Poland’s president criticized an anti-Semitic booklet published by a Polish member of the European Parliament. The booklet is “highly disquieting,” President Lech Kaczynski said in a Feb. 21 statement. “The War of Civilizations in Europe,” published earlier this month by Maciej Giertych, describes Jews as a civilization doomed to separateness and adhering to rules incompatible with modern ethics. “I have read with amazement that Torah-based Jewish civilization cannot coexist with the Christian civilization in Europe,” Kaczynski’s statement said. “The thesis… contradicts the teachings of the great Pope John Paul II. This compatriot of ours repeatedly called the Jews “our elder brethren in faith” and taught about “the common Judeo-Christian civilization.” The booklet has been condemned by the American Jewish Committee and the Israeli Foreign Ministry as fostering anti-Semitic stereotypes. Prior to Kaczynski’s statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry had asked Polish officials to speak out on the matter.
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