Faina Kukliansky, head of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, has called for the state's reaction to anti-Semitic remarks made by MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis.
Žemaitaitis posted several anti-Semitic remarks on Facebook this week, expressing his anger over Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s visit to Israel and accusing Jews of deporting and killing Lithuanians.
"There should be the state's reaction in the first place. Today is the day of [commemorating Soviet] deportations. So many Jews were deported from Lithuania and so much of their property was nationalised, and the number of Jewish deportees was really high in percentage terms," Kukliansky told BNS.
In light of this, "accusing Jews of deportation and, overall, accusing the people of something is ugly – there is no word to describe it," she said.
Kukliansky said that the state must react to statements of this kind and look for measures to prevent anti-Semitism, because comments on Facebook show that Žemaitaitis has supporters.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the parliament and leader of the Liberal Movement, described the MP's remarks as a continuation of incitement and provocations.
The board of the Lithuanian Freedom and Justice Party suspended Žemaitaitis’ membership in the party. In May, he made anti-Semitic remarks over the demolition of a Palestinian school.
LRT English
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