Israeli criticism sparks anti-Jewish remarks in Polish media
Source: Associated Press
Israeli criticism sparks anti-Jewish remarks in Polish media
By VANESSA GERA
50 minutes ago
WARSAW, Poland (AP) A diplomatic dispute between Poland and Israel over pending legislation that would outlaw blaming Poland for the crimes of the Holocaust has led to an outburst of anti-Semitic comments in Poland, including some in the government-controlled media.
Polands lower house of parliament gave its approval Friday to the bill, which calls for penalties of up to three years in prison for anyone who publicly and against the facts accuses the Polish people of crimes committed by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Polands ruling Law and Justice party says the law is meant to fight expressions like Polish death camps, to refer to the wartime camps that Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland. Poles were among those imprisoned, tortured and killed in the camps, and many today feel Poles are being unfairly depicted as perpetrators of the Holocaust.
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The Israeli government in the past has supported the campaign against the phrase Polish death camps, but it has strongly criticized the new legislation, which still must be approved by the Senate and President Andrzej Duda, who both support it.
Israel, along with several international Holocaust organizations and many critics in Poland, argues that the law could have a chilling effect on debating history, harming freedom of expression and leading to a whitewashing of Polands wartime history, which also includes episodes of Poles killing Jews or denouncing them to the Germans.
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https://apnews.com/32a38ea92b4247859ad2fad83eb99715/Israeli-criticism-sparks-anti-Jewish-remarks-in-Polish-media