Editorial Writer in Left-Wing Newspaper: I Celebrated Hamas Massacre in 2023

The terrorist group Hamas’s attack on several hundred Israeli civilians in October 2023 was the bloodiest in Israel’s history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust. It was also the reason the subsequent war began. In leftist circles, however, it was seen as something to celebrate.

Under the headline “I Also Celebrated October 7th, 2023,” Ellen Kall writes in an editorial column in the left-wing newspaper Proletären that when the first reports came three years ago “that the Palestinian resistance had broken through the wall around Gaza, my heart started beating faster.”

The details that were reported she calls “propaganda lies,” and people took to the streets to “celebrate the resistance” but also “to protest against Israel’s escalating genocide.”

The propaganda against the Palestinian resistance struggle was massive from the very beginning. The method was well-prepared and long tried. Many swallowed the false claims about beheaded infants and other alleged bestial crimes whole. When the information was later refuted, it was already too late.

Hamas could not be mentioned in the media without the addition “terror-designated.” If it happened nonetheless, a correction and apology quickly followed.

Kall further laments that “the resistance struggle was equated with terrorism” and that “genocide has become a daily routine.”

She also rages that media focus on “Swedish-Palestinians having the nerve to celebrate that their people have risen up against occupation and oppression.”

Kall claims that the Left Party participates in the “witch hunt” without questioning accusations about its members spreading antisemitism and praising terror groups.

We who stand on the side of humanity are, after all, more numerous than those supporting genocide. Let’s upend the playing field and instead build a just world!

Who is Ellen Kall?

Ellen Kall is a recurring contributor to the communist weekly Proletären, published by the Communist Party. In a previous column, she introduces herself as a speech therapist in the children and youth habilitation sector.

Kall has also held various roles of trust within the Communist Party. At the party’s congress in 2022 she was elected to the party board, where she is described in Proletären’s report from the congress as “speech therapist, Helsingborg.”

For several years, she has written columns and opinion pieces in Proletären on working life, politics, the Palestinian issue, and social debate.

The Article That Sparked Debate

The article has been widely circulated on social media and in discussion forums. Critics say its wording can be perceived as a defense or celebration of Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, when around 1,200 people were killed in Israel and over 250 people were taken hostage.

Supporters of Kall’s position, on the other hand, claim she is expressing support for the Palestinian struggle against occupation, not for the killing of civilians.

The controversy has also come at a time when the question of Palestinian activism in Helsingborg has been the subject of intense debate, following investigations of the actions of local politicians and activists after Hamas’s attack.