Editing Giles Coren (section)

===Polish controversy===

In his next article, dated 26 July 2008, Coren said his [[History of the Jews in Poland|Jewish ancestors had been persecuted by Poles]]. He stated that Poles used to burn Jews in synagogues for entertainment at Easter; and that Poland is in denial about [[Collaboration in German-occupied Poland#The Holocaust|its role in the Holocaust]]. He referred to [[Polish British|immigrant Poles]] as "[[Polack]]s", arguing that "if England is not the [[Promised Land|land of milk and honey]] it appeared to them three or four years ago, then, frankly, they can clear off out of it".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article4399669.ece |title=Two waves of immigration, Poles apart |last=Coren |first=Giles |work= The Times|date=26 July 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

Coren's comments led to a complaint to the [[Press Complaints Commission]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Conlan |first=Tara |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/aug/08/pressandpublishing.thetimes |title=Giles Coren Times article prompts Polish complaints to PCC |work=The Guardian |date=8 August 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008}}</ref> an [[early day motion]] in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]],<ref>[http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36946&SESSION=891 Early day motion 2529 – Press Complaints Commission and Giles Coren] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805031238/http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36946&SESSION=891 |date=5 August 2010 }} UK Parliament, 19 November 2008</ref> and a critical editorial in ''[[The Economist]].''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11918619 |title=Unacceptable prejudice |newspaper=The Economist |date=14 August 2008 |access-date=6 January 2009}}</ref> Coren responded: "I wrote in passing that the Poles remain in denial about their responsibility for the Holocaust. How gratifying, then, to see so many letters in ''The Times'' in the subsequent days from Poles denying their [[responsibility for the Holocaust]]."<ref name="times20080802">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article4445423.ece |title=The winner's version of history. That's original |work=The Times|last=Coren |first=Giles |date=2 August 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{subscription required}}</ref> He also told ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'': "Fuck the Poles".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://thejc.thejc.com/articles/coren-launches-his-own-assault-poland | title = Coren launches his own assault on Poland | work = The Jewish Chronicle | date = 14 August 2008 | first = Candice | last = Krieger | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120716134323/http://thejc.thejc.com/articles/coren-launches-his-own-assault-poland | archive-date = 16 July 2012 | df = dmy-all }}<!-- "Fuck", not "F***" because, as the ''Chronicle'' article says, "although his version did not include asterisks" (and [[WP:F***]]) --></ref> After the Press Complaints Commission rejected their complaint because the criticism had been of a group rather than an individual, the [[Federation of Poles in Great Britain]] (FPGB) lodged a complaint with the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/poles-take-coren-fight-european-court |title=Poles take Coren fight to European Court |first=Jan |last=Shure |work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=5 March 2009| access-date=26 September 2010}}</ref>

Professor Gábor Halmai of the EU [[Fundamental Rights Agency]] said "I completely share the criticisms" of the piece made by ''The Economist''. He said that amid an internal debate about an FRA response, a colleague had said "it is not even certain that what Coren stated with regard to his past had taken place at all". Halmai responded that while the generalisation used by Coren was unacceptable, it was protected under freedom of expression, conceding the existence of the Jedwabne, Krakow and  Kielce pogroms. <ref>[http://fundamentum.hu/sites/default/files/08-e-07.pdf] The Neighbours’ Fear. Anti-Semitism in Poland Before and After World War II. Fundamentum, English Edition, 5/2008. 82-87, Gábor Halmai</ref>