The upper house of the Polish parliament, the Senate, has started debating the bill criminalizing allegations of Polish complicity in the Holocaust. The bill has caused a storm of opposition in Israel.
The Senate’s debate over the bill comes despite Polish assurances that a dialogue on the legislation would be held with Israel before a vote on it in the Senate. It had previously been approved by the lower house of parliament.
The legislation, which still requires the approval of the Senate as well as Poland’s president to become law, ban claims that the Polish people or Polish state were responsible or complicit in the Nazis’ crimes, crimes against humanity or war crimes. The bill also bans minimizing the responsibility of “the real perpetrators” for these crimes.
Senate speaker Stanislaw Karczewski said he expected the upper house to vote late Wednesday, putting the controversial bill a step closer to becoming law. It must still be signed into law by the president, who supports it.
Poland’s conservative ruling Law and Justice party authored the bill, which foresees up to three years of prison for any intentional attempt to falsely attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish state or people.
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Law and Justice says it is fighting against phrases like “Polish death camps” to refer to death camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II.
Israel, however, sees the move an attempt to whitewash the role some Poles played in the killing of Jews during World War II.
The dispute, which erupted over the weekend, has elicited bitter recriminations on both sides. Some Israelis have accused the mostly Catholic Poles of being driven by anti-Semitism and of trying to deny the Holocaust. Poles believe that they are being defamed by being linked to German crimes of which they were one of the largest group of victims.
Amid the dispute some Polish commentators, including in government-controlled media, have made strong anti-Jewish remarks.
The United States asked Poland to rethink plans to enact proposed legislation, arguing Wednesday that if it passes it could hurt freedom of speech as well as strategic relationships.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Neather Nauert voiced her government’s concerns, saying that the U.S. understands that phrases like “Polish death camps” are “inaccurate, misleading, and hurtful” but voiced concern the legislation could “undermine free speech and academic discourse.”
“We are also concerned about the repercussions this draft legislation, if enacted, could have on Poland’s strategic interests and relationships — including with the United States and Israel. The resulting divisions that may arise among our allies benefit only our rivals,” Nauert said.
“We encourage Poland to reevaluate the legislation in light of its potential impact on the principle of free speech and on our ability to be effective partners.”
Nauert’s statement came only days after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Warsaw, where he paid respects to Jewish and Polish victims of the war on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Earlier Wednesday, a U.S. congressional task force on combatting anti-Semitism said it was “alarmed” by the legislation and called on Polish President Andrzej Duda to veto it.
“We are deeply concerned that this legislation could have a chilling effect on dialogue, scholarship, and accountability in Poland about the Holocaust, should this legislation become law,” the bipartisan group said.
The lower house of the Polish parliament approved the bill on Friday, a day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, timing that has also been criticized as insensitive.
Article source: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.834433
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