Poland - Radio Maryja attempts to rid itself of anti-Semitic image

Radio Maryja, the influential nationalist Polish conglomerate that operates radio and television stations, a daily newspaper and a Web site, is trying to rid itself of the anti-Semitic image that has dogged it in recent years. A letter from one of the heads of the media empire claims Radio Maryja is carrying on the tradition of Polish priests who saved Jews during the Holocaust.

The attempted makeover comes after the European Union refused to authorize a 15-million Euro grant for Radio Maryja to build a media studies school.

Monitors of anti-Semitism in Poland say that in recent months, Radio Maryja broadcasts have ceased talking about "the Jews" and say instead "the wealthy."

Since its foundation in 1991, Radio Maryja has been perceived as the voice of the nationalist-conservative wing of the Catholic Polish church. Numerous instances of anti-Semitic and racist statements have been documented in recent years: Holocaust deniers were guests on radio shows; Jews were accused of controlling the Polish government and trying to harm Poland's interests and steal its assets; and the station's critics in the Polish press were called "a Jewish fifth column."

Several weeks ago, one of the heads of Radio Maryja, Father Jacek Cydzik, sent a letter to the head of the umbrella organization for Holocaust survivors in Israel, Noah Flug, expressing disgruntlement that Jewish groups had protested the grant request and blaming the European press for starting the allegations of anti-Semitism.

Source: www.haaretz.com

Date: Dec. 9, 2007

By Anshel Pfeffer

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