Andrzej Duda’s statement was published by the presidential office on Sunday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Officials said on the X social media platform: “The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, firmly condemns antisemitic slogans which emerged at yesterday’s march organised in Warsaw.”
“Due to the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, we, the Polish people, must never accept any instances of antisemitism, in any form, and we are profoundly outraged at any manifestations of it,” the statement added.
Expressions of hatred “are not accepted in Poland” as contrary to the country’s “foundational values,” the presidential office also said.
On Saturday, a rally was held in Warsaw against Israel’s military intervention in the Gaza Strip, which is part of the war against the Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas, the PAP news agency reported.
Protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners, calling for a “stop to the genocide of the Palestinians,” and for a “Free Palestine,” according to news outlets.
Another slogan said: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” the PAP news agency reported.
Another banner read: “Keep the World Clean,” featuring the drawing of a dustbin with the flag of Israel inside, according to officials.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński wrote on X that slogans “calling for ethnically motivated hatred” were “against the law” and constituted “sufficient grounds for a gathering to be cancelled.”
Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, commented on X: "Pro-Palestinians in Warsaw today. Polish authorities must stop this blatant antisemitism before it gets out of control.”
Meanwhile, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski wrote on social media on Sunday evening: “In Warsaw, a city so severely affected by history, there can be no place for hatred and antisemitism. There can be no acceptance of antisemitic banners.”
The mayor added that such acts “deserve to be condemned” and their authors “should bear legal consequences.”
Saturday’s march in Warsaw was one of many pro-Palestinian events across Europe and around the world, the PAP news agency reported.
The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7 when the Palestinian organisation launched an assault from Gaza, killing more than 1,400 people, British broadcaster the BBC reported.
More than 4,600 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory attacks since then, according to Palestinian authorities.
The Israeli military has said it will step up air strikes on Gaza and urged Palestinians still in the north of the territory to flee south, the PAP news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, BBC