‘SHOOT THEM’. REPORT ON HATE SPEECH IN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN POLAND

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has published a report entitled ‘«Shoot them.» Hate speech in the election campaign in Poland.’ It documents examples of racist and xenophobic statements about minorities, disseminated for political propaganda purposes.

The report records manifestations of hate speech used by politicians, activists, media, and supporters of particular parties during the election campaign, i.e. from July to October. The publication collects examples of entries on social media platforms, video materials and images, interviews and speeches at rallies, taking aim at Ukrainians, Jews, LGBT people, and people with disabilities, as well as migrants and refugees.

- ‘Never before has hatred towards other people been used so systematically and on such a scale in an election campaign. A ghoulish place in the political messaging was taken by migrants from African and Asian countries who were identified with threats such as terrorism, sexual crime, and theft,’ said Anna Tatar from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. She added, ‘It is sad that this type of content was repeated by representatives of all parties.’

- ‘Video materials shared on social media played a particular role in spreading false and harmful image of migrants. Short videos, without any information about when they were recorded, with racist comments, are one of the most common forms of political manipulation,’ said Rafal Pankowski from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. ‘Such content subsequently generated hateful comments from more and more users,’ he emphasised.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association participates in the international project SafeNet (Monitoring and Reporting for Safer Online Environments), in which it monitors and reports content propagating hatred towards minorities to social media platforms. In September and October, out of 55 items reported to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube… none of them were removed. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, as a Trusted Flagger, sent reports again to each of these platforms, containing detailed information about posts promoting hate. As a result,… 4 such items were removed.

Selected examples of statements documented in the report ‘«Shoot them.» Hate speech in the election campaign in Poland’:

- On 2 July Roman Giertych, former leader of far-right Mlodziez Wszechpolska (All-Polish Youth) and Koalicja Obywatelska (Civic Coalition) candidate in the parliamentary elections, shared a video on Twitter that showed a group of men chased by the police and added his own comment, ‘Twenty years from now, due to having allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Muslim countries into Poland, we may witness such scenes on the streets of Warsaw.’

- On 8 July, Dariusz Matecki, Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (PiS; Law and Justice) candidate for the Sejm (lower chamber of Polish Parliament) in the Szczecin constituency, published a comment on Twitter expressing his appreciation for the far-right militants who on 8 July invaded the Pride Fest festival in Tbilisi (Georgia) organised by the LGBT community.

- On 20 July in Bydgoszcz Dr. Slawomir Ozdyk, far-right Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate in the Sejm elections (lower chamber of the Polish Parliament), presented a xenophobic, even grotesque vision of life in Western European countries. He said, ‘The German mainstream media describe what is happening there by saying that entire city districts have been taken over by migrant gangs. Let me repeat, by Arab-Chechen gangs.’

- On 20 July, Janusz Korwin-Mikke, far-right Konfederacja (Confederation party) MP and its candidate in the Sejm elections in Warsaw suburbs, posted a homophobic entry on Twitter. He declared, ‘Condemning homosexuality is one of the European values.’

- On 26 July, the far right wRealu24 channel on the BanBye platform broadcast a conversation with Dr. Andrzej Zapalowski, Professor at University of Rzeszow and Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate in the parliamentary elections, made a false statement that ‘well over a million Ukrainian citizens live in Poland at the expense of the Polish taxpayer.’

- On 5 August in Zielona Gora, a huge election banner of MP Lukasz Mejza (unaffiliated, previously associated with the Kukiz’15 movement) appeared, containing xenophobic content. The poster displayed the slogans: ‘Accepting migrants – rape and terror,’ ‘Poland without migrants – safe Poland.’

- On 17 August, during the parliamentary debate, the Minister of Education and Science Przemyslaw Czarnek linked the presence of migrants in Western European countries with sexual crimes against women, ‘Polish women are safe in Poland, because there are no illegal immigrants. […] And you don’t pay attention to the threat and want them to be raped, like in France or Belgium.’

­- On 6 September, Jacek Cwieka, Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate for the Senate, posted on Twitter that war crimes in Bucha and Irpin [two neighbouring towns in Ukraine where Russian troops have committed mass atrocities against the civilian population] ‘were, after all, a hoax.’ He also spoke in defense of the Russian president, ‘Today, all the inciters are going insane, because there is no evidence to call Putin a war criminal.’

