{"id":60445,"date":"2018-03-27T17:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=60445"},"modified":"2018-03-27T07:36:13","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T05:36:13","slug":"03-00-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=60445","title":{"rendered":"Adviser to Polish Prime Minister Under Fire for \u2018Antisemitic\u2019 Online Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Senior Adviser to Polish Prime Minister Under Fire From Top Jewish Leaders for \u2018Antisemitic\u2019 Online Campaign<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Ben Cohen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Prof. Rafal Pankowski (far left) with fellow panelists at the Global Forum on Antisemitism in Jerusalem. Photo: NCSEJ.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Jewish leaders in the US and Europe have risen to the defense of a leading Polish expert on\u00a0antisemitism, after he recently became the target of an \u201cantisemitic\u201d online campaign led by an official adviser to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rafal Pankowski \u2014 a Warsaw-based professor who leads the anti-racist \u201cNever Again\u201d Association \u2014 was described as a \u201cPolish-speaking Jewish mongrel dog\u201d and threatened with violence by extremists on social media\u00a0following a speech he delivered to the Global Forum Against Antisemitism in Jerusalem on March 21.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that presentation, Pankowski highlighted the upsurge of antisemitic rhetoric that has accompanied\u00a0the recent passage of controversial Holocaust commemoration legislation in Poland.\u00a0The bill \u2014 signed into law by President Andrzej Duda on Feb. 6 \u2014 criminalizes public discussion of Polish antisemitism and collusion with the Nazi authorities\u00a0during the German occupation of 1939-45, with potential violators facing a maximum sentence of three years in prison. (Pankowski, a critic of the legislation, is frequently quoted on this matter and related\u00a0issues\u00a0by\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0and several other international news outlets.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Among those in the audience for Pankowski\u2019s speech was Polish Ambassador to Israel Jaceck Chodorowicz. Attending with\u00a0the ambassador was Andrzej Pawluszek \u2014 a government adviser promoted on March 2\u00a0to the official post of secretary to the prime minister \u2013 who took exception to the speech\u2019s content. While Pawluszek did not challenge the\u00a0remarks during the panel, his furious disagreement with Pankowski\u2019s claim that antisemitism was widespread among certain Polish politicians and media outlets\u00a0was revealed in a subsequent series of tweets, in which he joined with the deputy leader of Poland\u2019s far-right National Movement\u00a0in denouncing\u00a0<\/a>Pankowski\u2019s\u00a0assessment of Polish antisemitism as a \u201cscandal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0tweets were\u00a0approvingly\u00a0shared by other\u00a0well-known figures in Poland \u2013 including Sebastian Kaleta, a high-level official at the Ministry\u00a0of Justice, Krzysztof Ziemiec, the\u00a0presenter of Polish state TV\u2019s evening news program, and Adam Bielan, a deputy speaker of the Polish Senate \u2014 setting off a volley of online abuse in Pankowski\u2019s direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA Jewish mongrel\u2026\u201d \u2013 some of the antisemitic tweets directed at Polish anti-racism campaigner Rafal Pankowski following his speech in Jerusalem. Image: Screenshot<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

One respondent accused Pankowksi of having gone to Israel \u201cto earn his Judas shekels,\u201d while another\u00a0urged\u00a0Pawluszek to \u201cpunch him in the face on our behalf.\u201d Another participant in the exchange declared his desire \u201cto put TNT in the ass of this Pankowski.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Polish far right activists \u2014 60,000 of whom turned out for a menacing show of force\u00a0in Warsaw in November 2017 \u2014 carry a long-established reputation for violence at soccer matches and political demonstrations, as well as a reported average of ten assaults each week on immigrants living in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the Jewish leaders who rushed to Pankowski\u2019s defense on Monday\u00a0expressed\u00a0dismay that the originator of the social media campaign was a government official who had been present at the annual antisemitism forum in Jerusalem, hosted by Israel\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

An Israeli Foreign Ministry representative clarified\u00a0that Pawluszek \u201cwasn\u2019t invited by us, and did not play an official role.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe conference was open to all,\u201d the Israeli official explained to\u00a0The Algemeiner\u00a0<\/em>on Monday, emphasizing at the same time that \u201cthe behavior cited by Rafal Pankowski is disturbing and troubling, and we will look into this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Levin \u2014 CEO of the Washington, DC-based National Council Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ) \u2014 was among the speakers who shared the platform with Pankowski in Jerusalem. \u201cRafal was an important part of the panel, and the information he shared was well received,\u201d Levin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that the Polish prime minister\u2019s adviser interpreted the information in a negative way,\u201d Levin told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cThe purpose of the session was to outline the recent, significant increase in antisemitic rhetoric, and some incidents as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Levin continued,\u00a0\u201cWe were trying to create an inclusive atmosphere, and these tweets unfortunately don\u2019t help with that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon Nazarian \u2014 director of international affairs for the Anti-Defamation League \u2014 demanded an immediate end to the outburst of online vitriol against Pankowski.