Tag: antisemitism

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THE TWITTER STANDARDS OF HATE

Elon Musk’s publicized visit to Auschwitz earlier this year did next to nothing to improve the implementation of hate speech standards on Twitter/X, according to a new REPORT by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association.

The report describes hundreds of shocking samples of extreme hate speech reported by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ to X in the last 12 months. X has refused to remove them or ignored reports.

The report includes a lengthy list of written posts, images and videos inciting hatred against minorities such as Jews, Africans, Muslims, Ukrainian refugees, and LGBT people. The contents include dehumanization, glorification of the Holocaust, calls to violence – for example shooting refugee children – as well as calls to mass murder of whole groups.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Poland’s leading anti-racist organization, documented and informed X of 343 examples of extreme hate speech addressed to a Polish audience on the platform since August 2023. The removal rate has been a mere 10 percent, which means that 90 percent of the reported cases have remained on the platform.

The contents were monitored daily and reported through a regular user interface, with a removal rate of 8 percent. Then 295 out of the pending cases were reported again on behalf of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, which has had a Trusted Flagger status with the main social media platforms since 2020, with a removal rate of 11 percent.

– ‘The inadequate reaction of the platform to reported cases of hatred is striking’ – said Dr Anna Tatar who is a co-author of the report. – ‘Apparently, there is little or no sense of a global responsibility on the level of the company. We hope our report will contribute to a big change, which is necessary’.

The documentation was prepared by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ in the frames of the SafeNet (Monitoring and Reporting for Safer Online Environments) project, an initiative of 21 organisations from different European countries, members of the International Network Against Cyber ​​Hate (INACH), supported by the European Commission.

The report comes in the wake of a statement by the Commission which in July 2024 informed X of its preliminary view that it is in breach of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers. The DSA is widely expected to curb the spread of hate speech in the EU.

Twitter’s owner Elon Musk visited the site of the former Nazi camp at Auschwitz before the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2024. During his visit to Poland, he condemned antisemitism and said: – ‘It was incredibly moving and deeply sad and tragic that humans could do this to other humans.’

The ‘X’s policy on hateful conduct’, available on the company’s website, states among other things: ‘We are committed to combating abuse motivated by hatred, prejudice or intolerance, particularly abuse that seeks to silence the voices of those who have been historically marginalized. For this reason, we prohibit behavior that targets individuals or groups with abuse based on their perceived membership in a protected category.’

Examples of tweets reported by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ and not removed by X:

‘I will repeat my post from a few months ago, gas the Jews!’

(X did not react to reports)

‘The only answer I agree with is […] shooting everything that enters the zone as a rule. If a couple of ciapatych [darkies – an abusive term for brown-skinned people] children die because of it, all the better’

(X responded: ‘the content does not breach our standards’)

‘During Le Pen’s [rule] I hope they’ll start shooting n…rs with live ammo, and if not, get them out to Africa to their shit houses’

(X did not react to reports)

‘Fuck gender. Fuck the perverted whores. Fuck transvestites. Load these whores into the furnace!!!!!!’

(X did not react to reports)

‘Putin’s security services would not allow such an oversight. Why? Because there [i.e. in Russia] are no lesbians, faggots and invalids. And that’s how it should be’

(a tweet by Sebastian Ross, a leader of the UK branch of the Polish far-right group Confederation in reaction to an attempted assassination of Donald Trump, X responded: ‘the content does not breach our standards’)

‘Ukry [an abusive term for Ukrainians]!!! Get out to Ukraine!!! That’s where you belong!!! Stay away from Poland!!!’

(X responded: ‘the content does not breach our standards’)

‘N…rs are subhumans’

(X responded: ‘the content does not breach our standards’)

‘Fuck the jews and the n…rs, eradicate that disease!’

(accompanied by an image of a Nazi death camp, X did not react to report).

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against antisemitism and xenophobia both in Poland and internationally. It has actively participated in civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE), the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) and the Alliance Against Genocide. It takes part in international projects to counter hate speech, Get The Trolls Out and SafeNet.

‘The Twitter Standards of Hate’ (full version of the report: https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/172/the_twitter_standards_of_hate.pdf ).

For more information:

https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/hateful-conduct-policy

www.neveragainassociation.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association

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BRAUN’S HATE – A NEW REPORT ON POLISH MP WHO ATTACKED THE HANUKKIAH

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has prepared a special REPORT that documents several dozen examples of hateful actions and statements of Grzegorz Braun, Member of Polish Parliament from the far-right Konfederacja (Confederation) party. The hatred expressed by Braun did not start with the infamous 12 December 2023 attack on the hannukiah in the Parliament, using a fire extinguisher. In fact, the Konfederacja MP has for years promoted conspiracy theories about Jews taking over Poland, mocked the victims of Nazi camps, called for violence against LGBT people, and boasted about tearing down Ukrainian flags.

