The anti-Muslim Ełk riots occurred in January 2017 in the town of Ełk, Poland, after a man named Daniel Rudnicki stole two coke bottles from a local kebab shop and was murdered by a shop worker who chased him. Several hundred men surrounded the Prince Kebab restaurant,[1][2] tossing firecrackers, stones, and Molotov cocktails at the shop.[3] Police initially stood by and did not intervene for several hours, however when they finally did intervene, the crowd turned against them as well.[3] Other attacks on kebab restaurants occurred throughout Poland.[3]
Background
In 2017, the town of Ełk had some 60,000 residents of which six were originally from Muslim countries.[4] All six Muslim residents were either owners or employees of four kebab shops in town.[4] During the 2015 Polish parliamentary election campaign, Islamophobic sentiments were whipped up by political parties.[4] An anti-migrant demonstration took place in Ełk during the 2015 campaign, followed by demonstration against a refugee center in Olecko.[4] On March 2016, a racist attack against the Cleopatra Kebab in Ełk was staged by young locals.[4] Kebab shops are popular in Poland, however perceptions of employees of kebab restaurants are unfavorable.[3]
While Muslims in Poland, some 35,000, constitute only 0.1 percent of the population, Islamophobia in Poland is significant.[3] The leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, warned of a "menace for public health", arguing Muslim refugees carried dangerous parasites and diseases.[3][5][6] The pro-government magazine Sieci ran a cover titled "The Islamic Rape of Europe" with an image of a blonde woman assailed by brown hands.[3] Political rhetoric from PiS and KORWiN candidates, as well Islamophobic discourse on social media, has a measurable social impact. Survey data from Centre for Public Opinion Research shows that in May 2015 53% of respondents were opposed to receiving refugees from the Middle East and North Africa whereas in June 2017 this figure increased to 74%.[4]
On New Year's Eve (31 December 2016), a man named Daniel Rudnicki,[3][7] entered the Prince Kebab shop, took two coke bottles, and left without paying. One of Rudnicki's friends threw a firecracker into the shop, and Rudnicki did not hide his theft. Two restaurant employees chased the thief, one of them holding a kitchen knife. In the ensuing fight, Rudnicki was killed.[1][2]
Riots
Following the altercation, several hundred men surrounded the shop.[1][2] Initial media reports stated that Rudnicki was a random victim and not a thief chased by shop workers.[8] The crowd tossed firecrackers, stones, and Molotov cocktails at the shop. The police did not intervene for several hours, watching as the crowd broke the shop's windows.[3] The apartment rented by the Kebab shop owner was also attacked.[7] When police did intervene, a few hours later, the crowd turned against the police as well. 38 people were arrested.[3]
The day following the riots, activists from the far-right National Radical Camp (ONR) came to Ełk, employing the slogan "Ełk free from jihad".[3] According to Przemysław Witkowski, the inciters of the riots felt that they had the official blessing of by higher political echelons.[9]
In Lublin, the Superkebab restaurant was vandalized[1][10] with the slogan "Fuck ISIS".[3]
In Legnica, a masked man beat up a Bangladeshi employee of a kebab business.[3]
In Wrocław a Molotov cocktail was tossed at an Egyptian business.[3][10]
In Ozorków, a Pakistani worker at a kebab shop was beaten up the next day.[3][10]
Analysis
Reporting in Polish media often avoided describing the event as racist or Islamophobic and stressed the Polish identity of Rudnicki, while describing the shop workers as Algerian, Tunisian, or Arab.[1]
Sociologists Michał Łyszczarz and Stefan M. Marcinkiewicz note that other fatal incidents involving foreigners, the killing of a Pole by two Canadians in Brożec near Strzelin on New Year's Eve or a drunk Ukrainian driver killing two teenagers in Jelenia Góra, did not elicit a similar response. Łyszczarz and Marcinkiewicz state that Ukrainians and Canadians were not the subject of attention as Muslims were and did not undergo a long-term process of spreading prejudices in public.[4] Łyszczarz and Marcinkiewicz compare the death of Rudnicki to a spark in a powder keg which led to an outburst of stored emotions. In social media, which rapidly mobilized supporters, Rudnicki's death was referred to as a "jihad" and some local politicians utilized the events for self-promotion.[4]
Aftermath
