World
Israeli envoy discusses Polish-Jewish relations with priest who runs radio station accused of antisemitism
September 12, 2016 08:44
Israel’s ambassador in Poland has held a meeting with a Catholic priest who runs a radio station described as “blatantly antisemitic” by the US State Department.
Anna Azari, the country’s Israeli ambassador, met Father Tadeusz Rydzyk last week. The priest has been denounced by Jewish organisations and the Vatican for his past remarks.
In a statement, the Israeli embassy said Father Rydzyk and the ambassador had an hour-long meeting “discussing the problems of building Polish-Jewish dialogue” in which the priest praised Israel’s cuisine, culture, landscapes and scientists.
Father Rydzyk also said Israel’s multiculturalism was “beautiful, inspires respect and causes great enrichment and diversity of Israeli society,” the embassy added.
In 2007, Father Rydzyk allegedly expressed his disgust with Jews seeking reparations for the pogroms of the 1930s, saying: “They [the Jews] will come to you and say, ‘Give me your coat! Take off your trousers! Give me your shoes!’”
The US Department of State called his radio station, Radio Maryja “one of Europe’s most blatantly antisemitic media venues” in a 2008 report to the US Congress.
Radio Maryja had “criticised Jews in Poland and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe suggesting they are part of a worldwide ‘Holocaust Industry,’ the report added.