– ‘We call on social media platforms to remove the hateful content produced by Grzegorz Braun. He has been propagating hatred against minorities with impunity for many years. His videos on YouTube and entries on Facebook and X (Twitter) promote aggression towards Jews, Muslims, refugees and LGBT people,’ says Lukasz Jakubowski from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association.

The NEVER AGAIN Association has prepared a report that documents hateful actions of Grzegorz Braun

The broad reach of Braun’s hateful propaganda is evidenced by the number of views of his materials online (e.g. some videos featuring him have over one million views) and the huge amounts of money collected in his fundraising campaigns (for example, on 18 December he received 200,000 PLN, which is more than 50,400 USD, through one of Polish fundraising websites). His actions have a direct impact, too: on 14 December, five perpetrators (minors) tried to destroy a Hanukkah menorah in Wroclaw. They also set fire to an Israeli flag they had brought with them and filmed the entire incident. They were detained and their case has been brought to family court.

Thanks to the intervention of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, the Allegro and OLX internet marketplace platforms removed several dozen offers of gadgets expressing support for the antisemitic act of violence committed by Braun in the Parliament. The deleted items included mugs and t-shirts with an image of a fire extinguisher facing a Jewish candelabra.

T-short expressing support for the antisemitic act of violence committed by Braun

Braun’s statements have been repeatedly reported by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association to YouTube, Facebook, and X (Twitter) for promoting hatred. However, these platforms – contrary to their own terms of use – are reluctant to remove this type of content. As a result, Braun can conduct his aggressive campaign without any obstacles.

Examples of statements and incidents documented in the publication of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association entitled ‘Braun’s Hate’:

– On 2 April 2019, in an interview published on the YouTube channel of wRealu24, online TV, Grzegorz Braun demanded penalties for homosexuality. He said, ‘Let’s negotiate not the boundaries of tolerance, but of penalisation. […] If someone comes up with a liberal bill introducing whipping of homosexuals, then we can discuss how to implement it – whether through European Parliament or Warsaw’s Parliament.’

– On 9 April 2020, in an interview for the Panta Rhei channel on YouTube, Braun presented xenophobic conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19, ‘Might it be simply an act of biological warfare? […] Who might benefit from it? The Chinese, Americans, Muscovites, Jews, or all of them at once?’

– On 14 December 2021, during a demonstration that was held in front of the Sejm (lower chamber of Polish Parliament) MPs from Konfederacja, including Braun, spoke and posed against the background of a banner with an inscription ‘Vaccination makes you free’ which was designed to resemble the sign above the gate of the former Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp: ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘Work makes you free’).

– On 24 February 2022, a few hours after the start of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, Braun posted a comment on Twitter in which he called for Poles not to help those fleeing war-torn Ukraine, ‘The humanitarian imperative: DO NOT leave the territory of the Republic of Poland wide open, do not create demand for the migration of refugees/invaders.’

– On 14 March 2022, referring to xenophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories, Braun condemned the display of Ukrainian flags as a sign of solidarity with the victims of the war. He posted on Twitter, ‘Do we already have Ukro-Polin here? Who is the host here?’ [Polin means Poland in Hebrew, in this case Braun refered to an antisemitic conspiracy theory according to which ‘Ukro-Polin’, a Jewish-Ukrainian state, would be formed after overtaking Poland]

– On 25 June 2022, during a demonstration in Warsaw, Braun expressed publicly his thanks to extreme-right activists and YouTube broadcasters Wojciech Olszanski and Marcin Osadowski for their ‘very strong voice for Poland. And I repeat it – death to the enemies of the fatherland’. At that time legal proceedings were in progress against Olszanski and Osadowski for issuing death threats to Members of Parliament.

– On 21 November 2022, Braun enthusiastically welcomed the news that a South African court decided to release on parole Janusz Walus – the racist killer who shot Chris Hani, a South African anti-apartheid leader, in 1993. Braun posted on Twitter, ‘LIVE: South Africa’s Constitutional Court takes its decision to RELEASE Mr. Janusz Walus from prison. Thank heavens!’

– On 27 January 2023, in the Regional Court building in Krakow, Braun destroyed a Christmas tree which was displayed by an association of judges. The tree was decorated with baubles with Ukrainian flags, European Union flags, and the letters ‘LGBT’ in rainbow colours.

– On 30 May 2023, at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw, Braun disrupted the lecture of Professor Jan Grabowski about Holocaust memory. He moved towards the lecturer, shouting ‘Enough of this!’, ripped out the microphone from the stand, smashed it against the lectern, and knocked over the loudspeaker.

– On 12 December 2023, in the building of the Sejm Braun disrupted a ceremony on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. He burst in with a fire extinguisher and used it to put out the candles burning on the nine-branched candelabra (hanukkiah). One of the ceremony participants, Magdalena Gudzinska-Adamczyk, tried to stop Braun, but she was attacked by him and sprayed with the fire extinguisher.

