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Polish marchers blame Jews for COVID

WARSAW — Several participants in a rally in Glogow, Poland, said that Jews are to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed that Jews “rule the world.”

About 100 people walked through the streets of the city in western Poland in opposition to vaccination and “sanitary segregation,” or restrictions on unvaccinated people.

“We know who is behind this whole ‘plandemic,’” one of the march’s leaders said, implying that he believes the pandemic is fake and part of a “plan” to weaken Poland’s economy.

“Do you know who hates Poles? We know who hates [us],” he added.

“Jews,” answered another marcher.

Another said Jews will “apply for our houses,” referring to the debate over Holocaust property restitution, which Poland’s right-wing government is attempting to limit.

As that debate has raged in parliament and drawn the attention of US lawmakers, Polish nationalists have taken to the streets.

Earlier this month, members of the All-Polish Youth group left debris outside Israel’s embassy in Warsaw.

Others disrupted a commemoration for victims of a Holocaust-era pogrom, symbolizing the country’s other debate, over whether Poles should be blamed for WW II-era atrocities.

Polish Jewish Professor Michal Bilewicz, who teaches at the University of Warsaw, condemned the July 18 protesters as anti-Semitic on Twitter.

“We live in times when such people do not even disguise themselves,” he wrote.

Videos from the march showed that police did not react to the anti-Semitic slogan but took action when some of the participants started kicking a police car. Three men were arrested. Two were under the influence of alcohol.

Police recordings from the march will go to a public prosecutor’s office, which will decide whether an investigation should be initiated.

Earlier this month, the right-wing nationalist Konfederacja Party, which has 11 seats in Poland’s lower house of parliament, posted a video of Polish model Samuela Górska on its social social media platforms saying she does not think Jews belong in Poland.

Polish fashion brands subsequently cut ties with Górska and deleted her photos from their social media profiles.

According to research from 2018, 85% of Polish Jews believe that anti-Semitism is a major issue in Poland.



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