According to our information, the financial and personal ties between Rafał Trzaskowski [a leading figure of Poland’s Civic Platform (PO), Donald Tusk’s deputy, and the current Mayor of Warsaw is once again running for the presidency – ed.], his political circle, and radical anti-Israeli organizations are causing growing concern and attracting the attention of Jewish communities associated with American Jews from pro-Republican conservative circles. This may not be without impact on relations with Poland, especially given that the new U.S. ambassador to Poland is Thomas Rose, who comes precisely from such a background.
Hamas as a social movement
The Kraków-based Salam Lab (the Laboratory of Peace Activities Association), which fights “Islamophobia” (in one of the articles on the association’s website, it is argued that the source of Islamophobia is… the lack of a Muslim community in a given country), publishes pieces that whitewash Hamas and present this terrorist organization as a “social movement” that “implements a broad social and aid program, runs schools, clinics, and is closely tied to the functioning of particularly the poorest [communities].” It so happens that Salam Lab’s partner is the well-known Ocalenie Foundation, recognized from activities on the Polish-Belarusian border. It is the same organization that is financially supported by the Warsaw City Hall.
That same Ocalenie Foundation co-organized an anti-Israeli demonstration in Warsaw in autumn 2023 under the slogan “Solidarity with Palestine.” At that time, a banner reading “Take care of the cleanliness of the world” with a drawing depicting the Israeli flag being thrown into a trash can—carried by one of the protest participants—caused quite a shock in Poland. During the demonstration in the capital, anti-American slogans and the Hamas slogan “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” were also displayed, a phrase known from Palestinian terrorists’ calls to destroy the state of Israel and establish an Arab state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Warsaw City Hall gave permission for this scandalous event and—despite publicly hateful slogans—city officials did not shut it down (let us recall that these are the same people who in 2018 disbanded the Warsaw Uprising March because one participant wore a T-shirt with… a crossed-out hammer and sickle). However, the involvement of Civic Coalition circles in promoting extreme activists does not end with merely granting approval.
Civic Coalition MP: Great respect for them!
A report on the protest was published among others by the Kremlin-affiliated news agency, which wrote in an article titled “Anti-Israel rally in Warsaw”:
“As reported by RIA Novosti’s correspondent, an anti-Israel rally is taking place in Warsaw. The event was organized by activists of the social initiatives ‘Empatia Distro’ and ‘Fundacja Ocalenie,’ who are involved in helping migrants. It is being held under the slogan: ‘Stop ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.’ On Friday evening, several hundred people gathered in the center of Poland’s capital, near the Nicolaus Copernicus monument. They brought Palestinian flags and posters reading ‘Stop the genocide of Palestinians,’ ‘Hands off Palestinian children,’ and ‘Stop killing civilians.’”
On the Facebook page for the event, Empatia Distro, the Ocalenie Foundation activist Antoni Mantorski, as well as a female activist collaborating with “Grupa Granica” (the Border Group) and a student in an interdisciplinary individual studies program (MISH) in Arabic studies were all listed as organizers.
Empatia Distro is a small group of people primarily involved in actions at the Polish-Belarusian border. At the beginning of 2022, they described their activities this way: “Empatia Distro, as part of its mission, actively supports pro-refugee organizations working at the Polish-Belarusian border, refugees already residing in Poland, as well as people experiencing homelessness.” These activists have also distributed “Refugees Welcome” posters targeting economic immigrants from Asian countries.
Together with the aforementioned Ocalenie Foundation, Empatia Distro organized a fundraising auction in Warsaw’s “Krytyka Polityczna” community space “in connection with events in Afghanistan and the illegal detention of refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border.” Among the items auctioned was the bag that Civic Coalition MP Franciszek Sterczewski ran around with along the border, hindering the work of Polish services defending the territory of the Republic of Poland. While promoting the auction, Sterczewski wrote: “Today the auction begins for the benefit of refugees and the Ocalenie Foundation. All proceeds will be allocated for legal and medical assistance for Afghans (men and women) imprisoned in Usnarz Górny. […] The auction is coordinated by Kacper Krakowiak [a New Left activist] together with the amazing team from Empatia Distro, big respect to them!” As we have verified, the same group so praised by the Civic Coalition MP prepared, for the recent Warsaw march, posters claiming, among other things, that “Israel was founded as a result of ethnic cleansing.”
Sterczewski’s bag auction by a group that is now organizing pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli events took place at the venue on Jasna Street 10. As we read on the “Krytyka Polityczna” website: “Jasna 10: The Social Cultural Institution of Krytyka Polityczna carries out activities co-financed by the City of Warsaw.”
This is not the end of the connections
The second organizer of the demonstration in Warsaw was Antoni Mantorski—an activist who also worked with Sterczewski during his antics at the border. Mantorski serves as a communications coordinator for Grupa Granica, which called for the dismantling of the barrier separating Poland from Belarus and attacked Polish services in a crude manner. Interestingly, this organization received support from, among others, the authorities of Gdańsk, which is co-led by Civic Platform politicians. PiS MP Kacper Płażyński wrote in this matter to Mieczysław Struk, head of the Pomeranian structures of the Civic Platform: “The activists you support organized demonstrations during which Border Guard officers were accused of illegal actions, cruelty, and even murder—the slogan of these protests included accusing Border Guards of having ‘blood on their hands.’”
The anti-Jewish demonstration in Warsaw was also co-organized by the Ocalenie Foundation, which issued the following invitation to participate in the march:
“Come along with us and Empatia Distro to the Palestinian Solidemo!! […] Every day, the Israeli army commits more war crimes. Even before the current attack began, the situation in the Gaza Strip was close to disaster. Some 81.5% of the population lived in poverty, 63% were food insecure, and 95% of the available water was unfit for drinking. Today, disaster is a fact. Parallel to the military attacks, Israel is conducting a campaign of slander and manipulation against Palestinians to justify its cruelty. Let’s show that we do not consent to the unpunished killing of people in Palestine. Let’s say loudly to Israel: STOP THE ETHNIC CLEANSING IN GAZA.”
There was not a single word in this invitation about the terrorist, criminal attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, about the kidnapping and murder of children, about Hamas’s hateful ideology, or about the responsibility of Arab terrorists for the misery of the local population.
Before the last elections, the Ocalenie Foundation compiled a list of recommended candidates. It included (apart from two cases from the Third Way coalition) only people from the Civic Coalition and New Left lists, such as Klaudia Jachira, Hanna Gill-Piątek, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Maciej Gdula, Urszula Zielińska, Monika Rosa, and Franciszek Sterczewski.