Some 4,000 people marched through the streets of Brussels on Sunday taking part in the national march against anti-Semitism. According to the organisers, threats against the Jewish community have been increasing since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. The march took place on Human Rights Day. Organisers wanted to show that the Jewish community dies not stand alone. The demonstration passed without incident.
According to the police, 4,000 protesters took part. The march passed the Jewish Museum - where four people were killed in an attack in 2014 - and the main synagogue and ended up on the Poelaertplein. Participants carried Belgian flags and held up slogans including "You don't have to be a Jew to fight anti-Semitism".
According to the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organisations in Belgium (CCOJB), the Belgian League against Anti-Semitism and the Forum of Jewish Organisations, Jews in Belgium and abroad have noticed they are facing more hatred and discrimination since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas. In Antwerp alone, around 100 complaints were registered by the end of November.
"Children who are recognisably Jewish are spat on and their caps are thrown off. In public schools there are swastikas on their chairs or books," Regina Sluszny explained. "That cannot be allowed to happen. It is not acceptable“ says this World War II survivor."
A few weeks ago, 89 Jewish graves in Charleroi were vandalised.
The organisers of the march oppose not only anti-Semitism, but more broadly "all forms of racism".
The march proceeded serenely and without incident. There was talk of a counterdemonstration, but it did not materialise.
Justice minister Paul Van Tigchelt: "Message has been heard"
Justice minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Flemish liberal/Open VLD) gave an assurance that the message of the march has been heard. "We will never allow or tolerate anti-Semitism," he said in a press release. "All police reports will trigger legal action."
Van Tigchelt confirms "a sharp increase in the number of threatening incidents, many of them with an anti-Semitic motive. Reports of hate crimes against Jewish citizens have also increased," he said. He believes the demonstrators were right to call attention to this: "We cannot accept that fellow citizens are afraid to leave their homes. Yet this is the case for a lot of Jewish people."
The Jewish community is urged to report all cases of anti-Semitism.