– On 14 December 2023, on Leszek Szymowski’s YouTube channel Braun encouraged people to repeat the aggressive act he had committed during Hanukkah celebrations, ‘At this time next year, I will be on the lookout for all those who believe that it is necessary to professionally extinguish fires started in public spaces [this is how Braun described his attack]. I applaud all forms of protest and attempts to put an end to such activities.’

In January 2023, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association published a report on hate speech as well as antisemitic and anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories propagated on the Media Narodowe (National Media) online TV channel. Upon the publication the channel was removed by YouTube. In August 2022, thanks to cooperation with the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, the YouTube platform removed the far-right channel wRealu24.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organisation founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against antisemitism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally. It has actively participated in international civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE) and the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH). It takes part in international projects to counter hate speech, Get The Trolls Out and SafeNet.

‘Braun’s Hate’ (full version of the report):

https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/172/brauns_hate._report.pdf

Additional information:

www.nigdywiecej.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association

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HATE SPEECH ON YOUTUBE DOCUMENTED IN A NEW REPORT

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association published a report on hate speech, antisemitic and anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories propagated on the far-right Media Narodowe (National Media) YouTube channel, which receives subsidies from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The National Media channel has over 250,000 subscribers. It produces an average of 100-150 broadcasts per month, some of them have tens of thousands of views.

The publisher of the National Media is Stowarzyszenie Marsz Niepodleglosci (March of Independence Association), whose leader is Robert Bakiewicz, editor-in-chief of the National Media and the main organizer of the so-called Independence March, the big far-right march that takes place in Warsaw on Polish Independence Day every 11 November. Bakiewicz is a former leader of the fascist group Oboz Narodowo-Radykalny (National-Radical Camp, ONR).

In the years 2021-2022, Bakiewicz’s organizations (Independence March Squads, March of Independence and National Guard) received almost 5 million Polish zloty (1 million US dollars) from public funds, including over 198 thousand Polish zloty directly for the National Media.

– ‘Many minorities are regularly attacked on the National Media channel, including Jews, Muslims, refugees from Ukraine, and LGBT people,’ says Dr. Anna Tatar from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, co-author of the report. – ‘Such offensive contents clearly breach YouTube community standards and we expect YouTube to take action’ – said Jacek Dziegielewski, a researcher for ‘NEVER AGAIN’ who participated in the report’s preparation.

Since the first days of the Russian invasion, the National Media broadcasts have presented refugees from Ukraine as a threat (including ‘biological’ threat) to the Polish society, denied the Ukrainians’ right to preserve their own national identity (demanding that they ‘polonize’ themselves), and questioned the Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine. The head of the National Media, Robert Bakiewicz, already in 2021 warned against ‘Ukrainian immigration’, which in his view would lead to an ‘ethnic replacement’ in Poland.

In the report, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association also recorded numerous examples of antisemitic content disseminated by the National Media. Among them there were medieval accusations of blood libel (accusing Jews of murdering Christian children for ritual purposes) as well as claims that the Jews were behind the current war in Ukraine, falsified the history of the Holocaust for financial purposes, were guilty themselves of creating antisemitism, and finally that they wanted to appropriate Poland in order to build their own state under the name ‘Polin’ (Polin means Poland in Hebrew).

Here are examples of comments made on the National Media channel, which were noted in the report of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association:

– Radoslaw Patlewicz (the author of the book ‘Ritual murder in Rzeszow? A historical investigation’): ‘There is hard evidence that Jews used the blood of humans and animals primarily for medical purposes, as well as for ritual purposes. It is, of course, the paschal matzah and the so-called wine ritual accompanying the Seder dinner’ (18.01.2022),

– Piotr Strzembosz (the Faith and Action Association) on refugees from Ukraine: ‘After all, 500,000 people from a country torn by war, this could be the source of not only the COVID virus, but a number of other very dangerous things. If there is a state of war, people may have difficulty maintaining hygiene, they can transmit various parasites, here let’s not be afraid of that word’ (2.03.2022),

– Brunon Rozycki (a regular host on the National Media channel): ‘The depopulation of eastern Ukraine is favourable for Putin, for the Jews and perhaps the West’ (22.03.2022, within a week, this broadcast gained over 100,000 views on YouTube),

– Radosław Patlewicz: ‘The Jews almost expressly demand a de facto liquidation of Christianity, so what attitude should Christians feel toward the Jews […]? It can be said that the Jews are in some ways looking for trouble coming to them, that somebody could harm them’ (25.04.2022),

