Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Poland’s proposed legislation to ban the phrase “Polish death camps” that was passed in the lower house of Poland’s parliament Friday on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting Sunday that he has “no tolerance for the distortion of the truth, the rewriting of history and the denial of the Holocaust,” reported The Times of Israel.
“We have had enough of Poland and Poles being blamed for German crimes,” said Beata Mazurek, a politician of the ruling Law and Justice party.
The proposed legislation would fine, or even jail, people that say Polish people were complicit with aiding Nazis in the Holocaust, reported The Telegraph. The ban still needs approval from Poland’s Senate and the president.
The U.S. Embassy of Poland tweeted on Saturday to “use the correct terms: #GermanNaziCamps.” The embassy also called the phrase “Polish Camps” offensive and inaccurate, according to the embassy’s website.
#WordsMatter.
Remember to use the correct terms: #GermanNaziCamps pic.twitter.com/b0VywDeBW1— Embassy of Poland US (@PolishEmbassyUS) January 27, 2018
Polish President Andrzej Duda is sending a policy adviser to Israel to discuss the bill, tweeted the Embassy of Poland in Israel Monday. (RELATED: I’m A Jew. I Had No Idea I’d Spend Christmas Among Neo-Nazis)
Former President Barack Obama referred to a “Polish death camp” in 2012. The White House later apologized, reported The Times of Israel.
WATCH:
A study by The University of Warsaw’s Center for Research on Prejudice found that Poland’s positive attitudes towards Jews dropped from 28% in 2015 to 23% in 2016 out of 1000 adults and 700 youths surveyed, reported the Times of Israel.
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