Mauthausen staff call cops after dispute erupts over teen wearing ‘Free Palestine’ shirt

Police were called to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial in Austria this week due to a dispute over a teenager who wore a shirt reading “Free Palestine” that also featured the Palestinian flag and an apparent picture of a terrorist.

A video circulating on social media showed the teen touring the site of the Nazi concentration camp in Austria. The picture on his shirt is apparently of Dalal Mughrabi, who took part in a brutal 1978 terror attack that killed dozens of civilians.

The person filming, who was not identified, berated him over the shirt and confronted staff about whether the shirt or other political messaging is allowed in the camp. The teen did not respond to the criticism. The tour guide also did not respond to the questions about the shirt and attempted to continue her tour.

When the person filming said the shirt sends the message that “It’s OK to murder Jews,” a person on the tour responded, “No, he is not. He is saying it’s not OK to murder Palestine people [sic].”

Another participant in the tour said the shirt opposes Israel committing “genocide” in Gaza.

The person filming vehemently objected to that characterization of Israel’s war against Hamas and told the group, “Do better, your teachers have to do better. This is a fucking genocide here, what you’re learning about. Don’t fucking call other things a genocide. This is a genocide. Shame on you.”

Visitor to concentration camp wears Palestine t-shirt featuring terrorist who murdered Jews.

A video circulating online appears to show a visitor at the Mauthausen concentration camp wearing a shirt featuring a Palestine flag and an arch-terrorist responsible for the deaths of…

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The memorial site said in a statement that the teen in question was on a large tour from an anti-fascist camp, and that staff had not noticed his shirt.

“An incident occurred during a visit by around 600 participants from an international anti-fascist youth camp,” the statement said. “One participant was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Free Palestine.’ Our staff had not noticed this whilst supervising the large group. Nor was it initially possible to make sense of the vociferous reaction from one female visitor.”

The statement added, “Once it became clear what the issue was, our staff reacted immediately. They tried to de-escalate the situation and, at the same time, called the police for assistance. However, the situation had already been brought under control by the time the police arrived.”

The statement added that the site does not allow materials that “promote antisemitic, racist or generally discriminatory views, and do not undermine the dignity of the victims.” It did not say whether the shirt fell into that category.

The statement added, “Currently, there is an increasing number of situations where political matters are associated with these sites, matters which are diametrically opposed to one another. The history and dignity of this place demand that such conflicts be resolved objectively and with mutual empathy. Provocative behavior by other visitors is not welcome, and the memorial reserves the right to issue warnings in such cases.”

Until its liberation by Allied troops in 1945, some 335,000 people were held at the Mauthausen camp system in conditions that led to some 95,000 deaths, including of 14,000 Jews. Other inmates at the camp included critics of Nazism, communists, homosexuals, Polish intellectuals, Spaniards and Russian POWs.

Pro-Palestinian imagery has also arisen as an issue at other Nazi camps, with a German court ruling last year that Buchenwald had a right to refuse entry to visitors who wear a keffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian headscarf that has been adopted by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Agencies contributed to this report.