The Polish interior minister Mariusz Błaszczak responded to events saying "Poland is not affected by social problems such as those in Western Europe, where big enclaves of Muslim immigrants who do not integrate with the rest of society occur". Błaszczak further stated that the riot was an expression of "utterly understandable fears" of Islamic terrorism in Europe.[1]
Perception of Rudnicki vary among locals; While some see him as a man with a criminal record who died prior to the kebab violence, right-wing nationalists see him as the victim of "Arab" violence, part of a campaign of "Islamization of Europe".[3] In Ełk, employees of a municipal kindergarten invited the anti-racist "Never Again" Association to hold tolerance lessons.[11]
The public discussion also led to ironic expressions. A short time after the riots, The Kebab War website was launched, subtitled "death to the enemies of the fatherland" (Polish: smierc wrogom ojczyzny) which is an allusion to football fans who are preoccupied with a national history of massacres and Catholic glory and use this slogan as their motto. On the website, a famous painting of the Battle of Grunwald is rendered with the enemies being migrants holding kebab sandwiches, and each attack on a kebab business is given the name of a famous historic battle.[3]
Following the riots, "native" Polish kebab shops were opened. In Lublin, a stall with the slogan "Real kebab at the real Pole" with a large Polish flag was launched to sell kebab. In Ełk, a "native" McKebab restaurant was opened.[3]
The man who stabbed Rudnicki, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder, saying he did not want to kill anyone and that he is sorry for Rudnicki's family.[12] According to TVN24, he was convicted for murder in 2019 and sentenced to 12 years in jail and a 70,000 Polish złoty fine. According to TVN24, the owner of Prince Kebab was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year in prison for participating in the fight and not helping Rudnicki.[13]
Some of the rioters were sentenced to prison or community service.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Zawadzka, Anna. "Drinking vodka with anti-Semites. A case study of 'Polish-Jewish relations' today." Adeptus 11 (2018): 1-23" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "Tunisian charged over Poland stabbing that sparked riot". BBC News. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Died by the kebab knife, NRC Handelsblad, 29 December 2017, Roeland Termote & Pieter van Os
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Łyszczarz, Michał, and Stefan M. Marcinkiewicz. "Radykalizacja antymuzułmańskiego i antyimigranckiego dyskursu w mediach społecznościowych w latach 2016 i 2017 na przykładzie wydarzeń w Ełku." Uniwersyteckie Czasopismo Socjologiczne/Academic Journal of Sociology 22.1 (2019)".
- ^ Pickel, Gert, and Cemal Öztürk. "Islamophobia Without Muslims? The “Contact Hypothesis” as an Explanation for Anti-Muslim Attitudes–Eastern European Societies in a Comparative Perspective." Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics 12.2 (2018): 162-191., quote: "Furthermore, Kaczyński regarded Muslims as a 'menace for public health' as immigrants come along with diseases and parasites"
- ^ Open arms behind barred doors: fear, hypocrisy and policy schizophrenia in the European migration crisis., Kelly M. Greenhill, European Law Journal 22.3 (2016): 317-332.] quote: "For his part, Polish Law and Justice Party official and former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski warned that Muslim refugees would bring parasites and diseases to the local population"
- ^ a b Łyszczarz, Michał, and Stefan Michał Marcinkiewicz. "Obecność muzułmanów i imigrantów w polskim dyskursie publicznym na przykładzie doniesień prasowych dotyczących wydarzeń w Ełku na przełomie 2016 i 2017 roku.", MKKS, 14/3, 2018
- ^ Rejman-Karolewska, Małgorzata. "ATTITUDE TO IMMIGRANTS AND ACTIONS OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IN POLAND." СБОРНИК (2018): page 220
- ^ Polish racism in a Mazurian kebab shop, Przemysław Witkowski, 3 January 2017, Political Critique
- ^ a b c Selection of Islamophobic events (for 2017-2018) monitored in the “Brown Book” monitoring by the “NEVER AGAIN” Association, "Never Again" Association, 29 January 2019
- ^ Kontrola w przedszkolu po lekcji tolerancji, Gazeta Wyborcza, Martyna Siudak, 9 March 2017
- ^ The trial begins for the murder at Prince Kebab, Gazeta Wyborcza (Bialystok), 12 March 2018
- ^ After the murder, riots broke out in the city. The accused just heard the verdict, TVN24, 3 June 2019