Belgium: Brussels parliament boycotts Israel, but not Lybia ...

"If you want to talk about being critical of Israel, that is a feeling among many Europeans, so how can you characterize that as Muslim? There is no such thing as a Muslim issue in Europe or growing Muslim influence on politicians." (Susanne Nies, head of the French Institute of International Relations)

Source: article "Politics and power: The Muslim factor in European politics" by Dinah A. Spritzer in JTA

"Viviane Teitelbaum was a new member of Brussels' regional legislature when she sponsored a bill in 2005 to renew the region's scientific and industrial research agreement with Israel.

Legislators had frozen the cooperation pact three years earlier to protest what they said was the Jewish state's inhumane response to the second Palestinian intifada. But when Teitelbaum's proposal came up for discussion at a committee meeting, she says she was shouted down by Socialist Party opponents.

"The only lawmakers who showed up to the meeting were Muslim," recalled Teitelbaum, a Jewish member of the Liberal Party. "They screamed insults at me, saying, 'Israel is a fascist country. You will never get this passed.'"

Later, at the actual vote, Teitelbaum again was shouted down. Her proposal was defeated.

Ten minutes later, she said, "We voted for an agreement between Libya and the Brussels region, and everyone supported it. It was very painful for me."

Although rarely discussed in Europe, the political impact and influence of the continent's growing Muslim population is playing an increasingly significant role in European politics. In some cases, politicians are catering to Muslim interests and concerns with an eye toward winning votes. In others, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant political parties are capitalizing on a backlash against Muslims to expand their power base.

With Muslims now roughly 5 percent of Europe's population and demographers predicting their proportion to double over the next 20 years due to birthrate disparities, their rising political awareness and ever-growing constituent base is likely to make them a factor in Europe's political constellation for decades to come.

Eventually that may translate into a tougher stance toward Israel, says Robin Shepherd, a senior research fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House.

"As Muslims become more electorally significant, the obvious casualty is Israel," he said.

Many European politicians, particularly those from socialist parties, long have been strong critics of Israel's dealings with the Palestinians without any prodding from European Muslims.

When the streets of Europe exploded in January during Israel's 22-day operation against Hamas in Gaza, top European political figures were among those who participated in protests against the Israeli operation. (…)

Some analysts believe Europe's Muslims will exert further pressure on political leaders when it comes to Mideast policy. (…)

Nowhere is Muslim political influence in Europe more evident than in Belgium, where fully one-third of the residents of the capital city, Brussels, are Muslim. This is more than in any other major European city except for Marseilles, France, which has roughly the same proportion of Muslims. In some of Brussels' local municipalities, Muslims account for 80 percent of the population.

Following the last election of the Brussels regional legislature, in 2004, half the 26 legislators from the Socialist Party were of Muslim background, a record high for that legislature. Some Belgians attribute the strong showing by the Socialists in that election to the party's outreach to Muslim immigrants and the record number of candidates with Muslim names on the ticket. (...)

The mere discussion of Muslim political influence is taboo in some corners of Europe. Several European academics interviewed by JTA refused to consider the issue, arguing that it is misguided and possibly racist because it addresses the religious rather than economic or cultural concerns of Muslim immigrants.

It's not Muslims, it's Europeans

Susanne Nies, head of the French Institute of International Relations in Brussels, said religion plays no role in Europe's secular politics. "If you want to talk about being critical of Israel, that is a feeling among many Europeans, so how can you characterize that as Muslim?" she said. "There is no such thing as a Muslim issue in Europe or growing Muslim influence on politicians."

To be sure, many European politicians have their biases against Israel. On Jan. 23, the minister of culture, youth and sport in the Flemish government in Belgium, Bert Anciaux, compared a deadly attack that day by a deranged gunman on a nursery school near Brussels to Israel's recent operation in Gaza. The Belgian Foreign Ministry later distanced itself from the remark.

A different opinion: Europeans afraid of offending Muslims

Shepherd says the 2008 mayoral campaign in London is a revealing example of Muslim influence in European politics.

