A pro-Israel demonstration marched through the streets of Warsaw on Sunday. The demonstrators demanded the release of civilian hostages held by Hamas. Several hundred people from all over Poland gathered in the streets of the Polish capital. Ukrainians were also present, expressing solidarity with Israel in the face of war.

The pro-Israel demonstration in Warsaw started from Castle Square in the capital’s Old Town and marched along Krakowskie Przedmieście towards Nowy Świat Street. The march was peaceful in character. The demonstrators demanded the release of civilian hostages from the hands of Hamas. Participants included the Israeli ambassador to Poland, Ya’akov Liwne

“The sound of sirens woke up many Israeli residents on 7 October this year. It also woke up members of my family, who live near Jerusalem. It was the most terrible day for the people of Israel since the Holocaust. Jihadists were burning, murdering men, women and children, babies and old people, Holocaust survivors”, said the diplomat.

“They intend to destroy Western culture as we know it. They believe, as the Nazis once did, that our values, humanism, faith, morality divide and weaken us. They believe that this makes us incapable of resisting them. They think the world will not allow Hamas to be destroyed, just as ISIS and al-Qaeda. They suppose that the Western world is cowardly and that anti-Semitism is stronger. Dear friends: they are wrong!”, emphasised the ambassador.

The participants in the demonstration also included representatives of Polish political parties. Among others, MP Michał Szczerba of the Civic Platform, chairman of the Polish-Israeli parliamentary group, spoke.

“We are not indifferent to evil, to terrorism and anti-Semitism. To the evil that happened on 7 October in Israel and to anti-Semitism here in Warsaw. We want to make it clear: never again will anti-Semitic organisations receive public money”, he announced.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński