How the war in Gaza is dividing the left and polarizing Central Europe as well

November 9, 20239 November 2023

More demonstrations in support of Palestine are taking place in Western European cities, and to a lesser extent in the United States, with criticism of Israel. There are voices on them denying the democratic Jewish state its right to exist. In London or Paris, they gather tens of thousands of people each.

Disputes surrounding Israel are moving to social media and academic campuses. They are dividing the left, especially in Britain and France.

Of the four EU countries that voted in late October against a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a “permanent, immediate and humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, as many as three are from Central and Eastern Europe (Croatia, the Czech Republic and Hungary) – and one (Austria) is a neighbor. Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Lithuania abstained from the vote. The only post-communist state in the Union to support the resolution was Slovenia.

Nor are there such massive demonstrations of support for the Palestinians of Gaza in our region as there have been in the western part of Europe.

“Apartheid State”.

One of the Warsaw demonstrations against the war in Gaza drew the attention of the mainstream media solely because of a banner depicting a Star of David in a trashcan, signed “keep the world clean.” It was carried by a student from Norway. Voices defending the slogan – arguing that it depicts the flag of the state of Israel, not the Star of David per se, and is exclusively anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic – have been sparse to say the least, but social media has seen growing anger against Israel for several weeks. Especially in the leftist bubble. It applies not only to the war in Gaza, but to the entire policy toward the occupied territories and the Palestinian Authority, and even to the project of the State of Israel itself as a democratic Jewish state – seen by some on the left not so much as “the only democracy in the Middle East” as “the last colonial state in the world.”

The key mobilization issue – fostering radicalization over Israel’s politics and raison d’etre – remains, of course, the current attack on Gaza and its civilian victims.

After the demonstration, which took place in Warsaw on October 29, the profile of Young Together – the youth branch of the party of the same name – posted: “We marched through the streets of Warsaw today, demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The genocide perpetrated against the Palestinians can never be justified, it must be condemned and punished.” Writer Szczepan Twardoch, who officially supported the Razem group of candidates for the Sejm in the parliamentary elections, commented: “The use of the term ‘genocide’ in this context makes me very ashamed of you.”

Asked by Krytyka Polityczna, Maciej Konieczny – a member of Razem and co-chairman of the Polish-Palestinian parliamentary group in the Ninth Sejm – about whether the term “genocide” used in this context by his party’s youth group is appropriate, he replied: “As vice-chairman of the Sejm’s foreign affairs committee, I try to choose my words very precisely here. However, I don’t think that in light of the information and images that reach us daily from Gaza, it would be worth criticizing the youth for strong words.”

The National Board of Together has published its position on the events in Gaza. It begins by condemning the Hamas terrorist attack. The authors further state that “the attack did not happen in a political vacuum. Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories for 56 years. The state is pursuing an apartheid policy, denying Palestinians basic rights, carrying out mass displacement and daily violence, which has escalated over the course of this year in both Gaza and the West Bank.” Israel’s actions in Gaza are described as a “war crime,” the post concludes with a call for a ceasefire.

It says nothing about Israel’s right to defend itself or a solution to ensure peace – such as the creation of two states in historic Palestine, Jewish and Arab, within the pre-1967 borders. When asked about this, Mr. Konieczny replied: – The two-state solution has been made extremely difficult, if not impossible, by the deliberate actions of the state of Israel.

To force Israel to respect the rights of Palestinians, Together supports a campaign of boycotts and sanctions against Israel, modeled on apartheid-era South African policies. The campaign, which encourages boycotts of products, companies, cultural initiatives or even scientific exchanges with Israel, is highly controversial. The boycott of academic or cultural initiatives is hitting those circles most critical of the policies of the nationalist Israeli right, and there are voices describing the entire campaign as de facto anti-Semitic.

“It’s not even a dispute anymore.”

Konieczny’s colleague from the coalition’s Left Club, Anna Maria Zhukowska, has a different view of the Gaza conflict. The politician is vice chairwoman of the Polish-Israeli parliamentary group, and on Sunday went on a visit to Israel. As she said in an interview with Radio RMF, she wants to gain knowledge about the situation in the country. “I’m going not so much to support Israel, but to support those who are fighting the terrorists, the people who are murdering babies,” she told Robert Mazurek.

In the same conversation, she admitted that denying Israel’s right to exist meets her definition of anti-Semitism. Zhukovskaya’s stance on the Middle East conflict, presented by a politician on the X portal, has caused controversy in the leftist bubble. Especially the post in which she said that while the Kurds are a people “with their own language and identity,” the “Palestinian identity boils down to anti-Israelism and adherence to Islam.”

Zhukovskaya deleted her account on the X portal late last week, without giving reasons. Asked about the reason for her decision by Gazeta Wyborcza, she replied: “Because I’ve had enough.”

When asked by Krytyka Polityczna if she feels alone with her views on what is happening in Israel and Palestine, Zhukovska answers briefly, “Yes.” He admits that this is an issue that divides the Polish left. In doing so, he says the dispute is mainly generational.

Indeed, the most outspoken and angry stance on the situation in Gaza is taken by young activists, who often see Israel simply as an aggressor and a colonial project, which in its current form is an anachronism at best. A similar polarization can be observed in many Western democracies.

Where will this conflict lead the Left? – Compared to the previous Hamas invasion of Israel in 2014, I see this as a much deeper and more serious division. I’d like to see this dispute take place at a higher level. Because today it’s often no longer even a dispute, but an outright campaign of hate,” replied Zhukovskaya.