In 2005, London Mayor Ken Livingstone accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and called then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a war criminal. His criticism of Israel helped win him the support of Azzam Tamimi, the director of the London-based Institute of Islamic Political Thought and a public supporter of Hamas and Palestinian suicide bombers.

Tamimi mobilized British Muslims to support the mayor in his re-election bid last May, forming a group called Muslims 4 Ken that lambasted Livingstone's opponent for supporting Israel. Ultimately, however, Livingstone failed to win a third term, losing to Boris Johnson.
"Livingstone definitely sought Muslim support by slamming Israel," Shepherd said.

European governments increasingly are afraid of offending Muslims, Shepherd said, leading them to refrain from criticizing Islamic attitudes toward women or even toward terrorism.

"This is a potentially volatile constituency, as we saw with the Danish cartoon controversy," Shepherd said, referring to the widespread Muslim rioting in 2005 that followed publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammed. Government leaders made sure to criticize publication of the cartoons even as they defended free speech, Shepherd noted. (…)

Last October, Rotterdam became the first major city in Europe to elect a Muslim mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb. Aboutaleb, who holds dual Dutch and Moroccan citizenship, has a reputation as a bridge builder between minority and majority groups. In 2004, after the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by an Islamic extremist, Aboutaleb told an audience at an Amsterdam mosque that Muslims who do not like Dutch values should leave the country.

That is little comfort to politicians like Teitelbaum, who points out that socialist politicians who used to condemn Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide now stay silent for fear of offending Belgium's large Turkish community.

Teitelbaum sees it as further evidence of pandering to an increasingly influential political constituency.

When, in 2005, Teitelbaum sponsored a bill condemning a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Belgium, the bill could not pass until she generalized the bill, adding condemnation of "racism and xenophobia." She was even urged by some colleagues to remove the word "anti-Semitism" from the bill.

She refused."

- Cultural boycott of Israel: Tel Aviv architecture exhibition cancelled in Brussels
- Photos of anti-Israeli demonstration in Brussels
- Belgian MP Véronique Jamoulle says Israel worst violator of international law and human rights
- Belgium: human chain with Mary, Saint Joseph and their donkey against the "apartheid wall"
- Abu Nidal paid Abdelkader Belliraj to kill Jews
- Belgian Jean Bricmont and The De-Zionization of the American Mind - The anti-US ravings of an arrogant man
- Former Belgian Minister sparks ire of Jewish community with remarks on Israel, EJP
- Norman Finkelstein at Brussels Nakba commemoration day
- Israelis compared to Nazi SS on Belgian radio blog
- Zionism, a "Tumour in the midst of Judaism", Belgian radio forum
- Masarat, Belgium in the Middle East, by the Islam in Europe blog
- Content of Belgian-sponsored Palestinian festival irks Jews, JTA
- Zan Studio of Ramallah - anti-Israeli artists invited to Belgium
- Palestinian festival sparks controversy - Belgium
- Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges
- Special Report: "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU"

Half of Muslim high-school students in Brussels are anti-Semitic

It is estimated that 30% of the Brussels population (1 million) is Muslim.  Although the problem is serious and well-known, it is the first time that such a survey has been carried out and the results published in a Flemish newspaper.  Brussels is the capital of Belgium and of Europe ...

Pages 4 and 5 of the daily De Morgen of today carry the results of a survey among young Muslims in Brussels high schools. It finds that half  "can be described as anti-Semitic which is a very high rate", says VUB sociologist Mark Elchardus. The corresponding rate for Dutch-speaking Flanders is 10 percent.

"Worse, [in Brussels] anti-Jewish sentiments are unrelated to the level of education or poor social living conditions," says Elchardus.  "Anti-semitism is theologically inspired. There is a direct link between being Muslim and anti-Semitic feelings. Catholics, too, are negative toward Jews too, but their sentiments are by far not as strong."

