A demonstration in support of Palestine took place in Warsaw, with participants waving banners and chanting slogans condemning Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
The Israeli ambassador to Poland has condemned the march for “blatant antisemitism”, pointing to one placard – held by a Norwegian student – that said “Keep the world clean” alongside an image of the Israeli flag being thrown in a bin. A Polish deputy foreign minister also criticised the displaying of that sign, which he said violates the law.
Another large banner said “From the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea, Palestine will be free”. That phrase is seen as a call for Israel to be wiped off the map.
"Armia Izraelska to są terroryści" takie hasła wybrzmiewaja na marszu solidarności z Palestyną w Warszawie #WolnaPalestyna pic.twitter.com/vssbnMZ4uB
— Mateusz Jarosiewicz (@MattJarosPL) October 21, 2023
Today’s “Solidarity with Palestine” demonstration was organised by Czerwoni (The Reds), a socialist group. The event was part of a series of protests being organised in countries around Europe today.
As well as Polish participants, it drew members of Poland’s Muslim community, which has grown in recent years amid record levels of immigration. Among those to take part was the Palestinian ambassador to Poland, Mahmoud Khalifa.
The protest in Warsaw today followed another in the same city yesterday, as well as others elsewhere in Poland over the last two weeks, including a large march in Kraków last week.
“I am here because I believe that killing innocent people is simply wrong,” Ola, a participant in yesterday’s protest in Warsaw, told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper. “I do not support Hamas, but Israel’s actions are equally inhumane. And I always stand on the side of the weaker.”
“I believe that Poles and Palestinians have a lot in common,” said Taymash, a Palestinian from the West Bank who lives in Poland. “You have been occupied and murdered throughout your history and now we are experiencing the same. What I expect from the country I live in is simply solidarity with those who are suffering.”
"You don't know what is Hamas? Yeah, I don't know"
Our correspondent from the scene of the anti-Israel rally, which was held today in #Warsaw, spoke to the protesters. pic.twitter.com/UgLndFfeLw
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 21, 2023
However, Israel’s ambassador to Warsaw, Yacov Livne, condemned today’s event, describing it as “pro-Palestinian” in inverted commas and calling on the “Polish authorities [to] stop this blatant antisemitism before it gets out of control”.
In his post he shared an image of a participant holding the “Keep the world clean” placard. In an interview published on social media, the woman holding the sign identified herself as a Norwegian studying in Poland. She claimed that the sign was not aimed at Jews, but only at the Israeli government.
Polish deputy foreign minister Paweł Jabłoński declared that the displaying of such banners “should absolutely not take place”. He noted that “calling for hatred on national/ethnic grounds is a violation of the law – and a basis for dissolving the assembly”.
The sheer idiocy of walking through the centre of Warsaw – Warsaw! – with a banner calling for the world to be kept clean of Jews. https://t.co/OfzmsgKSmN
— Ben Stanley (@BDStanley) October 21, 2023
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Main image credit: Nexta/Twitter
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
