Condemned: David Miliband claimed a key Conservative ally had an ant-Semitic past David Miliband was facing a mounting backlash last night over his denunciation of the 'anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi' past of a key Conservative ally in Europe. A group of 27 high-profile Jewish figures yesterday warned that such a serious charge was too serious to be treated as a 'political football'. The Foreign Secretary has made a series of attacks on Michal Kaminski, leader of Poland's Law and Justice Party. In his speech at the Labour Party conference in September he said Mr Kaminski's 'anti-Semitic, Neo-Nazi' past made him 'feel sick'. Mr Miliband quoted Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich to support his case, but Mr Schudrich has since insisted that Mr Kaminski has 'become a strong ally of the state of Israel and on other occasions has condemned anti-Semitism'. Tory leader David Cameron has since demanded that Mr Miliband apologise for his remarks. In a move aimed at piling the pressure on Mr Miliband, several leading Jewish figures have also called on the Foreign Secretary to retract his remarks in a public letter. The signatories included Lord Young, the former trade secretary, Flo Kaufmann, the chairman of the board of governors of the European Jewish Congress and Howard Leigh, the chairman of Westminster Synagogue. Their letter said: 'Many people in the Jewish community have noted with concern the recent attacks on David Cameron's allies in eastern Europe.' They added: 'It has become increasingly obvious that these accusations are unfair, baseless and politically motivated. 'The Chief Rabbi of Poland has now spoken up on behalf of Mr Kaminski and has made it clear that far from being an anti-Semite, Mr Kaminski is an outspoken opponent of anti-Semitism and a friend of Israel. 'Anti-Semitism is far too grave a charge to be used as a political football. We call upon those responsible for making unsubstantiated allegations to withdraw them.' The accusations against Mr Kaminski stem from membership as a youth of the far-Right National Revival of Poland party, which he quit as a teenager. More recently, he refused to support an official Polish apology for the massacre of up to 400 Jews at Jedwabne in north-east Poland in 1941, arguing that the entire nation should not be held responsible. However, he has since spoken out against anti-Semitism and was enthusiastically received by officials when visiting Israel. Mr Miliband's Polish Jewish mother lost 80 members of her family in the Holocaust. The row threatens to damage the minister's prospects of becoming the new EU foreign minister. But supporters insist he has nothing to apologise for and is right to stand by his comments.David Miliband condemned for 'anti-Semitic' claim
Last updated at 12:44 AM on 10th November 2009
Explore more:
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Posts