- On 7 September, Adam Gbiorczyk, far-right Konfederacja (Confederation party) candidate for the Senate, published a comment on Twitter in which he questioned the mass extermination in the Nazi camps. He wrote, ‘The mere existence of the camps is not evidence of the death of millions, it is only evidence of the existence of the camps.’ 

- On 17 September, Dr. Krystyna Pawlowicz, Judge of the Constitutional Tribunal and former Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (Law and Justice) MP, posted a comment on Twitter containing a term that dehumanises refugees and migrants (she called them ‘savages’).

***

In March 2023, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association published the ‘Brown Book’ – documentation of racist, xenophobic and homophobic crimes and acts of discrimination in Poland in the years 2020-2023. Over 300 pages describe cases of physical assaults on the basis of skin colour, language, or religion, as well as acts of verbal aggression. In addition, the report documents street demonstrations with slogans inciting hatred, acts of discrimination against minorities, and fascist banners displayed at football stadiums. Examples of hostility towards refugees from Ukraine can also be found therein.

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.

‘«Shoot them.» Hate speech in the election campaign in Poland’ (full version of the report – PDF).

Additional information:

www.nigdywiecej.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

https://twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

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

Hate Speech on YouTube Documented in a New Report

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association publishes 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 

 

FAR-RIGHT MEDIA ATTACK ON ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI

A radical-right media outlet has attacked Poland’s top footballer Robert Lewandowski and promoted xenophobic conspiracy theories around the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Warsaw-based anti-racist ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has noted a recent broadcast on the ‘Idz Pod Prad’ (‘Go Against the Tide’) online television program which targeted Lewandowski. The channel regularly refers to the coronavirus as ‘the Chinese plague’ and promotes a conspiracy theory about its origin. Against scientific evidence, it accuses the Chinese of intentionally producing and spreading the virus. It advocates a military conflict with China and announces, in the words of its head Pawel Chojecki, ‘the war against the Chinese communists is starting to take shape’.

In this context, Robert Lewandowski was attacked for having participated in an advert for a popular Chinese smartphone brand. Chojecki has called for a boycott of Poland’s national team captain by fellow players and media: ‘It is shameful for our leading player, at the moment when a life and death war is underway against the criminals who have the blood of over 100 million people on their hands (...) Mr Lewandowski agrees to be a Europe-wide ambassador for the Chinese communists, it is a shame and a disgrace for the Polish sports, no Polish sportsman should shake hands with Mr Lewandowski and no Polish journalist should pay any attention to his utterances’.

Chojecki failed to mention that already in March this year, the Bayern Munich striker with his wife Anna donated one million Euro to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

In the same broadcast on 15 May, Chojecki attacked the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Pope Francis who was labelled as ‘a heathen who celebrates Maoist Leninist rituals together with the communist comrades from China’.

‘Go Against the Tide’ is known for formerly employing Marian Kowalski, an ex-presidential candidate. Its founder Pawel Chojecki is a longtime political activist on the radical right and a vice-chairman of the 11 November Movement party. He is also the leader of a religious group called the New Covenant Church.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has recently published its latest REPORT ‘The Virus of Hate: Brown Book of the Epidemic’. The report documents acts of racism, xenophobia and discrimination which have occurred in the context of the coronavirus in Poland in recent weeks and months. The authors of the report recorded cases of assaults on members of minorities who are unjustly blamed for spreading the virus, as well as numerous examples of hate speech and conspiracy theories about the pandemic spread by the far right. They also noted some instances of xenophobia in the world of sports.

Rafal Pankowski, a co-author of the report of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and a sociology professor at the Collegium Civitas university, commented: - ‘The global pandemic is also a global crisis of social trust and values amid confusion and anxiety. It is fertile ground for the dangerous growth of xenophobia and conspiracy theories’.

- ‘Examples of hatred are unfortunately coming from the top. In a pandemic, conspiracy theories promoted by public figures: celebrities, artists, politicians, journalists and clergy are particularly alarming’ - adds Jacek Dziegielewski, also a co-author of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association report.

