Poland protesters disorganized independence day event
Tens of thousands of nationalist protesters disrupted Poland's independence day events Saturday, waving flags and burning flares as they marched down the streets of Warsaw.
Demonstrators carried banners that read "White Europe, Europe must be white," and "Pray for an Islamic Holocaust."
Some
wore masks and waved red and white Polish flags, chanting "Death to
enemies of the homeland," and "Catholic Poland, not secular."
While the vast majority were Poles, other protesters came from all over
Europe.
One
of the lead organizations behind the nationalists march is the National
Radical Camp, which has previously taken to the streets to protest
against Muslim immigration,gay rights, the EU and anything it considers
undermines Polish Catholic values.
While
support for the group remains small, its critics argue that the Polish
government, which has struck a nationalistic tone and linked immigrants
to crime and disease, has fostered an atmosphere of intolerance and
xenophobia that has emboldened it.
Earlier
on Saturday, the Polish capital had seen a far smaller demonstration by
groups condemning the protesters' hijacking of Polish independence
day, which falls on November 11.
The
day celebrates the re-birth of Poland in November 1918, 123 years after
the Prussian, Habsburg and Russian empires carved up Poland among
themselves and erased it from the map of Europe.
But in the past few years, the holiday has been overshadowed by the far-right march and fears of violence.
Polish
President Andrzej Duda led the formal celebrations of Polish
independence day in central Warsaw. After laying a wreath at the tomb of
the unknown soldier, he told the crowd to remember the price of freedom
and independence.
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