Here is the approval rate of 4 statements about Jewish people put to respondents:

- "Jews want to dominate everything" (31.4% agree)
- "Most Jews think they are better than other people" (29.9%)
- "When you do business with Jews, you have to be extra alert" (28.6%)
- "Jews agitate for war and blame others" (28.4%)

Flemish Jewish magazine Joods Actueel is not surprised by the findings and, by way of example, quotes thius statement which features on the website of Arab Students in Brussels:

"Defending the Arabness of Palestine alongside the plight of struggle with its people towards the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea [i.e. total annihilation]. Hence, the Zionist entity ‘Israel’ remains a colonial settler base with no right to exist on any fraction of Arab soil. Furthermore we consider armed struggle and martyrdom as the unique strategy for liberating Palestine."

Brussels: pro-Hamas demonstration (January 2009)

For more about Brussels click HERE

Brussels: 60.000 demonstrators against Israel and only 60 to support Roma !

Against Israel (Brussels, 11/1/2009)

"Some of the other protests that took place this weekend in Europe included a march of 60,000 in Brussels, Belgium on Sunday." (Palestine Monitor) (Nazification d'Israël et déferlement antisémite dans les rues de Bruxelles)

For the Roma (Brussels, 4.9.2010)
"Around 60 people gathered on Saturday in front of the French embassy in Brussels to protest against French policies towards Roma." (LLB)

Against stoning (Brussels, 28/08/10)
"Around  350 people demonstrated on Saturday afternoon in front of the Brussels Court House against the condemnation to death by stoning of the Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani." (7sur7)

- Photos of an anti-Israel demonstration in Brussels  (31/1/2008)

Brussels: an exhibition on architecture in Tel Aviv will finally take place

If the cancellation of the exhibition had been maintained (the La Cambre - which has very close links with Bir Zeit University and the Al Kalima College in Bethlehem - still supports the ban), would have constituted the first major political and cultural boycott of the State of Israel in Europe. And it would have happened in Brussels, the capital of Europe, the seat of the European Union institutions.

"BRUSSELS (EJP)---An exhibition on modernistic architecture in Tel Aviv, initially cancelled because of the wish of one of the partners not to take part anymore because of the Gaza events and of the involvement of Israel’s embassy, will be rescheduled later this year.

"Taking into account the still uncertain character of the position of our partner and to safeguard the presence of Brussels in the calendar of the exhibition, we decided to present the exhibition at La Cambre's Architectural Space in Brussels between March 31t and on May 31, 2009," CIVA, the International Center for the City, Architecture and Landscape (CIVA), announced in a statement.

"To formally guarantee the independence of this presentation, it will be organized at the sole initiative of CIVA, apart from any other partnership."

Sponsored by UNESCO and the embassy of Israel in Belgium, the exhibition "The white City, the modern movement in Tel-Aviv" was initially due to take place from February 20th to May 17th in Brussels, in the framework of the centenary of the Israeli city.

But the La Cambre architecture school in Brussels announced earlier this month its withdrawal of the organization of the exhibition featuring modernistic architecture built during the years 1930’s in Tel Aviv.

CIVA took then the decision to cancel the exhibition and to set up a debate on the "complex relations between architecture and politics."

The cancellation drew indignant reactions in the Jewish community which denounced the "political and cultural boycott of Israel.""

Source: article by Sharon Rubinstein in TJP

- Cultural boycott of Israel: Tel Aviv architecture exhibition cancelled in Brussels
Visit the exhibition website: Tel Aviv White City
See also: Tel Aviv, the white city

Brussels: anti-Israel event at the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula

Several Belgian anti-Israel NGO are organising, with the approval of the Belgian Catholic Church, a "charity concert" to raise funds for Artists against the Wall (the association is supported by the government and its anti-Israel agenda is notorious).  The concert is being given wide publicity by associations like the Brussels branch of the Anna Lindh foundation (the murdered Swedish politician known for hostility towards Israel).

The cathedral bears testimony to Jew-hatred and blood libel accusations in Europe. Several stained glass windows portray the following incident :

"In 1370, according to the legend, holy communion wafers began to bleed after being stabbed with daggers by the Jews of Brabant at the synagogue in Brussels. The remains of the hosts were venerated for centuries as the Miraculous Sacrament (Sacrement du Miracle/Sacrament van Mirakel).