– Jan Bodakowski (a regular host on the National Media channel, a participant of extreme right-wing demonstrations for many years, and a candidate of the far right Confederation party in the 2019 parliamentary elections; he was not elected): about the symbol of the Russian invasion, the letter Z: ‘[this letter] does not appear in the Russian alphabet […] but it is very similar to a letter that in Hebrew and in Kabbalah means war. And it would also suit the theory that the Kabbalistic symbol of the war was visible on Russian tanks, the more so knowing Vladimir Putin’s very close relations with Jewish communities’ (10.07.2022),

– Robert Bakiewicz (editor-in-chief of the National Media channel): ‘Lies about Jedwabne [an anti-Jewish pogrom committed by Poles in 1941 – editor’s note] have to be straightened out. I am fully convinced that on the basis of the evidence that we already have today, it can be clearly stated that the murder was not committed by the Poles. […] What the Jewish community or Israel says about this issue confirms our belief that it is simply acting for the benefit of currently building the myth of this criminal behaviour of Poles, but also developing this entire religion of the Holocaust’ (8.07.2022),

– Tadeusz Matuszyk (in the 1980s an activist of the so-called ‘true Poles’ faction in the Solidarity movement): ‘For over a thousand years, the majority of Jews have been, are and will be mortal enemies of the Polish nation and state’ (13.10.2022).

***

‘Report on hate speech on the National Media (Media Narodowe) YouTube channel in the years 2021-2023’ (full version of the report – PDF)

UPDATE: After the publication of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association’s report, the YouTube channel Media Narodowe was removed from the platform.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against antisemitism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally. It has actively participated in international civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE) and the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH). It takes part in international projects to counter hate speech, Get The Trolls Out and SafeNet.

More information:

www.NeverAgainAssociation.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ
www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association

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ERADICATE HATE GLOBAL SUMMIT

During the Eradicate Hate Global Summit the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association called upon the social media platforms to stop enabling the largest international far-right hate fest.

Co-founder of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Rafal Pankowski participated in the Eradicate Hate Global Summit held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA) on 19-21 September 2022. The Summit is the most comprehensive anti-hate conference in the world. It unites experts and leaders from around the globe, who are dedicated to eradicating all forms of hate-fuelled violence. The mission of the Summit is to identify and implement effective solutions for collective change.

The speakers at the 2022 Global Summit included the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu and Deborah Lipstadt, the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

Rafal Pankowski paid tribute to the victims of the war against Ukraine and said that Putin’s war ‘once again shows what the politics of hate and authoritarianism leads to: mass violence and human suffering’.

In his presentation Pankowski described the growth of the annual far-right march on the Polish Independence Day (11 November) in Warsaw as an example of the growing internationalisation of far-right extremism. The march is organized by Polish extreme-right groups with the participation of numerous racist extremist organizations and activists from across Europe and North America. It has regularly gathered more than 100,000 participants and it has often turned violent. Pankowski referred to the march as a ‘super-spreader’ of hate and ‘Charlottesville on steroids’. In November 2021, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism appealed to Facebook and Twitter to stop the promotion and fundraising for the march.

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit grew from the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history. On 27 October 2018, a heavily armed gunman, who earlier had posted online antisemitic and anti-refugee messages, massacred worshippers from three different congregations at the Tree of Life Synagogue. In the aftermath of the attack, the people of Pittsburgh responded in ways that have been described as distinctive in the history of antisemitism. They not only visibly stood in solidarity with the Jewish people, but also offered comfort and aid, and spoke up against hate.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It is a member of the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) and the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GADHE). The Association also takes part in international projects to counteract online hate speech such as ‘Get The Trolls Out’.

#eradicatehate

More information:

https://www.nigdywiecej.org/en/our-news/195-articles-from-2021/4727-polish-independence-day-march-likely-to-lead-to-far-right-violence

www.NeverAgainAssociation.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

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DEBATE ON ANTISEMITISM IN AND AROUND FOOTBALL STADIUMS

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, which runs the campaign ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of Stadiums’, held an online debate on fighting antisemitism and bigotry at stadiums in Poland and Europe.

Antisemitism continues to be a serious issue, both inside and outside football stadiums, in Poland and worldwide. However, more often than not it is also glossed over by football associations and the media. Participants in the debate presented the results of the international educational project ‘Changing the Chants’, conducted in cooperation with Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and two football clubs: Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord Rotterdam.

The debate was opened by Dr Rafal Pankowski, professor at Collegium Civitas and co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network.

Hate crimes at Polish stadiums were discussed by Dr Anna Tatar, co-author of the ‘Brown Book’ and a member of ‘NEVER AGAIN’. – ‘Antisemitic flags, symbols and chants have been used by football hooligans for many years with little or no punishment. What is striking is the failure to react from football authorities, club boards and city governments, which provide financial support and facilities to football clubs’ – she said.

