{"id":58217,"date":"2018-02-07T06:05:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T06:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58217"},"modified":"2018-02-07T06:05:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T06:05:46","slug":"polish-president-signs-holocaust-bill-triggers-israeli-u-s-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/polish-president-signs-holocaust-bill-triggers-israeli-u-s-criticism.html","title":{"rendered":"Polish president signs Holocaust bill, triggers Israeli, U.S. criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polish president signs Holocaust bill, triggers Israeli, U.S. criticism<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Poland\u2019s president signed into law on Tuesday a bill that imposes jail terms for suggesting the country was complicit in the Holocaust, prompting sharp criticism from Israel and the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrzej Duda said in a televised address the legislation would safeguard Poland\u2019s international reputation, but Israel called for amendments, saying the two countries had a \u201cjoint responsibility\u201d to preserve the memory of the Holocaust.<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States, a close NATO ally of Poland, expressed disappointment at Duda\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(This bill) … protects Polish interests … our dignity, the historical truth… so that we are not slandered as a state and as a nation,\u201d said Duda, an ally of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) which introduced the legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it also \u201ctakes into account the sensitivity of those for whom the issue of historical truth, the memory of the Holocaust is incredibly important\u201d, Duda added.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Polish law would impose prison sentences of up to three years for using the phrase \u201cPolish death camps\u201d and for suggesting \u201cpublicly and against the facts\u201d that the Polish nation or state was complicit in Nazi Germany\u2019s crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

PiS, a socially conservative, nationalist party that has clashed with the European Union and human rights groups on a range of issues since taking power in late 2015, says the new law is needed to ensure that Poles are recognized as victims, not perpetrators, of Nazi aggression in World War Two.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel says the law will curb free speech, criminalize basic historical facts and stop any discussion of the role some Poles played in Nazi crimes. Activists say the passage of the bill has encouraged a rise in anti-Semitism.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than three million of the 3.2 million Jews who lived in pre-war Poland were murdered by the Nazis, accounting for about half of all Jews killed in the Holocaust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jews from across the continent were sent to be killed at death camps built and operated by Germans in occupied Poland – home to Europe\u2019s biggest Jewish community at the time – including Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Duda said he would also ask the Constitutional Tribunal for a number of clarifications about the bill. The legislation provides exemptions for academic research and art.<\/span><\/p>\n

Duda\u2019s top foreign policy adviser Krzysztof Szczerski told public television TVP that the law should be sent to the Constitutional Tribunal within a week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Criticizing Duda\u2019s move, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement: \u201cEnactment of this law adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel said it still hoped Poland would make amendments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that within the allotted time, until the court\u2019s deliberations are concluded, we will manage to agree on changes and corrections. Israel and Poland hold a joint responsibility to research and preserve the history of the Holocaust,\u201d the Israeli government said in a statement on Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s education minister said on Monday he was \u201chonored\u201d Poland had canceled his visit to Warsaw this week because he refused to retract his condemnation of the bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe blood of Polish Jews cries from the ground, and no law will silence it,\u201d Bennett later said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-israel-poland\/polish-president-signs-holocaust-bill-triggers-israeli-u-s-criticism-idUSKBN1FQ1EQ<\/span><\/p>\n

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