Bullying Ukrainian Patriots in Israel

Bullying Ukrainian Patriots in Israel

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, Israeli society mobilized to help. Israelis understood immediately who’s in the right! They began to actively help Ukrainians with the relief consignments, funds and even the organization of evacuation flights. Ukrainians living in Israel are especially active.

                                                                       

                                          

So, a mother of two children 2 and 5 years old, Anastasia Rolovets-Novikova, who lives in the city of Ashdod (Israel). On 24 February started to help Ukrainians with the volunteer organization "Israeli Friends of Ukraine". Anastasia manages a humanitarian aid warehouse in her city. She collects, packs and sends targeted aid to residents and Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv, who suffer from daily shelling from the aggressor country.

                                                                   

                                                                   

                                                                   

                                                                       

Anastasia was born in Odesa, later moved to Kharkiv, got an education. In 2013, she got married and moved to Israel. She received additional education and for seven years has been running a private kindergarten for children from three months to three years old in Ashdod. Together with her husband, she is bringing up a son Gershon (2 years old) and a daughter Maria Emily (5 years old).

                                                                   

May 2022, Anastasia flew to Ukraine, worked for 5 days on a voluntary basis at the International Volunteer Logistics Center "Marlog". She actively and sometimes harshly spoke out to support Ukraine on her pages on Tik-Tok, Facebook and other social networks. As expected, her publications were commented with negative comments from pro-Russian users.

On June 28 an organized persecution began. Because of her public position and volunteer activity, Anastasia has personal experience of real bullying from those residents of Israel who support the occupants and Putin's terrorist actions in Ukraine. 

"Of course, I've had nasty comments before, I didn't pay attention to them. But there has never been such a time that I feared for my life and the lives of my children!” - says Nastya.

                                           

Anastasia felt active attacks after a protest in support of Ukraine, which took place on June 24 near the Ukrainian embassy in Israel. She came to that protest with all her family and sister. The volunteer's daughter even drew a poster especially for this event.  

                                                         

In addition to personal offences, Anastasia has received many threats about kidnapping her children, closing her private kindergarten and losing her professional and business reputation. Russian supporter created a video with personal photos that were taken from the kindergarten's official page   without permission. The video shows the faces of the children, their parents and three employees of the kindergarten. None of them gave permission to use these photos in the video.

The video says that a "Nazi is bringing up children" in a kindergarten. Activists tried to post it in the Russian-language Facebook groups of Ashdod and Ashkelon, but the moderators deleted the video within 15 minutes, as soon as the parents of the children shown there wrote to them in the comments. However, it is still being spread out by pro-Russian Israeli Telegram channels and groups. The pro-Russian channel "Memory Bridge" posted it as a fixed record- so that the users could always watch it.

There were also homophobic fantasies. Anastasia has a tattoo on her arm, on which Nastya and her sister Olesya are shown in profile, and the flag of Ukraine is between them. Her sister is a very close person to her who supports her active social activities. After the war started, I wanted to get a tattoo that would connect me with Ukraine, but I didn't want to simply put on a coat of arms or a flag. I made a tattoo with our portraits, between us is a heart in the colors of the Ukrainian flag and the Ukrainian phrase "You and I were born here."

                                                             

                                                   

The pro-Russian attackers see in this image "two lesbians kissing". That is how they namedthe video. This is especially difficult for Anastasia's sister and mother to understand, because it is cynical and mean. 

“My eldest daughter is 5 years old, my youngest son is 2 years old. Children, of course, also hear a lot about war. We cannot talk about it at home: my mother is from Kharkiv, her house is destroyed, she now is living with us. Children, hear it. My eldest daughter is a very smart girl. She goes to a state kindergarten that supports Ukraine, the teachers in this kindergarten help with humanitarian aid. Yesterday I had to warn them that someone might try to harm the child. They were shocked. We warned them that no one but only I can take my child from kindergarten. I worry about the life and health of my children," Anastasia says.

                                                       

The people who bullied Anastasia's family are even terrorizing the 85-year-old volunteer her father-in-law. A tricolor is painted on his house. So, they want to demonstrate that they know everything about Nastya's family and will not let her alone.

                                                 

By this time, Anastasia had already written a statement to the police. It was not done from the first attempt. Because probably official Israel is not ready to admit, that society has such problems as bullying on the basis of national identity. As a citizen of Ukraine, she applied in writing to the Ambassador of Ukraine in Israel. A letter of appeal to the Ministry of Education of Israel is being prepared from all parents whose children attend Anastasia's private kindergarten. Absolutely all of them want to express their support to Anastasia and assure the Ministry that, through on-line video surveillance, pro-Russian attackers own the system of bringing up their children in Anastasia's private kindergarten. Moreover, parents do not want that it will be closed because of hostile slander. The Israeli mass media is already covering the details of the shameful behavior of the persecutors of Anastasia's family and business.

In this terribly and difficult period for Ukraine and all Ukrainians, not only humanitarian, but also legal support is especially important. In order to implement protection, we call on the entire world society, law enforcement agencies and the community of Israel to pay special attention to the terrible life situation that has developed around the family of Anastasia Rolovets-Novikova. There is no place in the modern world for war, bullying and humiliation of people's honor and dignity, especially on national grounds.

Sources: personal archives and information from Anastasia Rolovets-Novikova. Internet publisher "Details", Israel.