Kerry denounces demand of Donetsk Jews to list property

US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Geneva Thursday, denounced as "grotesque" a leaflet handed out to Jews leaving a local synagogue in Donetsk which ordered “citizens of Jewish Nationality” over age 16 to pay $50 to register and be issued special passports marking their faith, and listing their property. The US State Department is looking into who is responsible for this disreputable and chilling reminder of Nazi persecution. DEBKAfile finds in this incident all the hallmarks of a typical provocation staged by the Kiev government to discredit pro-Russian activists. In a comment from the US, Abe Foxman noted that Ukrainian Jewish leaders recognized the flier as “a political dirty trick.” He said: “Manufactured incidents of anti-Semitism have been cynically used to discredit political opponents as ant-Semites, whether they are or not.