The European Jewish Association (EJA) is taking legal action against the well-known Flemish author Herman Brusselmans. In his most recent column in the weekly magazine ‘Humo’, Herman Brusselmans wrote that thinking of his own girlfriend and son, the image of a Palestinian boy crying for his mother that is lying under rubble makes him so angry that he wants to put a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew that crosses his path. EJA says that the author’s words are “incitement to murder”.
The most recent column by the Flemish author Herman Brusselmans in the weekly magazine Humo has shocked many in the Jewish community. The subject of the column is the war between Israel and Hamas.
Herman Brusselmans wrote the following: "I see an image of a crying and screaming Palestinian boy that is crying inconsolably for his mother who lying under the rubble, and I imagine that the boy is my own son Roman, and the mother is my own girlfriend Lena, and I become so enraged that I want to ram a pointed knife straight into the throat of every Jew I meet."
The European Jewish Association (EJA) describes Herman Brusselmans words as "psychopathic". In a post on the social media platform X EJA wrote "The European Jewish Association (EJA) has launched a fierce legal battle against Humo magazine and its writer, Herman Brusselmans, for inciting murder. In a horrifying article, Brusselmans expressed his desire to "shove a sharp knife in the throat of every Jew I come across."…
The Israeli ambassador to Belgium Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, also condemns the column. "What if someone said in the Belgian press “I am so angry that I want to stick a knife in the neck of every Muslim I meet?”
Brusselmans: "Completely grotesque”
Herman Brusselmans calls the EJA's accusations, especially incitement to murder, "completely grotesque”
"In my column, I created an image of a Palestinian child digging in the soil with his little hands to find his mother. While doing that I imagine that the child is my little son, and the woman is my wife or mother, and if this were the case, then I would be tempted to take revenge."
"What the Israelis are doing is bombing and killing innocent people. They are creating a generation that will seek revenge for the next 50 years. With my column, I wanted to say that when something is done to your loved ones for no reason, you become steeped in total rage."
"The image created by saying that I want to put a pointed knife into a throat is a metaphorical image of all kinds of ways revenge can be taken. In my case, this is through writing. It is in no way an incitement to commit murder. As if I would ever do that..."
“In the sentence that follows I wrote that I do not lump all Israelis together. If I did that, I would be a racist and that is something that am absolutely not," Herman Brusselmans told VRT News.