“This is not a defining issue.”

The other parties, which are likely to form a new government together with the Left, are definitely closer to Zhukovskaya’s position. Through her, MP Pawel Kowal of the PO went to Israel. In an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza, he said: “Any assessment of what is happening here must begin by saying: Hamas is a terrorist organization that has been used as a tool to destroy peace in the Middle East, to isolate Israel, to ruin American policy in the region. Hamas is to blame, including for civilian casualties on both sides, because they started it.”

For the MP, the Hamas attack is another installment of the war against the “collective West” waged by the Moscow-Beijing-Tehran axis. Kowal holds a grudge against the Polish government, whose representatives did not go to Israel after the attacks. Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau’s statement after a meeting with Arab ambassadors expressed solidarity with the Gaza deaths and “understanding of Palestinian political aspirations,” and called it “miscalibrated.” The issue of Palestinian statehood and the political aspirations of the Palestinians was not addressed by Smith or the interviewing journalist, Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf.

Necessary, when asked about Smith’s statements, calls them “one-sided.” He himself admits that he views Minister Rau’s position positively: – I appreciate that the Polish government is an exception in the region and is presenting a balanced position here,” he says, while criticizing Morawiecki’s cabinet for its passivity on the issue of Polish citizens staying in Gaza and demanding evacuation assistance.

We ask Necessary if attitudes toward the situation in Israel and Palestine could prove to be an issue in the new coalition. – I don’t think so. This is not a defining issue for Polish interests as much as, for example, the attitude toward aid to Ukraine, he answers.

Visegrad for Netanyahu

Minister Rau’s stance actually differs from those taken by the Czech Republic and Hungary, which not only voted against a UN resolution calling for a truce in Gaza, but after its adoption by the General Assembly, Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochova called for the Czech Republic to leave the alliance.

After the breakup of Czechoslovakia, successive Czech governments repeatedly took positions close not only to Israel, but even to the Israeli right. In 2012, the Czech Republic was the only country to vote – along with Israel – against raising the status of Palestine’s representation at the UN. They rejected EU guidance on products from occupied territories. In 2019, the parliament passed a resolution condemning calls to boycott Israel. Why such a pro-Israel stance by the Czech government? Jan Bělíček, a Czech journalist at A2larm.cz, says: – This stems from deep historical traditions.

Tomáš Masaryk, the first president of interwar Czechoslovakia, sympathized with the demands of Zionism. Support for the idea of creating a Jewish state in Palestine continued throughout the interwar period and in the first years after the war, until Czechoslovakia had to change course like all Eastern Bloc countries. After the fall of communism, the expressive pro-Israel course was a reaction to policies from the period of people’s democracy. It was continued by virtually all political forces. Social democrats and individual politicians have tried to nuance the issue.

To what extent does this consensus of the political class translate into public attitudes toward Israel and Palestine? Demonstrations took place in Prague opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza, the number of participants could only be counted in the hundreds.

However, according to Bělíček, they were much more numerous than usual. According to the journalist, something is beginning to change in terms of the Czech public’s perception of the situation in Israel and Palestine, albeit very slowly. Criticism of Israel has increasingly resonated on social media, constantly facing accusations of anti-Semitism.

Hungarians also voted against the UN resolution. This came as no surprise to anyone who has observed Israel-Budapest relations in recent years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has found a close ally in Viktor Orbán. And this despite the fact that Orbán’s government, in organizing its campaign against George Soros, directly appealed to anti-Semitic motives.

What Orbán and Netanyahu have in common is an aversion to liberal democracy, a policy based on the mobilization of resentment against elites and radically nationalistic emotions. The former, as an ally, guarantees Netanyahu’s support in international forums where Israel is criticized for human rights violations. Hungary, like Poland, purchased the Pegasus spy system from Israel, which was also to be used for surveillance of the government’s political opponents. In turn, the Hamas attack and support for Israel allow Orbán to return to his favorite topics: the threat of terrorism and the need to protect borders from newcomers from the global South as potential terrorists.

Theoretically, on the same level, the Netanyahu government should agree with the Polish government. But while we, too, bought Pegasus, and Netanyahu was said to be advising the Law and Justice Party on how to subjugate the courts, Poland abstained on the UN resolution, and we have not had an ambassador to Israel for two years. The previous one, Marek Magierowski, was recommended by the Israeli Foreign Ministry not to return to the post from leave, after the president signed an amendment to the Code of Administrative Procedures, making it impossible to pursue claims to former Jewish property left in Poland.

Polarization limits

Our region, while also subject to polarization due to the situation in Israel and Gaza, is much less so than the democracies of Western Europe or the States. This trend can be expected to continue due to two factors. The first is the small diaspora of Poles in solidarity with the Palestinians who come from the Middle East or Islamic countries – the attitudes of the electorate with such backgrounds have a significant impact on the position of Western political parties, especially the left-wing ones.

Second, Poland has realistically almost zero influence on how the situation in Israel and Palestine will be resolved – at best, it can co-shape the European Union’s line on the issue. Citizens must therefore not feel that their pressure on the Polish government can change anything.

The polarization will be exacerbated by the participation of a growing group of Polish citizens and nationals in global news circuits and bubbles, where Israel’s policies evoke radically different emotions – especially those toward Gaza.

Written by Jakub Majmurek