Polish Christians Face Off Against Neo-Nazis in Support of Israel
“For Tzion’s sake will I not hold My peace, and for Yerushalayim’s sake I will not rest, until her triumph go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.” Isaiah 62:1 (The Israel Bible™)
Pastor Cwierz, organizer of the rally in Warsaw, Poland (Photo courtesy of Fundacja Pojednanje)
In a small gathering with enormous significance, 130 Christians from 15 different churches braved the sub-freezing weather in Warsaw on Sunday, facing off against neo-Nazi protestors, to support Israel against the United Nations Security Council resolution declaring the Jewish presence in Judea, Samaria, and the Temple Mount illegal.
Fundacja Pojednanje, or the Reconciliation Foundation, a group of pro-Israel Polish churches, called for the rally, saying in a statement, “The passing of this resolution was made possible by the fact that the faithful ally of Israel, the USA, abstained from voting. This resolution sets a dangerous precedent. It opens the door to the enemies of Israel, to terrorist organisations. Therefore, we must not remain silent. Indifference and silence are the worst reaction.”
Pastor Edward Ćwierz, head of the foundation and pastor of the Tent of David Church in Warsaw, called those gathered to action, saying, “We’re here to make Poland resound with the voice of justice, like the sound of the shofar! The voice of dissent overt injustice! The voice of support and solidarity with the people of Israel. We must understand that this UN resolution is anti-Semitic, and we, as Polish Christians, oppose anti-Semitism!”
Pastor Ćwierz is an active pro-Israel Christian voice in Poland. He organized the foundation’s “March of Life” last March commemorating the 70th anniversary of the tragic pogrom that killed 42 Jews after the Holocaust and led to the migration of most of the Jews who remained in Poland after the war.
“We are here because we sense the atmosphere of madness and insanity, in spirit of which, for centuries, Jews were blamed for all the woes of the world,” Pastor Ćwierz declared to the crowd. “We are here because we remember the high price of silence of people of the world, when the Jews were harmed beyond measure during the dark night of the Holocaust. It still seems as if it happened yesterday, but human memory is far too short.”
Jewish leaders attended as well. At one point, Pastor Ćwierz danced with the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Shudrich, to a Hebrew song. Also in attendance was vice-ambassador of Israel Ruth Cohen Dar.
However, the rally was marred by a group of neo-Nazi “ultra-Nationalists”, who showed up to protest. The far-right group waved Hezbollah and Palestinian flags and brandished signs calling for a “Greater Catholic Poland”. They denounced Israel as a terrorist state, claiming that the Islamic State (ISIS) was created by Jews in Saudi Arabia.
“It actually made our demonstration more legitimate,” Andrzej Ćwierz, the pastor’s son, told Breaking Israel News. “A lot of people passing by joined us for dancing and singing.”
Andrzej explained his reasons for attending were directly related to Scripture.
“We are, a group of Christians, who believe in the Word of God, in the truth of the Scriptures, and it seems like we are the few that still have a voice of reason,” Andrzej said. “it is easier than ever to justify standing with Israel. For my secular friends, the biblical reason for Israel’s existence does not matter. But to me, it seems like God was right all along.”
The foundation is preparing an online declaration of solidarity with Israel, which includes Israel’s right to exist “from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea”, with Jerusalem as “an undivided city”.
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