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe campaign of online antisemitic harassment against our longtime partners at the Never Again Association is deeply disturbing and needs to stop now,\u201d Nazarian told\u00a0The Algemeiner\u00a0<\/em>in an email.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis incident is another example of how far-right extremists can abuse social media platforms to troll their perceived enemies,\u201d Nazarian \u2014 who also spoke at the Jerusalem meeting \u2014 commented. \u201cWe stand in solidarity with Rafal Pankowski and all those who stand up against hate in Poland.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Responding to an email query from\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>, Pawluszek stressed that he had \u201calways been against antisemitism, which I consider to be a serious problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Arguing that antisemitism was more pronounced\u00a0in Western Europe, the Polish prime minister\u2019s adviser added, \u201cI do not disregard it in Poland, and I regularly ban antisemites on my Twitter profile.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAgain \u2014 I will never accept any antisemitic statements on my profile,\u201dPawluszek said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked why he had not challenged Pankowski during the panel,\u00a0Pawluszek answered, \u201cI did not have to confront him, because (Polish Chief Rabbi) Michael Schudrich did this after his speech.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Schudrich had \u201cpointed that also anti-Polish statements are a real problem in the current debate,\u201d\u00a0Pawluszek said.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Pankowski told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0on Monday that he had been heartened \u201cby the numerous messages of solidarity and support I received in the last days, not least from the chief rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, and many other friends and allies of the \u2018Never Again\u2019 Association.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is surprising and disappointing is that the nasty online campaign was started by the prime minister\u2019s adviser specifically tasked with solving the Polish-Israeli-US crisis,\u201d Pankowski continued. \u201cSuch behavior is unworthy of a public official.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other Jewish leaders echoed the same concern.\u00a0\u201cIn his talk, Pankowski expressed concern about the recent Polish legislative initiative regarding the Holocaust,\u201d Betty Ehrenberg, executive director of World Jewish Congress North America, told\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>\u00a0in an email. \u201cIn reaction, Pankowski \u00a0was vilified and denounced by some Polish officials in a public social media campaign that was shocking in its use of hateful language and imagery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ehrenberg said the WJC had been \u201cdeeply saddened by these unfortunate expressions on the part of the officials and calls for an immediate return to respectful and\u00a0 civil discourse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Shimon Samuels \u2014 international affairs director for the Simon Wiesenthal Center \u2014 called for Pawluszek\u2019s dismissal from his role in Morawiecki\u2019s office.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor a Polish government official to attend and abuse an Israeli government-organized Forum on Antisemitism, to deliberately launch a hate campaign against Rafal, demands an immediate condemnation from his boss, Prime Minister Morawiecki, and the dismissal of Pawluszek from all government functions,\u201d Samuels said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe repercussions of Pawluszek\u2019s libel have already included threats of violence against Rafal \u2014 threats in which the prime minister and his adviser are complicit,\u201d Samuels charged.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em>
\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion’68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.
\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:
\n<\/em>webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior Adviser to Polish Prime Minister Under Fire From Top Jewish Leaders for \u2018Antisemitic\u2019 Online Campaign Ben Cohen Prof. Rafal Pankowski (far left) with fellow panelists at the Global Forum on Antisemitism in Jerusalem. Photo: NCSEJ. Jewish leaders in the US and Europe have risen to the defense of a leading Polish expert on\u00a0antisemitism, after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60445"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60445"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60467,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60445\/revisions\/60467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}