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Pro-Russian Parties Stoking Antisemitism in Bulgaria, Jewish Leaders Warn
Supporters of Hamas demonstrating in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. Photo: Screenshot
The tiny Jewish community in Bulgaria is facing a wave of antisemitism stoked by pro-Russian parties, two of its leaders have said.
In the wake of the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, there had been “an explosion of left-wing antisemitism, in which anti-Zionism and anti-imperialism are layered, mixed with hatred for western Europe,” Solomon Bali, a vice-president of the B’nai B’rith organization, told the Euractiv news outlet.
Bali identified Russia as the key source of the hostile propaganda targeting Jews in the formerly communist Balkan state. “Memes, videos, and propaganda flood social media, and much of it comes from pro-Russian sources,” he noted.
Maxim Delchev — executive director of the Bulgarian Jewish organization Shalom — echoed Bali’s analysis, adding that Bulgarian far right parties, which have posed a threat to the country’s Jews in the recent past, were less visible in the current antisemitic campaign.
“They express support for Hamas and Palestine, which goes beyond what is permissible,” Delchev remarked, observing that the antisemitic propaganda “comes from left and far left groups and related social media profiles, who fiercely support Russia in the war in Ukraine.” Bali separately commented that the left-wing parties had shown a disturbing lack of sympathy for the Israeli victims of the Hamas onslaught.
Both Bali and Delchev pointed out that the two pro-Russian parties in the Bulgarian parliament — the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), a successor to the Communist Party, and the hardline nationalist Varazhdane (“Revival”) Party — had boycotted a vote last month that resulted in the passage of a statement of support for Israel. The statement asserted that Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 atrocities “is an inevitable and necessary reciprocal response — an act to protect the life and dignity of the Israelis and the right of existence of the State of Israel itself.” It was passed by 124 votes with no opposition.
Delchev characterized Bulgarian laws on hate speech as weak, arguing that the “legislative gap” needed to be closed. The Jewish community of approximately 1,100 is currently awaiting the outcome of a legal complaint filed with the public prosecutor by Shalom concerning an antisemitic image that went viral on Bulgarian internet channels over the summer.
The image showed Bulgaria’s Jewish former foreign minister, Solomon Passy, wearing a striped concentration camp uniform while being manhandled by four Nazi German soldiers. The accompanying text quipped, “If you don’t want Russian gas, let us supply you with ours.”
Concern among Bulgarian Jews over growing antisemitism predates the Hamas pogrom. Throughout the year, Jewish leaders have protested the inflammatory statements of supporters of Varazhdane — which emerged as the third largest party in parliament following April’s general election — including placards on display at a demonstration backing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine that equated Zionism with Nazism.
The post Pro-Russian Parties Stoking Antisemitism in Bulgaria, Jewish Leaders Warn first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.