EJC President Moshe Kantor, in a letter addressed to President of the European Commission Josè Manuel Durao Barroso, expressed the EJC’s worry that EU money could be received by a Polish radio station known for anti-Semitic broadcasts.
Below please find the text of the letter:
{We have recently learned that a Polish radio station known for anti-Semitic broadcasts might receive 15 million in European Union funding, and we are deeply disturbed that the European Commission’s strict anti-discrimination rules might be in danger.
Jews through Europe were shocked last year when the radio station in question, Radio Maryja, broadcasted a commentator who attacked current attempts to gain restitution for Polish Jews by labelling such efforts as “Holocaust business” accusing Jews of “trying to force our government to pay extortion money disguised as compensation payments.” He also claimed that the “Holocaust industry” controlled the US press and warned of a “Jewish fifth column in Poland”.
The commentator, using ugly and medieval characterisations of Jews, conducted a broadcast tainted by anti-Semitism.
We are sure that such a broadcast constitutes racist and inflammatory speech, clearly violating European Commission guidelines.
In March 2007, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering condemned an anti-Semitic brochure published by MEP Maciej Giertych with the Parliament’s logo. This action showed the European Union’s steadfast determination to stand for the European values of human rights.
President Barroso, we kindly ask for your assurance that the effective anti-discriminatory laws used by the European Commission will be applied in the case of Radio Maryja.}