Dr Wojciech Wozniak of the University of Lodz presented the results of the ‘Changing the Chants’ project. Its objective is to understand the role of non-formal education provided by sports clubs in combating antisemitism. Good practice developed on the basis of experiences and collaborations with clubs from various countries will allow the creation of friendly and open football fan communities in Europe and beyond. The project received support from the EU programme ‘Rights, Equality and Citizenship’.

Later in the debate, the floor was taken by Dr Maciej Kozlowski, former Polish Ambassador to Israel and author of the book ‘Chosen People – Cracovia Cracow: The Multi-Cultural History of Polish Sport’ (published by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ in 2015). He discussed the role of Jews in Polish football, their contribution to the development of the sport, and involvement in establishing the first Polish clubs and competitions. He also provided examples of Polish players with Jewish origins: Jozef Lustgarten, Ludwik Gintel and Leon Sperling, all of whom were successful members of the Polish national team.

The discussion was summed up with observations on the rise of antisemitism and xenophobia by Dr Sebastian Rejak of the American Jewish Committee – Central Europe Office.

The discussion was organized by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association in partnership with the  Fare Network and AJC – Central Europe.

This year, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association celebrates 25 years of activity. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ is an independent anti-racist organization founded in Warsaw in 1996, which has campaigned against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, and for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.

The campaign ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of Stadiums’ was a brainchild of the late Marcin Kornak (1968-2014), who chaired ‘NEVER AGAIN’ for many years. ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of Stadiums’ has run since the mid-1990s with the aim to combat racism and discrimination at stadiums. One of its main components is monitoring and reporting of hate crimes and hate speech cases.

More information:

www.nigdywiecej.org

www.changingthechants.eu
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

#wykopmyrasizm #changingthechants

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IS ANTISEMITISM ANTISEMITIC?

A distributor of antisemitic publications has brought a court case against the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Poland’s leading anti-racist organization. The hearings commenced in the Warsaw District Court on 6 May.

3DOM Publishing House, with offices in Czestochowa, brought the case following the removal of its items from the popular e-commerce platform Allegro, which happened when ‘NEVER AGAIN’ brought the antisemitic publications to Allegro’s attention.

The Association noted and reported the hateful content of several items sold by 3DOM to the Allegro platform in 2020. Among them were contemporary editions of pre-war books such as ‘The Jewish Global Politics Programme. Conspiracy and Disclosure’ by the notorious antisemite Fr. Stanislaw Trzeciak, ‘Notes From A Prison’, a compilation of anti-Jewish tirades by Eligiusz Niewiadomski, the murderer of Polish President Gabriel Narutowicz, ‘The Strategy of Zion. The Unknown History of The Chosen People’, a Holocaust-denying book by Douglas Reed, as well as a book repeating medieval accusations against Jews entitled ‘Ritual Murder – Historical Facts’, co-authored by Grzegorz Braun, a Member of Parliament for the far-right Confederation party.

The lawyer for 3DOM Publishing House alleged that calling the above publications antisemitic violated the good name and reputation of 3DOM. The court claim against the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is for financial compensation for the harm caused, an apology and an undertaking that in the future ‘NEVER AGAIN’ will not appeal to Allegro for the withdrawal of any product offered for sale by 3DOM Publishing House.

Dr Wojciech Marchwicki from the Warsaw branch of the international law firm Hogan Lovells stated on behalf of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ that ‘All the activities of the Association which are directed at the elimination of racist or discriminatory content from the public sphere are of great service to society. Reporting to Allegro that antisemitic publications were being distributed by 3DOM Publishing House did not constitute an unlawful infringement of personal rights.’

The publications reported by the Association are extremely and ostentatiously antisemitic and incite hatred based on national, ethnic, racial and religious differences. In the plea submitted to the Court, the representative of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association listed numerous examples of extreme antisemitic and discriminatory content in the items distributed by the 3DOM Publishing House, such as:

– ‘Jews living in Christian countries and alongside Christian nations are a highly undesirable element. They are like an alien organism in our body, which will always cause disturbances unless it encounters stronger resistance. The Jewish problem never loses its vitality and Christian nations should make strenuous efforts to resolve it’ (a quote from ‘The Talmud. Its Contents and Teachings’ by Jozef Kruszynski);

– ‘The nation must separate itself from the moral plague of Jewry with a Chinese wall. (…) The Aryan world will face a terrible, fatal battle in the future with the hundred footed Jewish polyp’ (Eligiusz Niewiadomski ‘Notes From A Prison’);

– ‘Removal of the Jewish parasites from the press, the radio and cinema, and thus from the Polish mentality is as great and sublime a task as their removal from trade, crafts and industry. (…) Let everyone’s eyes be opened, especially those who «have eyes but cannot see», in order to stimulate the whole nation to self defence and to the liberation of Poland from the foreign, harmful and hostile Jewish elements’ (Stanislaw Trzeciak ‘Talmud on Gentiles and the Jewish Question in Poland’);

– ‘Thus it is not Hitler, but the Talmud that persecutes the Jews. Hitler is only an instrument in the hands of God’s Justice’ (Stanislaw Trzeciak ‘Messianism and the Jewish Question’).

