The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) announced on Monday the cancellation of its Holocaust Memorial Mission of a group of leading academics and policymakers to Poland, which was set to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The decision comes in response to the Polish government’s announcement that it could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he attended the January 27 commemoration event at the concentration camp, citing the flawed and contentious International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
ISGAP Executive Director Dr. Charles Asher Small said: “For a Polish government official to threaten the arrest of the leader of the Jewish state at Auschwitz, the symbol of the Jewish people’s and humanity’s greatest tragedy, desecrates the sanctity of this solemn commemoration."
"This politicized and provocative move," he added, "is an insult to the memory of six million Jews murdered during the Shoah. This decision sends a dangerous message at a time when antisemitism is on the rise globally. The Polish government, given its genocidal antisemitic history, has a sacred bond to safeguard not only the memory of the Jewish people exterminated in Poland, but also the Jewish people who are in an existential war against enemies that use the antisemitic tropes and ideology that are similar to those that justified the Shoah in Poland. "
"ISGAP cannot let such this distortion of Holocaust memory, and its commemoration go unanswered; we are compelled to take a stand and protest against this dangerous, disgraceful, and irresponsible act,” he concluded.
Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Władysław Bartoszewski, said earlier this month that the country is “obliged to respect the provisions of the International Criminal Court,” signaling that an arrest would be imminent should Prime Minister Netanyahu enter Polish territory.
In light of this, Israeli authorities have indicated that Prime Minister Netanyahu will not attend the ceremony to avoid potential arrest. ISGAP’s Holocaust Memorial Mission was intended as a cornerstone initiative to honor the victims of Auschwitz, foster Holocaust education, and confront rising global antisemitism.
In canceling the mission, ISGAP calls on Poland to rescind its threats against the Israeli prime minister and reaffirm its commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education as essential tools in the fight against antisemitism.