Anti-Semites, you’ve crossed the line.
Jewish organizations around the country are furious at Ukrainian lawmaker Igor Miroshnichenko for calling “Friends with Benefits” star Mila Kunis a “dirty Jewess,” TMZ reports.
On his Facebook page, the politician said that although Kunis, a 29-year-old Jewish celebrity, was born in the Ukraine, she is not a real Ukrainian because she is a “zhydovka”– a word which means “dirty Jewess,” which was used during the Holocaust to describe Jews.
After Ukrainian Jews protested against the offensive word, the government released a statement saying the word was okay to use, since it appears in the Ukrainian dictionary as a term to describe Jews, and does not necessarily have negative connotations to it.
However, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is not having any of that: they sent a letter Thursday to the Prime Minister of the Ukraine to “express our outrage and indignation against the slanders of the Svoboda Party directed against the Jewish community in the Ukraine.” The center said Kunis was part of a group of Jews that left the Ukraine precisely because of anti-antisemitism, and deserves an apology.
No word yet if Miroshnichenko will issue an apology to Kunis, but here at JTA, we’re wondering if he’s even gotten a look at Kunis– how would anyone not want to claim her as part of their nation? Frankly, we’re thrilled Kunis is part of our gene pool, and so should the Ukraine…
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