Equality and anti-discrimination centre Unia has published new figures on the number of reports of anti-Semitism it has received. "Since the resurgence of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on 7 October, we have received 62 reports that we can link to hatred of Jews," says Els Keytsman, Unia director. "It is high time we took the Jewish community's fears seriously."
"The number of reports of anti-Semitism has shot up. By comparison, in previous years on average we received only 4 to 5 reports of anti-Semitism per month. And now already 62 in the space of three months."
It’s a rising trend that police figures from Antwerp also confirm. Last week, Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever said Antwerp police were drawing up more official reports about anti-Semitic offences. The higher number was particularly striking during the first two weeks after the resurgence of the conflict.
Between 10 October and 14 November, 90 official police reports were drawn up detailing hate and discrimination in Antwerp. In most cases verbal aggression was involved. 90 is a high number when you know that in all of 2022, 167 acts of discrimination or hatred were registered.
Not all cases of anti-Semitism are reported either. "Of course there is a dark number, but if you add everything up, it is absolutely not a pretty picture at the moment," De Wever said at the time.
62 reports, 6 hate crimes
At Unia, 62 reports of anti-Semitism have been recorded. It’s a figure that requires some nuance. "Every report of anti-Semitism that arrives at Unia is included in our figures. Our people analyse what exactly happened each time and determine whether it concerns a criminal offence. That is not always the case," Keytsman says.
"Sometimes an outraged reporter comes knocking on Unia's door when a politician has made a statement about Israel or Hamas. But in other cases it goes much further than that, and something really serious is going on. That’s when we open a file. Think, for example, of the damage to Jewish graves in Marcinelle, Charleroi, recently."
The latter case involves a hate crime: a crime with a motive, in this case of Jew-hatred. "We recently received a report of a Jewish couple being attacked at Ieper railway station. We opened a file and a complaint was lodged with the police. In total, we have already recorded six hate crimes since October."
Jew hatred and polarisation
There is no conclusive definition of Jew hatred in law. "The law does protect people from discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes based on characteristics such as religious background or origin," Keytsman says.
"If we consider Belgium’s Jewish communities, there are people who adhere to the Jewish faith, people who are culturally Jewish.
"There has clearly been a recent polarisation in our society," says Keytsman. "I see that among Jewish communities in Belgium there’s a lot of fear as a result. This is evident both from the figures and from my contacts with our Jewish partners."
"Anxiety, fear and sadness: especially since Hamas's horrific attack on 7 October. And there is not enough empathy for that. Our figures may sometimes need to be nuanced, but we must not nuance these feelings in the Jewish community. It is high time we take them seriously and do something about it."