Some people are finding out that overt displays of antisemitism can cost you. I’m not talking about the scores of cretins who have torn down the posters of Israelis who’ve been taken hostage by Hamas, some of which include young children, though those people deserve to be hurled off a cliff, too. I’m talking about the Norwegian medical student who walked a waffled line when it came to Hamas and the October 7 attacks while carrying a “Keep the world clean” sign with the Star of David in a trash can.
This woman claims this has nothing to do with Jewish people; it’s about the Israeli government, which, last time I checked, was mostly comprised of people who identify as Jewish. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is fraught with nuance, though these people don’t know what that is. Saying ‘it’s complicated’ regarding the October 7 attacks is leftist speak for hiding one’s endorsement of the atrocities. There is nothing complicated about denouncing mass murder, rape, and torture of innocent civilians.
The student, now identified as Marie Andersen, has been suspended from her medical school, though her only regret is that she undermined the Palestinian cause (via Alegemeiner):
Over the past 24 hours, the story of the #Norwegian student from the #Warsaw Medical University who went to the anti-Israel rally yesterday with a "Keep The World Clean" poster has attracted a lot of attention and discussion.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 22, 2023
We publish our full interview with this young woman… pic.twitter.com/jINVnta5ot
❗️ Norwegian student Marie Andersen suspended by the Medical University of Warsaw
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 31, 2023
The fifth-year student, whose husband is Jordanian, sparked international outrage when she was photographed and interviewed by NEXTA journalists at a demonstration in the Polish capital on… pic.twitter.com/G9LW3K4vnS
This anti-Semitic poster shocked the world.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 31, 2023
Now the perpetrator has been held accountable.
This was thanks to:
- @nexta_tv who photographed and interviewed the girl.
- the Visegrad24 team who identified Marie Andersen, a Norwegian medical student.
She has now been suspended. pic.twitter.com/f5yaD5vjiG
Norwegian student Marie Andersen has been suspended by the Medical University of Warsaw. pic.twitter.com/YeZujkmOmp
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 31, 2023
The young Norwegian woman who caused outrage around the world by carrying a viciously antisemitic placard at a pro-Hamas demonstration in Warsaw has defended her behavior in an interview with a Norwegian broadcaster, characterizing the State of Israel as “dirty” and underlining that her main regret was that the furor she generated had “undermined the pro-Palestinian movement.”
Images of Marie Andersen — a student at the Medical University of Warsaw in Poland — carrying a home-made sign showing a Star of David being dumped into a garbage can alongside the slogan “Keep the World Clean” went viral over the weekend. Polish leaders quickly condemned the display, with President Andrzej Duda saying that “any signs of [antisemitism] arouse our deep indignation” and Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski urging that anyone displaying antisemitism “should face legal consequences.”
But in an interview on Tuesday with Norway’s TV 2, Andersen defended the message behind her sign.
Asked why she had designed such a placard, Andersen replied that it “contains an Israeli flag in the bin to illustrate how dirty I think the Israeli government is, both in this warfare, but also by running an apartheid state for decades.”
During a generally sympathetic interview which at no point challenged her contention that her sign was an attack on the Israeli government and not Jews in general, Andersen said she was “sorry that the poster was not clear enough on the point that this applied to the Israeli government and did not represent any religions and is interpreted as Jew-hatred.”
[…]
She went to say that she was “sorry for everyone who has been affected by this misinterpretation of the message during the demonstration. I condemn antisemitism and any hatred directed against any religion.”
Andersen concluded her remarks by emphasizing, “I also want to express that I am sorry for how this has undermined the pro-Palestinian movement.”
If these people truly want Jewish people dead and Israel destroyed, they can still advocate for that but in abject poverty.
Young woman in Amsterdam, Netherlands destroys posters of Israeli civilians kidnapped by Hamas.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 31, 2023
When asked why, she answers:
“Because Israel doesn’t exist”
🇳🇱🇮🇱pic.twitter.com/BKREsjjLMP