In Poland, where criticising Israel remains taboo, Gaza solidarity rises

Warsaw, Poland – In an effort to rise consciousness astir the abuse and humiliation suffered by Palestinians who person been arrested and tortured by Israeli troops, Igor Dobrowolski, a Polish creator and show artist, dressed up successful a purple wide successful March and placed a yellowish sack implicit his head.

In a video of the show posted to Instagram, helium is seen kneeling connected a factual floor, his hands zip-tied down his back. A idiosyncratic beside him successful khaki greenish playing the relation of an Israeli worker holds up a instrumentality with laughing emojis – a motion to the grounds that galore are livestreaming imaginable warfare crimes connected societal media.

Dobrowolski is seen urinating successful fear, conscionable arsenic Palestinian prisoners did successful footage posted earlier by Israeli troops, during which 1 is heard mockingly saying, “Oh no, what happened? He peed himself.”

Those words echo implicit the show by Dobrowolski, who has dedicated his creation this past twelvemonth to the taxable of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians successful Gaza – nary casual task successful a state inactive grappling with its Holocaust history.

“When you ticker films astir the Holocaust connected TV, they are precise serious, the perpetrators are shown arsenic devoid of emotions. But the genocide which is happening contiguous seems precise comic to the perpetrators,” said Dobrowolski, referring to the videos uploaded by Israeli soldiers. “I decided to kneel successful the mediate of each that.”

During the Holocaust, much than 3 cardinal Jews were killed successful Nazi-occupied Poland, and thousands died successful pogroms committed by section Poles. Because of the tragic memories, criticising Israel remains taboo.

Before World War II, 10 percent of the Polish colonisation was Jewish, the highest fig successful Europe. After the Holocaust, fewer Jews remained successful the country, and galore of those who stayed fell unfortunate to the 1968 communist purges.

Following the illness of communism, Poland has maintained diplomatic relations with some Israel and Palestine. While it has not been actively progressive successful resolving the historical crisis, it supports the thought of a two-state solution.

According to an IBRIS bureau canvass past May, much than 66 percent of Poles accidental that Poland should stay neutral successful the Israel-Palestine conflict.

But tensions betwixt Poland and Israel originate periodically implicit Holocaust representation and politics.

In 2018, Poland passed a arguable law, making it amerciable to suggest Poland’s complicity successful Nazi crimes. One twelvemonth later, Israel Katz, then-foreign minister, said “Poles imbibe anti-Semitism from their mothers’ milk”.

In 2021, Poland projected a instrumentality to enactment a statute of regulation of restitution claims regarding Jewish spot seized during World War II, which Yair Lapid, overseas curate astatine the time, described arsenic “immoral and a disgrace”.

Last May, Poland supported a solution granting Palestine perceiver authorities presumption wrong the United Nations. Israel’s Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne warned that the determination would “harm Poland”.

Radek Sikorski, Poland’s overseas minister, responded that it is “the Polish government, not overseas ambassadors, who volition determine what is bully for Poland”.

But beyond the diplomatic rows, astir Poles see the Holocaust arsenic the worst calamity successful caller past and find it hard to comprehend that Israelis could beryllium perpetrators of humanitarian crimes.

“In Poland, it is unthinkable to comparison thing to the Holocaust and immoderate specified examination sounds controversial. The Holocaust has a precise symbolic and idiosyncratic meaning to people,” Ewa Gorska, a doctoral pupil of sociology of instrumentality focusing connected the Middle East, told Al Jazeera.

“Poland and the remainder of Europe person ne'er worked done the anti-Semitism which made the Holocaust possible. At the aforesaid time, aft the instauration of Israel, our emotions and prejudices against the Jews were easy transferred onto the Arabs and Muslims successful the forms of anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia.”

Israel’s warfare successful Gaza has killed astatine slightest 43,922 Palestinians and wounded 103,898 since October 7, 2023, erstwhile an estimated 1,139 radical were killed and much than 200 were taken captive during the Hamas-led incursion into confederate Israel.

‘If I kept silent, I wouldn’t beryllium capable to look astatine myself successful the mirror’

During different show astatine the Cliche and Wall Space galleries successful Warsaw, the Polish capital, Dobrowolski kneeled for 7 hours surrounded by mannequins of babies folded successful achromatic cloths, symbolising the relentless quality of what a UN bureau has called a war connected children, fixed the tens of thousands who person been killed successful small much than a year.

During 1 of his performances, Mahmoud Khalifa, the Palestinian ambassador to Poland, placed a keffiyeh connected Dobrowolski’s backmost and whispered: “Thank you.”

Yara Al Nimer, a Poland-based Palestinian vocalist who has seen Dobrowolski’s performance, described them arsenic “one of the astir almighty things I’ve ever seen”.

But his enactment sparks criticism.

He has antecedently described the onslaught successful Gaza arsenic a “psychopathic reality” and successful different works, straight compared the atrocities committed by Israeli troops to those of Nazi warfare criminals.

(Al Jazeera)

At the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi attraction and extermination camp, helium raised banners speechmaking “Is ‘never again’ for everyone?” and “Israel exploits Holocaust representation to transportation retired genocide” successful a one-man picket protest.

More than 1.1 cardinal radical – the bulk of them Jews, but besides Poles, and Roma radical among others – perished betwixt 1941 and 1945.

In the eyes of galore Poles and Jews, helium violated a ineffable place.

“Some galleries and creation collectors [have] commented that I americium an anti-Semite,” said Dobrowolski. “I cognize that raising the contented of the concern successful Palestine tin beryllium detrimental to my career, that I won’t beryllium capable to amusement my enactment successful museums, and that immoderate auctions volition not merchantability my work. But if I kept silent, I wouldn’t beryllium capable to look astatine myself successful the mirror. I don’t marque excuses.”

According to Gorska, astir Polish millennials grew up learning astir the wrongs of anti-Semitism, but determination was not capable treatment connected Holocaust trauma.

This is 1 of the reasons wherefore immoderate fearfulness commenting connected Israel’s attraction of the Palestinians, she said.

But the younger procreation successful the pro-Palestinian movement, which includes students who person occupied assemblage buildings successful Warsaw and Krakow, nary longer stock the fears of their older compatriots.

“These are radical who attraction astir their connection and inclusivity. There is nary spot for racism oregon anti-Semitism. It is simply a wholly antithetic sensitivity and different mode of knowing the world, which allows them to enactment done issues that were neglected before,” Gorska said.