Polish demonstrators burn 'Jewish' effigy
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
20.11.2015 10:04
Demonstrators at an anti-refugee march in the Polish city of Wrocław, western Poland, burnt an effigy of an orthodox Jew, sparking criticism in the international press.
The effigy was burnt on the city's main square. Photo: Video screenshot/Jerusalem Times
The participants of the rally shouted “United Catholic Poland! National radicalism! Down with the European Union!”
They then went on to set fire to an effigy of a Hasidic Jew dressed in traditional clothing, peot (side curls) and cap.
“Recalling anti-Jewish stereotypes proves that we are still divided and that cooperation is not possible,” Piotr Kadlcik, a Polish-Jewish activist, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Hatred for migrants comes from the same place as the classic hatred for Jews,” Chief Rabbi in Poland, Michael Schudrich, told the Jerusalem Post.
The previous Polish government pledged to take on some 7,000 asylum seekers as part of an EU plan to resettle refugees from Syria and Eritrea.
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the newly appointed Law and Justice (PiS) government has voiced its concern that these immigrants could include terrorists. Several ministers have said that Poland should rethink its pledge, and, if need be, withdraw from it completely. (rg/di)
Source: JTA, Gazeta Wyborcza