The books identified by the Association contain a whole range of antisemitic clichés. They usually form the central elements of these books. They abound in descriptions of Jewish conspiracies, such as striving for power over the world, innate hatred of Christians or ritual murders.

Both Polish criminal law and Allegro rules prohibit trading in items promoting fascism and other totalitarian systems or inciting hatred on the basis of national, ethnic, racial, religious differences.

Furthermore, the publications distributed by the 3DOM Publishing House do not have any scientific or educational value. They are devoid of reliable historical introductions or any critical evaluation. Quite the opposite, the foreword usually contains an enthusiastic introduction by the contemporary publisher. In an expert opinion presented to the court, Dr Maciej Moszynski, a historian and a researcher of antisemitism, pointed out that these editions do not contain any critical commentary, and, on the contrary, provide vindication for extremely antisemitic content: ‘The notes from the publisher are in line with the antisemitic discourse, the central element of which is the figure of the Jew as the enemy.’

3DOM Publishing House is represented by its legal advisor Jaroslaw Litwin. Litwin gained fame as the advocate of former priest Jacek Miedlar, who was accused of promoting antisemitism and xenophobia. The founder of 3DOM, Tomasz Stala, is a close associate of Grzegorz Braun, a Member of Parliament representing the far-right Confederation Party.

After a short hearing, the court adjourned the case in order to consider the documentation – the parties’ pleas and evidence. The next hearing will probably be scheduled for the second half of the year.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organization founded in 1996. It has campaigned against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia. Since 2005, it has led the ‘Racism-Delete’ campaign, which has the objective of removing racist content from the internet. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is a member of the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH). The Association also takes part in projects to counteract online hate speech including ‘Get the Trolls Out’ and ‘Open Code for Hate-Free Communication’.

Additional information:

www.NeverAgainAssociation.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

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WATCH OUT – A NEW ANTI-FASCIST EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE ONLINE

On the occasion of the International Day against Fascism and Antisemitism (9 November, the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom), the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association announces the launch of an online educational initiative under the title ‘Watch Out’. It is a joint venture by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and the Forward Foundation supported by the European network for alternative thinking and political dialogue Transform! Europe.

As part of the project a set of materials directed at high school students was prepared. They include videos, presentations, worksheets and lesson outlines for teachers, NGO educators, scout leaders, organisers of youth camps and for students who want to broaden their knowledge. All the materials are also available in English and can be used all over the world.

The specially dedicated website http://kuprzestrodze.edu.pl/ publishes lectures by experts in the fields of history, sociology and social psychology, covering topics such as the psychology of Nazism, the fascist vision of family, the pedagogy of remembrance, genocide, and forced labour. Dr Jack Bloom (Indiana University Northwest, USA), Dr Michal Bilewicz (University of Warsaw, Centre for Research on Prejudice), Luiza Kulenkampff (Anne Frank Centre, Berlin) and Dr Rafal Pankowski (co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Professor at Collegium Civitas, Warsaw) are among the lecturers involved in preparing the materials.

– ‘Today there are few eyewitnesses or victims of fascism among us, such as former concentration camp prisoners, and less time and space is dedicated to discussing these tragic events in schools. It’s becoming just another remote incident. The history should teach us, be a warning’ – say the project authors.

– ‘Recently the educational system comes under increasing ideological pressure from the far right. Our initiative is meant to be a response to the nationalist propaganda and indoctrination’ – said Rafal Pankowski from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association.

– ‘Our project is not over and the content will be constantly supplemented. We would like to invite institutions, organisations and individuals to join’ – added Dr Gavin Rae (Leon Kozminski Academy, Forward Foundation).

The Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass, also known as Reichskristallnacht or Reichspogromnacht in German) was a pogrom against the Jews in Nazi Germany on the night of 9 November 1938. It symbolised another wave of Nazi repressions against the Jews, which culminated in the Holocaust. For years the Kristallnacht anniversary has been commemorated as the International Day against Fascism and Antisemitism.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organization founded in 1996. It has campaigned against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.

Additional information:

www.neveragainassociation.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

 

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‘BROWN BOOK’ – A MEMENTO

To mark the International Human Rights Day, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has published a new edition of the ‘BROWN BOOK’, which constitutes documentation of hate crimes, racist and xenophobic incidents. This report collects acts of violence and examples of extremist hate speech in Poland in 2019.

– ‘Memory of the tragic past obligates us to take responsibility for words, especially in the age of the internet and its unlimited range’ – said Dr. Anna Tatar from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, the main author of the ‘Brown Book’. She added, ‘In this monitoring project we note numerous cases of language used in order to incite hatred against entire groups. This propaganda is conducive to physical aggression’.

