of the ultra-right movement Dmytro Reznichenko. Thus, Ukrainian blogosphere actually was represented in the top of the contest by nationalist bloggers. We suggest that this fact was not revealed to the jury of the contest.

On the basis of the abovementioned information, we – bloggers, journalists, members of trade-unions, activists of human-right and social movements – demand to cancel the results of the contest The Bobs-2013 in nomination “The best blog in Ukrainian”. We also propose Deutsche Welle Editors’ board and journalist Mustafa Nayyem who covered the contest for Ukrainian mass-media – to express their attitude to this scandal. We ask them to explain how and why it was allowed for the blog of Olena Bilozerska to let in and participate in the contest.

We are convinced that tolerance to the supporters of the nationalist and xenophobic ideology is an essential component of the political success of xenophobic organizations. Thus, it becomes actually a contribution to the promotion of the xenophobic ideology in our society. The last parliamentary election in Ukraine quite unambiguously displays that xenophobia poses a real threat – one should respond to it in time - while it’s not too late. The grave consequences of passive acceptance and acquiescence of xenophobia are displayed by the example of the case of the Neonazi gang that is being tried now by the German court. Here in Ukraine Nazis also regularly use practice of assault on activists of social- and civil-rights movements.

That is the reason why we start a broad public campaign demanding cancellation of the contest results “The Bobs-2013” in nomination “The best blog in Ukrainian”. We intend to draw attention of the European mass-media, members of the European Parliament and Bundestag to this issue. We cannot allow using International Blog Contest “The Bobs” as a cover for Ukrainian ultra-rightists thus helping to legitimize their ideology.

Sign the Petition