It is a fact that in May 1370 some six Jews living in Brussels and Leuven were burnt at the stake after being accused of the theft and desecration of the Blessed Sacrament (the so called ‘Blood Libel’). We know that Jewish property was confiscated, and that from the very beginning it was believed that the holy hosts had actually bled. Later on, in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, it was asserted that in 1370 all Jews had been expelled forever from the Duchy of Brabant.

The guilt of the Jews was never established. On the contrary, it has never even been proven that the hosts had in fact been desecrated. Belief in the alleged miracle was the only justification for executing the Jews. Accusing the Jews lent credibility to the miracle. Moreover, the alleged miracle offered a sought-after opportunity to dispose of the Jews. For the faithful the ‘miracle’ served as a material sign and proof of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Similar ‘Eucharistic Miracles’ connected with the presumed culpability of the Jews occurred elsewhere as well during the Middle Ages. Traces of red mildew on holy wafers were taken for traces of blood, the blood of Christ.

Brussels Mayor says Israeli ‘checkpoint’ staged in the center of city ‘exceeded limits’

But stops short of condemning (let alone apologising) and calls the organisers pacifists.

BRUSSELS (EJP) ---The Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans, said he “regretted” the proportions taken by a anti-Israel demonstration held last month in the heart of the Belgian capital by a group of pro-Palestinian associations who wanted to "denounce the apartheid regime in Israel and encourage people to boycott it."

The associations described as "pacifists" staged an Israeli checkpoint in the middle of Rue Neuve, the main commercial street in Brussels. The images were then filmed and broadcast on Facebook and YouTube.

This staging drew many angry reactions within the Belgian Jewish community especially since it had been authorized by the city and that it occurred one day after the brutal assassination by Palestinians of five members of an Israeli family in Itamar.

The staging ended with the murder of an Arab boy by an Israeli soldier. His mother then filed a Palestinian flag on the body of her child while the audience applauded and shouted "boycott Israel".

"I am ashamed of my city, ashamed of my country today. It is time to look at the reality and act. I invite you to visit a checkpoint at the border and you will forge your own opinion", wrote Julia Szerer, a young 19 year old girl in an email sent to the mayor.

Frederique Ries, a Brussels City Councillor and Euro MP, also wrote to the Mayor, denouncing a "false caricature whose only effect is to import the Middle East conflict in Belgium."

"Criticism is allowed, it is obvious. In Belgium as well as in Israel. But freedom of expression to which I am very attached has its moral and legal limits which have been exceeded. This amounted to incitement to hatred and violence", she stressed in her letter.

In response, the Mayor "regretted the proportions taken by the event" and said he was "sorry" that people have been shocked.

"Without commenting on the content of their message, it is clear that the organizers have exceeded the limits that were set" , Freddy Thielemans said.

"I asked police to be vigilant in the future regarding the authorization of such actions on public space. While preserving the right to freedom of expression, we will do our utmost to prevent such a scenario happening again."

In 2008, a similar staging was held in the town of Nivelles near Brussels.[Wiesenthal Centre denounces bogus 'Israeli' assault on Arabs subliminal Jew-hatred inculcation and Former Belgian Minister sparks ire of Jewish community with remarks on Israel]

Other anti Israel demonstrations staged in Brussels and authorised by the Mayor.

Brussels: Jihad by vuvuzela !

Being "affiliated to an organization like CCLJ which is critical but close to Israel [!]" doesn't shield you from the rage of certain anti-Israel Muslims - as Professor Joël Kotek experienced last week!

Source: Brussels Journal (Jihad By Vuvuzela, by Luc Van Braekel)

Muslim youth have discovered a new weapon to counter the dissemination of unwanted ideas: the vuvuzela. Pro-Palestinian activists used the African noise horn to try to silence a Jewish professor in Brussels.

It happened last Thursday in Molenbeek, a predominantly Muslim borough of the Brussels capital region. Mouedden Mohsin, a Belgian-Moroccan publicist and radio presenter, had organized a series of intercultural sessions to improve the understanding between the Jewish and muslim communities in Brussels. Speaker of the evening, for an audience of immigrant youngsters, was professor Joël Kotek, an expert in anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. [What makes it even more alarming and odd is that Mr. Kotek is a staunch critic of Israel.]