- ‘Companies such as YouTube and Facebook, contrary to their formal announcements, often tolerate such content on their platforms’ - said Dr. Anna Tatar, co-author of the ‘Brown Book’.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-racist organization, it has campaigned against racism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally. Since 1996, it has conducted the first anti-racism campaign in Eastern European football, ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of the Stadiums’ and is a founding member of the Fare network.

‘The Virus of Hate: Brown Book of the Epidemic’ (full report in PDF).

Additional information:

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

THE GLOBAL AND LOCAL STRUGGLE AGAINST RACIST EXTREMISM

The team of the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association has been working tirelessly on global and local challenges of xenophobia, discrimination, hatred and extremism. In the last days, members of the Warsaw-based anti-racist organization have actively taken part in several important initiatives on international, national, and grass-roots levels.

On 1-3 November, Adam Kuczynski represented 'NEVER AGAIN' at the international seminar 'United for Equality' organized in Paris by Maisons des Potes, focusing on the rise of the far right across Europe.

On 1-4 November, Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska (a 'NEVER AGAIN' member and a Rotary Peace Fellow) participated in the 'Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust' conference held at Washington University in St. Louis (USA) as a panelist on the topic of ‎'Forgetting the Holocaust in the global era of remembrance'. ‎The biannual international conference is the premier intellectual gathering in Holocaust studies. 

On 5-8 November, Collegium Civitas Professor Rafal Pankowski‎, co-founder of 'NEVER AGAIN', shared the association's experiences at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Human Rights and Preventing Violent Extremism held in Yogyakarta (Indonesia). The ASEM is a forum for dialogue and cooperation established in 1996 to deepen relations between Asia and Europe. Members include 53 countries from both continents.

On 6 November, a public meeting about cooperation and solidarity with Polish anti-racists was held at Leith Community Education Centre in Edinburgh (organized by the Stand Up To Racism Scotland coalition) and the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association was represented by Witold Liliental. 

On 10 November, an inclusive celebration of the centenary of Polish independence takes place in Hamilton (Canada), reaching out to Jewish, Muslim and other communities. The event, organized by members of the Polish-Canadian community and supported by the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association, is among a number of activities in the run-up to Poland's Independence Day (11 November). In the last years, the national holiday was dominated by a large far-right march organized in the streets of Warsaw by extremist groups. Another such march is expected to take place on 11 November 2018, with the participation of islamophobic, antisemitic and neo-fascist groups from all over Europe.

Throughout November, 'NEVER AGAIN' organizes and supports initiatives promoting an inclusive approach to Polish identity, challenging the growth of ethno-nationalism through a social media campaign using a 'Poland for All' hashtag, a literary competition for young people and grass-roots activities including a series of rock concerts under the headline 'Music Against Racism', some of them linked with the commemoration of the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom (9 November 1938). For example, on 2 and 3 November, the well-known Polish band Dezerter played concerts with the 'Music Against Racism' theme in Malbork and Ostróda. On 3 November, a special 'Music Against Racism' show took place in Warsaw, featuring bands such as Human Rights, Uliczny Opryszek and RHL Ensemble, a new band formed by the legendary bard Janusz Reichel. 'NEVER AGAIN' activist Izabela Glowacka prepared and coordinated the promotion of anti-racist messages at the event.

On 9 November, Polish and Belorussian rock bands play under the 'Music Against Racism' banner at a festival co-organized in cooperation with 'NEVER AGAIN' by the local Museum and Belarussian Cultural Centre in Hajnowka.

On the same day, 'NEVER AGAIN' supports a conference entitled 'Stop hate speech' taking place in Zagorow with the participation of Bartlomiej Grzanka, director of the Kulmhof Death Camp Museum in Chelmno, and law enforcement representatives. A series of presentations and workshops takes place in local schools using materials provided by the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association.

On 12 November, the Warsaw Jewish Film Festival starts in Warsaw, also with the support of the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association. This year's edition of the festival has a special significance in the context of an unprecedented wave of antisemitic statements in Polish media and politics which swept the country earlier this year.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association was founded in 1996 by Marcin Kornak (who passed away in 2014). ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has campaigned against racism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.

Additional information:

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