Yesterday, the Ukrainian community and the Ukrainian House in Jordan, an NGO, published an open letter following the act of vandalism committed against the Taras Shevchenko memorial plaque in Aman. And the Embassy of Ukraine in Jordan applied to the Foreign Ministry of this country in connection with the ugly incident, the embassy reported in a Facebook post today.
On Aug. 11, unidentified vandals broke protective glass over the Shevchenko portrait on the plaque and defaced it. The plaque had been installed on the street named after the great Ukrainian poet and artist near the embassy’s former premises (now private property).
In the open letter, the Ukrainian community said it is “deeply outraged by the act of vandalism.”
“Ukrainians respect their national symbols and cultural figures, one of whom is Taras Shevchenko. Our diaspora considers this crime as a fact of humiliation of the entire Ukrainian community that has been living in Jordan for many years, as well as a direct humiliation of the achievements between Ukrainian and Jordanian diplomats,” the letter reads.
The Ukrainian House also called on everyone who may have witnessed the crime to inform about that the NGO or the Embassy of Ukraine in Jordan.
The embassy says it immediately contacted relevant services of the Hashemite Kingdom to have the crime scene examined and evidence found for the identification of the vandals.
“The memorial plaque honors the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko and represents a special historical and cultural value for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and is also a place of symbolic presence of Ukrainians in Jordan,” the embassy’s appeal to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry reads. “The figure of Taras Shevchenko acquires special significance during the national war that Ukraine is waging against the Russian aggression. The vandalism and damage to the memorial plaque of Taras Shevchenko has signs of ethnic-based violence and may be part of a larger threat to Ukrainians and their security from radical representatives of Russian and pro-Russian groups.”
Given the high profile and sensitivity of the issue, the embassy called on the Foreign Ministry to conduct, in coordination with relevant Jordanian agencies, an urgent investigation of the incident and bring to justice all those involved. It also thanked the Ukrainian community in Jordan for their active civic position.