As a precaution, the blinds of the community center where the session was to be held were lowered. Still, a handful of youth tried to silence the speech of professor Kotek with a vuvuzela and a siren, while knocking on the blinds and screaming slogans like "Jihad, Hamas, Hezbollah" and "Kotek murderer". Leading the group of activists was Nordine Saidi, an outspoken fan of French anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala. In last year's regional elections, Saïdi was head of the list "Egalité", promoting a city partnership of Brussels with Gaza. [Belgian journalist Baudouin Loos describes him admiringly as "an educator and a militant for the self-determination of the peoples".  No less!]

So proud were the demonstrators of their actions, that they posted a video report on Youtube [boycote joel kotek definitely worth watching] :

Zionists' Hobbies - Lies - Torture - Stealing - KILLING !

"Youth" shouted "Fuck Israel" and "Stinking Jew" at non-Jew in Brussels

Background: HERE

During a session at the Brussels regional parliament on March 8, MP Alain Destexhe called for action following the use of an anti-Semitic cartoon by a cultural and educational association affiliated to the Socialist party on a invitation to a conference about Zionism to be held in Brussels.  His criticism drew furious reactions from other Socialist MPs.

MP Jacques Brotchi, who is a retired eminent professor of neurosurgery, wrote on his Facebook account that the outburst of hatred was a deeply traumatizing experience for him. He had to leave because he couldn't bear the shouting and the abuse from socialist MPs against Mr Destexhe who had had the courage to tell the truth. "In a democratic society, where the rule of law prevails, such behaviour is unacceptable and intolerable. I was deeply shocked by what I experienced this afternoon at the Brussels Parliament", he wrote.

Mr Destexhe reported on his blog that a member of staff at the Parliament, who is not Jewish (Mr Destexhe is not Jewish either), had told him that he was walking in Brussels recently. It was a rainy day and he was wearing a large overcoat and a hat. A group of "youth" ("youth" means in polite language young Arab men) shouted at him "Fuck Israel" and "stinking Jew"...  Here in French.

In 2011, Mr Brotchi resigned from Free Brussels University Board to protest againt repeated anti-Semitic incidents.

How to tackle anti-Semitism in Europe: stop funding anti-Semites

Douglas Murray @ Gatestone Institute:

I was asked to Brussels to address the matter of what the European Union might do to tackle anti-Semitism. The answer is easy: "Stop funding anti-Semites." 

And so it was that I found myself once again in a meeting in the twilight world of Brussels -- an ugly city filled with ugly buildings, ugly overpriced food and overpaid officials. The objective of any visit must always be a hit-an-run: to get in and get out as swiftly as possible. The only reason to go is to try and inject some sense into a city so starved of it. When, therefore, asked to address the matter of what the European Union might do to tackle anti-Semitism, the answer is easy: "Stop funding anti-Semites." What is hard is that this is Brussels [see below], where words are meaningless and nothing makes any sense. Here is just one example: The Palestinian Ma'an News Agency is one of the most supremely anti-Semitic organs in the Middle East. Which I hope readers realize is putting it in the premier league of anti-Semitic slander.  Continue reading
______________________
About Brussels (in French):

Belgique: l'obsession anti-israélienne (1)

Belgique: l'obssession anti-israélienne (2)

And... the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, made in Brussels...
The final session of the RToP will take place in Brussels on 16-17 March 2013. On Saturday evening (March 16) a cultural evening will be organised (doors open 6.30pm/close midnight) where musical acts (including a performance from French band ZEBDA) will be mixed with political speeches by various jury members (tickets 10 euros at the door). Session itself will take place on Sunday from 9.30am until 1pm. Jury will comment on the final findings of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. (Free. To register, email rtopinvitationgmailcom giving us your name, function, organisation/group/charity you belong too-if applicable-, and country you will be coming from. You will receive a confirmation email shortly thereafter). 