In the ‘Brown Book’, during the last few months the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association noted numerous acts of violence against people belonging to sexual minorities in particular. Contempt for these people manifests itself in public announcements of politicians and journalists, as well as members of the clergy. In recent elections to the Sejm (the Polish Parliament), seats were won by extreme-right activists under the banner of the Confederation (Konfederacja) group, which demands punishments such as ‘flogging’ for homosexuality (Grzegorz Braun), announces ‘kicking out of LGBT from Polish public space’ (Robert Winnicki), or ‘slaughtering of those elite groups which promote deviancy’ (Janusz Korwin-Mikke).

The ‘Brown Book’ documents selected incidents from 2019, such as: beatings, damage to cemeteries and monuments dedicated to minorities, extreme nationalist demonstrations, racist and homophobic insults, cases of hate speech in the media, and acts of discrimination, as well as ideologically motivated signs of hostility towards minority groups. The list also includes examples of incidents in which football fans took part, amongst other acts, the unfurling of racist and xenophobic flags in stadiums, or shouting offensive slogans during football games.

Some of the many incidents documented in the ‘Brown Book’ include:

On a Warsaw municipal public transport bus, two men attacked a sixteen-year-old high school student for homophobic reasons. (Zabki near Warsaw, 3rd January).

A group of assailants shouted xenophobic abuse and assaulted a citizen of Ukraine who was an employee of a transport company. During a taxi ride, they demanded that the driver change the music to ‘disco polo’. When he refused, they stated that he ‘does not respect the country, to which he came’, abused him verbally, and shouted ‘You f…ing Ukrainian, go back to where you came from,’ (Warsaw, the night of 8th March).

One resident of a housing complex attacked his neighbour for homophobic reasons. He shouted, ‘You faggot!’, and punched him in the face with his fist (Warsaw, 14th March).

Unknown perpetrators damaged a plaque commemorating Jews murdered by the Nazi Germans during World War Two. Two swastikas were painted on the stone plaque (Otwock, 6th April).

Residents of the town of Pruchnik took part in a rite known as the ‘hanging of Judas’ which has antisemitic undertones. They dragged an effigy through the streets, flogged it with sticks, and finally set fire to the huge straw doll, which resembled a stereotypical Orthodox Jew (Pruchnik, April 19).

On the wall of a Jewish cemetery, someone painted a set of gallows with the word ‘Jude’ (Jew in German) hung from them (Oswiecim, 21st April).

Two men attacked a black student from the United States who was participating in a Holocaust research tour (Warsaw, 30th May).

In an elementary school, an eleven-year-old pupil with Asperger’s Syndrome, was harassed. The school principal as well as one teacher reportedly humiliated her, derided her, called her names, and threatened her (Szynkielow, 11th June).

An unidentified man used racist name-calling and brutally attacked a citizen of India (Aleksandrow Lodzki, 21st June).

A man attacked a woman wearing a hijab and her three-month-old baby. He shouted: ‘Get the f…ck out, you dirty people,’ and made the gesture of the fascist ‘Heil Hitler’ salute, shouting ‘White power!’ (Rzeszow, 2nd August).

Four assailants mugged and verbally abused an employee of a kebab bar who was a citizen of Bangladesh (Lodz, night of 21st September).

A parking attendant attacked a citizen of Egypt for racist reasons. He shouted at him, ‘F…k off from our country’ (Lodz, 15th October).

The initiator and creator of the ‘Brown Book’ for many years was the late Marcin Kornak (1968-2014), the founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. Its title was inspired by the history of anti-Nazi resistance. This documentation has continued for over twenty years, and has earned international recognition as the most reliable and independent source of information related to xenophobic violence in Poland.

In 2019, the ‘Brown Book’ has won the support of the Citizens Fund, governed by the Fund for Poland under the honorary patronage of Adam Bodnar, the Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman). In 2018 he received the Norwegian Thorolf Rafto Prize, awarded for championing human rights and independent judiciary in Poland. In accordance with the wishes of Adam Bodnar, this prize was donated to the Citizens Fund to promote human rights activism in Poland.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent organisation established in Warsaw in 1996. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, both in Poland and internationally.

The selection of racist and xenophobic incidents for 2019, documented in the ‘Brown Book’ can be found in: https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/172/brown_book_2019.pdf

More information:

www.neveragainassociation.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

 

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HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD FOR ‘NEVER AGAIN’ CO-FOUNDER

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association’s co-founder Rafal Pankowski received this year’s Paul Ehrlich-Gunther K. Schwerin Human Rights Award.

The Award was established in 1998 by the US-based Anti-Defamation League to honour those who have fought antisemitism throughout Europe. The award was presented by the ADL’s Director of European Affairs Andrew Srulevitch during his visit to Poland on 6 February 2019.

