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European rabbis condemn attack on Chief Rabbi of Poland
The Conference of European Rabbis strongly condemns the cowardly attack on Saturday on the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Rabbi Mordechai Schudrich. Chief Rabbi Schudrich was attacked by an unidentified assailant in downtown Warsaw as he was returning home from a Shabbat meal. The assailant screamed "Poland for Poles" before striking Rabbi Schudrich about the shoulder and chest. Rabbi Schudrich resisted and was then sprayed with a pepper-like substance. Rabbi Schudrich was lightly injured in the attack. "We have to recognise that violent manifestations of anti-Semitism always follow an acceptance of anti-Semitic discourse within the public sphere," said CER Executive Director Rabbi Aba Dunner. "The recent entrance of ministers with a background of anti-Semitic discourse into the new Polish government should be a warning sign to all of us." The CER also notes that this incident occurred shortly before Pope Benedict XVI was to visit the site of the Auschwitz death camp. "Anti-Semitism must be fought continually across the continent of Europe but most particularly in Poland, the place where the evil of anti-Semitism reached its most hateful zenith," Rabbi Dunner said. The CER calls upon the government of the Republic of Poland to take all measures to bring the assailant to justice and to combat all manifestations of anti-Semitism in the country. The Conference of European Rabbis federates Jewish religious leaders in over 40 countries and includes all the continent’s chief rabbis and senior rabbinical judges. The CER holds consultancy status as a recognised NGO at the Council of Europe and within the institutions of the European Union. ENDS For further information, please contact:- Philip Carmel |
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