Prominent Belgian Jewish figure resigned from Brussels University Board to denounce anti-Semitic incidents

"According to Brotchi the situation at Brussels University is not isolated. "It is comparable to what is happening in other universities in Europe and elsewhere with the academic boycott of Israel campaigns where anti-Zionism takes the form of anti-Semitism. But this is no reason to stay without reaction"." 

BRUSSELS (EJP)---A prominent figure of the Jewish community of Belgium has resigned from the Board of Free University of Brussels (ULB) after denouncing several grave anti-Semitic incidents within the institution.

Jacques Brotchi, an internationally renowned neurosurgeon and honorary professor at the ULB, told EJP: "I resigned from the Board of the University Foundation which collects funds for research because I deeply deplored the absence of a strong and appropriate reaction from the university authorities to a succession of anti-Semitic incidents."

In his letter of resignation addressed to the ULB Rector, he wrote: "I don’t feel at home anymore at ULB."   He added, "I asked if the university of free-examination has not become the university of free anti-Semitism."  

The Belgian Senate voted last week a resolution tabled by the Socialists urging the Belgian government to recognize a Palestinian state. Jacques Brotchi and two other Senators from the MR (Liberal) party abstained. "We abstained because the resolution doesn't condemn the political objective of Hamas which is to destroy the state of Israel", Brotchi explained.

The incidents, which have been repeatedly denounced by the Union of Jewish Students of Belgium (UEJB), included the staging of an Israeli military checkpoint on the university campus, the invitation of anti-Semitic French comic Dieudonné to a conference and the absence of reaction to the comments he made, a Nazi-style student feast and the publication of an article in the magazine of Solvay, the [elite] economics and management school, in which the author used anti-Semitic stereotypes and prejudices comparable to those of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

As one student put it, "the situation at the university has become particularly difficult for Jews."

Related story

Jewish students denounce Brussels University debate on French controversial comic

The Union of Jewish Students urged the academic authorities to take measures against the "deteriorating climate" on the campus.

Brotchi, who is also a member of the Belgian Senate for the Liberal party, has met the university authorities to explain his decision but he didn’t had the impression they understood the gravity of the situation.

"I explained them that I know Jewish families who prefer to send their children study at UCL, the Catholic university," he told EJP.

In an interview published last month by the Belgian weekly Le Vif-L’Express, the Rector, Didier Viviers, flatly denied that his university has become anti-Semitic "because of  several regrettable incidents", and spoke of a "smear campaign."

According to Brotchi the situation at Brussels University is not isolated. "It is comparable to what is happening in other universities in Europe and elsewhere with the academic boycott of Israel campaigns where anti-Zionism takes the form of anti-Semitism."  "But this is no reason to stay without reaction," he added. 

Brussels : IDF child killer Christmas demonstration

"NGOs are exploiting Christmas for radical attacks against Israel, through politicized carols, cards, and messages." (NGO Monitor)

An anti-Israel march (yet another one) will take place in Brussels on 26 December.  The demonstration poster carries a drawing by Brazilian caricaturist Carlos Latuff (who won 2nd prize in the 2006 Iranian International Holocaust Cartoon Competition). The drawing shows - birth of Jesus and Christmas reference - a pram being hit by an Israeli missile. The coordinator is Nordine Saïdi, a Belgian politician, who is a Dieudonné supporter.  He has been called admiringly and approvingly by Baudouin Loos of Le Soir as an "educator and militant for the autodetermination of the peoples" (understandanbly that means focusing on the Palestinian people).  A number of revolutionary (read anti-Israel) NGOs subsidised by taxpayers' money will also take part in the demonstration. 

We have been told that a demonstration was held yesterday at the Free University of Brussels (a hotbed of anti-Israel militancy).  Demonstrators wore T-shirts with the printed image of a pram being hit by a missile . The same ?

May 2010 in Brussels  :
Brussels: demonstration against Israeli blood drinkers - blood libel revisited

On Nordine Saidi, see Brussels: Jihad by vuvuzela !

Jewish students denounce Free Brussels University biased debate on Dieudonné

"The biggest swindlers of the planet are the Jews. [...] It is necessary to be Jewish to have freedom of expression in France. Death will be more comfortable than surrender to these dogs."

