Norwegian student Marie Andersen carries an antisemitic sign at an Oct. 21 pro-Hamas demonstration in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: Screenshot

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.”

Andersen also claimed that during a media interview she gave while participating in the demonstration, she had made clear “that this poster was certainly not aimed at Jews, and that we support human rights and freedom of religion is an important right.”

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.”

Despite being investigated by the Warsaw police on possible hate crime charges, Andersen said she had gone to the authorities after receiving “several thousand” hostile messages on her WhatsApp account, the details of which had been leaked without her consent, she said.

“I have been misrepresented in the media and because of this I have received death threats, rape threats, and serious sexual harassment. My family and friends have also been harassed,” she alleged.

Andersen said that both the Polish and Norwegian police were investigating the threats.

Andersen later posted a statement to her X/Twitter account, which as of this writing has a mere 16 followers, repeating her apology to the Palestinian solidarity movement and denying any antisemitic intent. She pointedly refrained from condemning the Oct. 7 pogrom launched by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel in both her statement and her media interviews.

A spokeswoman for the Medical University of Warsaw on Monday acknowledged that Andersen was registered as a student in its division that provides instruction in the English language.

“Unfortunately, we can confirm this,” Anna Rubaj told the Polish news outlet na Temat. “She will be called today to explain herself to the dean.”

Rubaj said that the university was “cooperating with law enforcement agencies, because the police have been notified about this case. This does not mean that we cannot conduct our own proceedings, but the conduct of law enforcement agencies is paramount here.”

She stressed that the university regarded “this matter seriously and as a priority. We are astonished and very concerned about the student’s actions.”

Other signs displayed at Saturday’s march in Warsaw — where the attendance was a fraction of the crowds that gathered in Western European cities for similar demonstrations — included “Stop the Genocide of the Palestinians” and “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”