THE World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) has condemned attempts by “reactionary, zionist elements” to disrupt its world festival in Russia.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, WFDY spoke out after the Israeli delegation to the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students included representatives of the pro-occupation Likud and Jewish Home parties.

It said “fascist and zionist” elements had tried to disrupt the festival events, but urged “progressive and militant” participants to keep attending to “safeguard the ideas of the festival movement.”

The Palestinian Youth Organisation said the entire Palestinian delegation and most of the Arab delegations boycotted the opening ceremony after the “flag of the zionist enemy” was raised — and the Palestinian flag was absent.

One young female Lebanese delegate was removed after trying to take down the Israeli flag.

Following a statement by the PYO and four days of protest the Palestinian flag was flown.

WFDY said: “The ideas of peace, solidarity, friendship, anti-fascism and anti-imperialism are the cornerstones of the festival movement and those reactionary elements are based on the opposite side of those ideas.”

Israel’s WFDY-affiliated Young Communist League said the zionists had been invited by the Russian organisers as “part of an attempt to hijack the festival from WFDY and its long legacy of internationalist struggle for the liberation of the oppressed and downtrodden in order to cater to the agenda of Russia's conservative government.”

It called on all WFDY members to “denounce these warmongering zionist movements and reaffirm their solidarity with the Palestinian people’s rights and liberation as the cornerstone for a just peace in Israel and Palestine.”

• The Ukrainian Komsomol communist youth delegation has now  arrived after being detained by their own country’s border guards.