US ‘concerned’ as Israel-Polish diplomatic row continues

The US State Department said that it is concerned that the controversial bill that would make it illegal to blame Poles for crimes committed by Nazi Germany “could undermine free speech and academic discourse” and have “repercussions on Poland’s strategic interests and relationships, including with the United States and Israel.” According to media reports, Israel is planning to recall its ambassador from Poland further escalating the diplomatic row. “No law will change the facts,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that Tel Aviv “adamantly opposes” the bill. The Israeli parliament decided on Wednesday to debate an amendment to its own “Holocaust denial” law that would penalize the minimizing of the role of Nazi collaborators — a clear reference to the new Polish legislation. Several international organizations have also condemned the law, including Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The bill outlaws the use of phrases such as “Polish death camps” and makes it punishable by up to three years in prison. The law, according to its proponents, is to stop people for people incorrectly conclude that Poland had a role in running the camps. But critics say the legislation could hinder debating history, thus harming freedom of expression and opening the way to Holocaust denial. Despite the international protests and pressure, Polish Senate swiftly approved the draft bill late Wednesday, voting against all of the amendments proposed by the opposition. It will now be sent to President Andrzej Duda to be signed into the law. “We, as a state, as a nation, have a right to defend ourselves from an evident slander, an evident falsification of historical truth, which, in this case, for us is a slap in the face,” he said earlier this week.