OPINION | ANTISEMITISM | HUMAN RIGHTS
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by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė
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OPINION
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Societal antibodies against a sudden rise in national antisemitism seem to have taken a rather notable hit in Lithuania since the sudden, and some would say, meteoric rise, of populist politician Remigijus Žemaitaitis. Just over one year ago, his new populist party came into being with an overt antisemitic component best known from its leader’s remarks on social media that combine classic Baltic Holocaust-based antisemitism with anti-Israel based bias in a new synthesis of prejudice against our country’s tiny Jewish minority, now numbering less than three thousand souls. It is called the “Dawn of Nemunas Political Party” (in Lithuanian: “Politinė partija “Nemuno Aušra” — PPNA), often shortened to “Dawn of Nemunas” or “Nemunas Dawn” (Lithuanian: Nemuno aušra — NA). It has become extremely popular and has not only entered parliament (the Seimas), but was been accepted in December, following elections in November, as coalition partner for the winning Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) led by the current prime minister, Gintautas Paluckas. Some of the ins-and-outs have been sumarized in Defending History.
Banner of Žemaitaitis new (and successful) populist, antisemitic party in the recent parliamentary elections. The “Pillars of Gediminas” symbol in the center of the logo, while neutral in the context of various government functions, has come to assume a connotation of far-right extremism when employed by political groups and organizations.
