The message in the Polish media is clear: the Israeli coach beat the Polish referee, attacked first, and no one had ever behaved like that before. All of Poland is focused on the story of aggressive Israelis attacking “poor Poles.” From fascists and the far right, through mainstream media, to the left — everyone agrees: “These Jews are playing the victim again, while they are the aggressors.” That’s the mildest version you’ll find. The rest reads like a literary contest called “Jews are evil,” with half of Poland participating, including celebrities and the media.

But what really happened?

A young Israeli coach approaches the Polish referee and the organizers. He asks for a review of the referee’s decisions based on video recordings. Nothing unusual — standard procedure. It was the twelfth match of his team that day, and the third in which he felt unfairly treated. He decided to request a video review.

However, this is not standard procedure for the referee, a police officer off duty, and the surrounding organizers — who also represent another club. To them, he was a “demanding Jew,” which triggered an outbreak of unprecedented aggression and hatred. Violence starts almost immediately: the Israeli coach is pushed and pulled. He defends himself, and the crowd of organizers, referees, and spectators escalates the violence. They knock the coach down; an organizer hits him repeatedly in the head. A lynching occurs, with a dozen people hitting first the Israeli coach, then his sixty-year-old father, who tries to help his son. When both defend themselves, a younger colleague, also a coach, joins in. He knocks down one of the referees and hits him. Later video analysis shows that no one can see the moment of the first hit, push, or act of aggression — it’s simply not visible. No one knows who started it.

The attention of “internet commentators” focuses on the moment when the third coach runs in to try to free his friends. This moment is presented in antisemitic manipulations as the start of aggression — “the unprovoked attack of the Israeli coach on the Polish referee.”

In reality, it is the result of several minutes of lynching, not its beginning. In response to the violence against his colleagues, the third Israeli coach knocks one person down and tries to push others away. Remarkably, after a few seconds, the scuffle ends. It turns out that when the Jew actively defends himself, people back off — unlike in the situation where they previously lynched helpless coaches as a group.

After this, the organizers announce over the PA that the Israeli team is guilty of violence and is disqualified. Part of the audience cheers, while booing accompanies a dozen Israeli children leaving the competition. This moment is also not shown in any videos published by the organizers after the tournament.

The police arrive, having not been notified by the organizers. It is the referee who calls his colleagues on duty. The intervention patrol moves around with the supposedly attacked Polish referee — in reality, a police officer off duty. Using Google Translate, they interrogate the Israeli coaches. Officers also convince them not to file a report that they were attacked, suggesting that otherwise no one would press charges against the Poles.

Of course, this turns out to be manipulation. The referee and organizers quickly spread propaganda and edited videos, showing alleged Israeli aggression.

The Israeli Embassy is the only media voice in Poland presenting the Israeli perspective, explicitly mentioning antisemitic lynching and violence. They did not present evidence because they are not a journalistic outlet — so no one believed them. For days, no one attempted to contact the Israeli delegation, as it was already assumed they were guilty. Most antisemites would not believe our words either, even with evidence.

Nonetheless, Polish media have shown how meaningless the word “journalism” has become. Most of them practice propaganda — increasingly antisemitic propaganda — instead of journalism.

It would have been enough to ask the coaches, the families of the children, spectators, or members of other teams not connected to the organizers to know what really happened.

Antisemitic hatred and discrimination were present from the very beginning. Jewish children were pushed and treated violently by coaches and adults. They were filmed without consent while changing. The person filming ignored orders to stop and, in Russian, told them to “go home.”

This is important: the Russian language. Two teams from Israel attended the tournament. The team disqualified for alleged aggression — in reality victims of discrimination and lynching — consisted mostly of Russian-speaking Jews who understood the Polish hate slogans directed at them. The presence of two Israeli teams became an excuse for the organizers to pretend antisemitism did not exist. They only disqualified one team, not both.

This game of “good Jew, bad Jew” is as old as the world. Even the Nazis had their “good Jews.” Here it is extremely clear. One Israeli team did not display flags or communicate much due to the language barrier. The other — displayed a flag, responded to antisemitic slogans, dared to make demands, and requested verification of referee decisions. The Poles could not handle this and carried out a lynching.

Everything we describe and show comes from the families of the affected Jewish children, from the coaches, and also from Poles present at the tournament, who told us the truth and how extremely deceitful the organizers’ version was — a version then repeated by media and police.

The police, as we have shown, play a key role. The Bielsko police previously allowed antisemitism when antisemites disrupted a local prayer house event, intimidating Jews and guests, including Holocaust survivors. Instead of speaking to the victims, the police spoke to the aggressors and let them go without consequences, and the prosecutor did not open a case. Now history repeats itself. The Bielsko police spokesperson, both during the attack on the Jewish community and during the judo tournament aggression, was the first to provide manipulated accounts to the media.

What is most frightening in this whole case is the determination of organizers, media, the Polish Judo Association, politicians, and celebrities to insist that “there was no antisemitism.”

The brutal truth is simple: there was a lynching, there was violence, there was discrimination, and there was antisemitism — systemic, collective, and consistently denied. This was not an “incident,” “sports emotions,” or a “misunderstanding.” It was a test, and Polish institutions, media, and the state failed completely. As long as this story is twisted, relativized, and falsified, every Jewish person in Poland will know that in times of danger, they will be alone — while aggressors get a microphone, a camera, and full public support.

The prosecutor’s office has taken an interest in the case, not due to a “call from a friend,” but officially. Let us hope it examines the matter thoroughly to reveal the full truth, not just the manipulative narrative of one side. We remain in contact with the saddened parents of the Israeli children. These children had one wish: to train the next day with any team. It didn’t happen — they were already condemned by organizers and public opinion.