In the preceding months, Rafal Pankowski had been subjected to numerous public attacks for his work in documenting and countering antisemitism and xenophobia. Several days before the handing of the award, government-controlled TV labelled the Warsaw-born researcher as ‘a horrible person’, ‘belonging to the worst sort of Poles’ who ‘lives from a hatred of his own fatherland’. In response, the Polish Human Rights Commissioner Adam Bodnar initiated a formal complaint to the National Council of Radio and Television in protest against the hateful language used on air.

In 2018, Rafal Pankowski (who is also a Sociology Professor at Warsaw’s Collegium Civitas) authored the widely discussed article detailing the resurgence of antisemitic discourse in Polish media and politics, published by the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. Over the years he has cooperated with numerous think tanks and academic institutions including, among others, Chatham House (London), the Institute of Human Sciences (Vienna), and the Centre for European Studies at Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok).

He was recently included in the annual ‘J100’ list announced by editors of The Algemeiner, a New York-based Jewish weekly. The list recognizes one hundred people who made positive contribution to the life of the Jewish communities in the last year and, besides political figures, it has included actress Sharon Stone, the UK’s Prince William and Indian conductor Zubin Mehta, among others. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ co-founder was commended for his role in opposing antisemitism and racism.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent organization established in Warsaw in 1996. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has campaigned against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.

More information:

Rafal Pankowski, ‘The Resurgence of Antisemitic Discourse in Poland’, ‘Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs’, July 2018: http://bit.ly/2Typpl2

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
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THE MESSAGE OF NEVER AGAIN HEARD IN NEW YORK, NEW ORLEANS, LONDON, CAMBRIDGE, WARSAW, ST. PETERSBURG, MOSCOW AND BERLIN IN JUST ONE MONTH

The month of May has been particularly intensive for the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association’s international work. The Warsaw-based anti-racism organization has participated in events and debates on the growth of the far right internationally.

‎In the US, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ took part in a series of meetings with its friends and partners including organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), the Museum of Jewish Heritage – a Living Monument to the Holocaust as well as US media representatives. In New Orleans, a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ representative spoke at a public event about the rise of the far right in the US and in Europe, held at Tulane University Law School.

‎- ‘Look at Charlottesville or the far-right marches in Warsaw, they have much in common. Right-wing extremism has grown on both sides of the Atlantic and we have to combat it together’ – said ‘NEVER AGAIN’s Rafal Pankowski.

In London, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ provided expertise to BBC and through the broadcast warned against discernible efforts by Polish extremist groups to recruit supporters in Britain. The topic was also discussed with the participation of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ at the UK-Poland Roundtable on Countering Hate,‎ held at the British Embassy in Warsaw.

In Cambridge (UK), Rafal Pankowski was invited by the prestigious Cambridge Union debating society to speak at a debate on the forthcoming football World Cup in Russia, including the challenges of racism and xenophobia‎.

ln the run up to the tournament, the work of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ in counteracting the scourge of racism in East European football, using sports as a tool for the promotion of intercultural dialogue and peace, was also showcased at the international workshop on ‘Rethinking Radicalisation: Frontline Perspectives’‎ held at the Centre for Youth Studies, Higher School of Economics in St.Petersburg (Russia) under the auspices of the European-wide research project Dialogue About Radicalization and Equality (DARE), led by the University of Manchester.

Also in the run-up to the World Cup, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has been a partner of the Polish Film Festival in Russia. More than 100 films are shown, including many with a human rights angle such as ‘Birds are singing in Kigali’ (by Krzysztof and Joanna Krauze) about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The Festival features meetings, film workshops, concerts and exhibitions. It started in Moscow and after that it sets out on a trail into the Russian interior and will visit cities such as Yekaterinburg, Barnaul, Novorosiysk, Tver, Rostov on Don, Krasnodar, Orenburg, Nizhny Novogrod, Great Novogrod, Great Wielkim, Torżhok, Petrozavodsk, Visokovsk and Biysk.

Rafal Pankowski, a co-founder of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ and Associate Professor at Collegium Civitas, was also invited to deliver the annual Robert Wistrich Memorial lecture on antisemitism at the Centrum Judaicum in Berlin (located at the historic New Synagogue), on the last day of the busy month. The lecture is organized by the Berlin International Centre for the Study of Antisemitism (BICSA)‎.

-‎ ‘The current crisis of democratic values and the spectacular rise of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia in East-Central Europe must be noted with real concern. International solidarity is very crucial in times like this. We shall overcome’ – said the representative of ‘NEVER AGAIN’.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent organization established in Warsaw in 1996. The mission of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is to promote multicultural understanding and to contribute to the development of a democratic civil society in Poland and in the broader region of Central and Eastern Europe.

Additional information:

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