Kuropas's inclusion on U.S. delegation to Ukrainian inauguration is questioned (02/06/05)

Kuropas's inclusion on U.S. delegation to Ukrainian inauguration is questioned

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - As reported last week, Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, a member of the official U.S. delegation to the inauguration of President Viktor Yushchenko, came under fire on January 26 when the Knight Ridder newspaper chain published a story by Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay headlined "Activist critical of Jews was part of U.S. delegation to Ukraine."

Dr. Kuropas, an adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University's College of Education, was a member of the official U.S. delegation to the inauguration of President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine.

The Knight Ridder story, which included quotations taken out of context from two commentaries by Dr. Kuropas - one written in 1996 and the other in 2000 - and from a news report about a speech he delivered in Toronto in 1998, described the commentator as "a Ukrainian American activist who has accused Jews of manipulating the Holocaust for their gain and blamed them for Soviet-era atrocities in Ukraine." (See editorial on this topic on page 6.)

The story went on to quote "a White House official who refused to be identified by name," as saying: "We were not aware of his previous statements. Had we been aware of such comments beforehand, we would not have invited Dr. Kuropas to be a member of the delegation." [The Sun-Times of Chicago later attributed similar comments to White House spokesman Jim Morell, who told the paper on January 26 that Dr. Kuropas wouldn't have been part of the delegation if his writings had been known.]

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Knight Ridder: "It's disturbing to give him credibility and to put him on the delegation."

Knight Ridder reported that Dr. Kuropas said he was "dismayed" at the controversy and that he said in a telephone interview that he worked with Jewish leaders toward reconciliation for 12 years and received an award in 1979 from the American Jewish Committee.

Soon after the story broke, Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Northern Illinois University "acknowledged that the school is reviewing its relationship with Myron Kuropas, a faculty member accused of making anti-Semitic statements." The action came in response to a January 27 letter from Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) that called on NIU President John Peters to "re-evaluate the university's association with Prof. Kuropas" and disavow any association with him.

The Daily Chronicle of DeKalb wrote on January 29 that, "in particular, they [the congressmen] pointed to a 2000 written remark by Kuropas that "Big money drives the Holocaust industry. To survive, the Holocaust industry is always searching for its next mark. Ukraine's turn is just around the corner."

Melanie Magara, NIU assistant vice-president for public affairs, told the Sun-Times on January 28 that "Certainly the university disavows any connection to any remarks by anyone that are prejudicial or in this case anti-Semitic."

On January 29, however, the Daily Chronicle reported that NIU President Peter "declined to acquiesce to a suggestion from two congressmen that the university formally renounce the allegedly anti-Semitic remarks made by part-time instructor Myron Kuropas." According to the Chronicle, Mr. Peters wrote to Reps. Emanuel and Waxman that the university "does not condone anti-Semitism or discrimination in any form," but pointed out that Dr. Kuropas does not teach "any courses related to Ukrainian history or that would require him to express any viewpoint related to Ukrainian history."

Ms. Magara told the Chronicle that there is not enough of a connection between Dr. Kuropas's private affairs and his teaching at NIU to warrant a review of his writings and statements. Education Department Dean Christine Sorensen said there was no indication Dr. Kuropas brought his politics into the classroom. "He's always had good evaluations from students," she added. The paper also noted that NIU officials described Dr. Kuropas as a valued instructor who has never been accused by any student of making racially or ethnically inappropriate comments.

On January 31 Reps. Waxman and Emanuel and nine other members of Congress, identified by Washington Jewish Week as "11 Jewish Democratic members of the House of Representatives," sent a letter to President George W. Bush expressing "disappointment with the White House's irresponsible decision to invite Myron Kuropas to represent the United States in the official delegation sent to Ukraine's presidential inauguration."

The letter noted that "there is no excuse for the White House's failure to examine the anti-Semitic nature of his repeated and well-documented statements diminishing the atrocities of the Holocaust."

In addition to Reps. Waxman and Emanuel, the letter's signatories were: Robert Wexler (Fla.), Janice D. Schakowsky (Ill.), Anthony D. Weiner (N.Y.), Howard L. Berman (Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Gary L. Ackerman (N.Y.), Adam B. Schiff (Fla.), Tom Lantos (Calif.) and Nita M. Lowey (N.Y.).

Rep. Emanuel also sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, requesting that she "investigate and report to me and other Members of Congress the circumstances behind his [Dr. Kuropas's] inclusion [on the U.S. delegation to Ukraine], which might help prevent any repetition of this kind of embarrassment during your tenure as Secretary of State."

[Copies of all three congressional letters were obtained by The Weekly.]

Writing on January 31, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) cited Dr. Kuropas's purported accusations of "Holocaust manipulation" and reported that Dr. Kuropas "also raised money for the defense of John Demjanjuk, a death camp guard who faces deportation."

The JTA noted that the National Jewish Democratic Council said the appointment showed an "embarrassing" lack of judgment. "That the Bush White House put this man on a plane to Ukraine with our secretary of state, even as Europe was commemorating the Holocaust, is inexcusable," the council wrote, according to the JTA.

Rep. Nadler was quoted by the JTA as saying, "It's completely unfathomable that at this moment in history, as the world reflects on the tragedy of Auschwitz, the administration would send one of this country's most vocal anti-Semites on an ambassadorial assignment anywhere - much less to a celebration of the triumph of democracy."

On February 2, the New York Sun published an editorial titled "Good Question," which led off with a quotation from Rep. Emanuel: "How does a known anti-Semite walk onto a U.S. government plane with the secretary of state, as a member of the president's delegation - representing the United States of America - without anyone knowing how he got there or who recommended him?"

The newspaper underscored that the White House had "committed another failure of vetting," adding, "The Kuropas appointment isn't the most important to come across the president's screen. But the process is important and, if it isn't improved, Mr. Bush is going to be in for a tough second term."

- compiled by Roma Hadzewycz

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