Jewish community accuses prominent Polish politician of anti-Semitism

The Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland said the remark by Paweł Kukiz was anti-Semitic and demanded a “firm reaction” from President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szydło.

Kukiz said that accusations of anti-Semitism against him were baseless. Kukiz heads a parliamentary grouping which includes radical right-wingers. Though in opposition, his Kukiz'15 grouping has similar views to Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice party on a number of key issues.

Lesław Piszewski, head of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities, said Kukiz's comments set a worrying precedent.

“For the first time since [Poland’s] democratic elections in 1989, a politician in parliament, who has run for the presidency, has used such obvious anti-Semitic rhetoric,” Piszewski said in a statement.

He was referring to a comment by Kukiz about the recently created Committee for the Defence of Democracy, which organised demonstrations in over 20 cities across Poland on Saturday in protest against the government's drive to reform the Constitutional Tribunal. Kukiz said the committee was financed by “a Jewish banker.”

The conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) party, which won the 25 October general election, rushed through an amendment after coming to power that paved the way for the appointment of five new judges to the Constitutional Tribunal.

Critics have accused Law and Justice of undermining the independence of Poland’s judicial system.

Kukiz's anti-establishment Kukiz'15 grouping was formed in July and came third in the parliamentary election. (pk)

Source: IAR