What is so amazing is that the Free University of Brussels believes that Dieudonné - who is not even Belgian - deserves a debate on freedom of expression.  And that the debate is of such importance to the University that a Vice-Rector, Marc Van Damme, acted as a "moderator" ...  The whole episode is even more preposterous because the organisers were expecting that the "debate" would pull crowds of students, but eventually very few people turned up ... How sad and how ridiculous.

BRUSSELS (EJP)---Jewish students organizations this week denounced the decision by a university in Brussels to give a platform of expression to Dieudonné M’bala M’bala, a French controversial comic who has been condemned on several occasions for anti-Semitism.

The Union of Jewish students in Belgium (UEJB) and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) reacted to the organization this week at the Free Brussels University [the "free" means that it is non-confessional, i.e. not Catholic] of a debate on freedom of expression during which a film titled "Is it allowed to discuss with Dieudonne?" was shown to the public.

In this one hour and a half film, made by a journalist and sympathizer, Dieudonné declares that "the biggest swindlers of the planet are the Jews". He continues: "It is necessary to be Jewish to have freedom of expression in France. Death will be more comfortable than surrender to these dogs".  The film also shows Dieudonné’s friendly relations with the leader of the French extreme-right in France, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinedjad.

In a statement, UEJB and EUJS slammed the "partiality" of the moderator, the university’s vice-rector Marc Van Damme, as well as the little place left for the lone contradictor, Joël Kotek, a professor of history at the ULB, who denounced Dieudonné’s racist hatred. The Jewish students said they were shocked by the "tense atmosphere of intimidation with regard to the Jews and the State of Israel which characterized the interventions of a large part of the public". 

Brussels: Launching of the "Russell Tribunal" on Palestine

Behind this mock "Russell Tribunal" is Pierre Galand (NGO Monitor Special Report: "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU")

"Press conference organised for the Launching of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine

Wednesday 4 March 2009 at 10.30 am
Brussels – Residence Palace – International Press Centre – Polak Room

The recent war waged by the Israeli government and the Israeli army on Gaza, already under a blockade, underlines the particular responsibility of the United States and of the European Union in the perpetuation of the injustice done to the Palestinian people, deprived of its fundamental rights.

It is important to mobilize the international public opinion so that the United Nations and Member States adopt the necessary measures to end the impunity of the Israeli State, and to reach a just and durable solution to this conflict.

Following an appeal from Ken Coates, Nurit Peled, and Leila Shahid, and with the support of over a hundred well-known international personalities, it has been decided to organise a Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

Chairman of the Conference:
Stéphane Hessel – Ambassador of France
Speakers:
Ken Coates – Chairman of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation
Nurit Peled – Sakharov prize for the freedom of thought
Leila Shahid – General Delegate of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg
Pierre Galand – President of the European Co-ordinating Committee of NGOs on the Question of Palestine (ECCP)

With Ken Loach and Paul Laverty

The conference will be held in English and French
Venue Residence Palace – International Press Centre
rue de la Loi 155 - Bloc C – Polak Room
1040 Brussels - Metro Schuman
Press contact Tel / fax: 00 32 (0)2 231 01 74
Mobile: 00 32 (0) 479 12 95 32"

Source: here

A year ago in Brussels another tribunal/another condemnation :
- Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges
- Israel bashing: International citizens' tribunal to try Israel in Brussels

The real thing: the Russell-Sartre Tribunal

Google Map Belgium exposes Elders of Ziyon cell based in Brussels synagogue

An antisemitc comment has been on Google Maps Belgium since 15 Avril 2010 describing the Great Synagogue of Brussels, which is also the Great Synagogue of Europe‎, thus (translation from the Flemish) :

"All political, economic and financial decisions in Belgium are taken here. For a decision to be taken, the Belgian Parliament (Wetstraat) has to seek prior approval from the Learned Elders of Ziyon cell based at the Great Synagogue of Brussels (Regentschapsstraat)." 

"hoofdsynagoge Brussel Hier worden alle beslissingen genomen op politiek, economisch en financieel vlak voor België. Vooraleer een beslissing genomen wordt in de Wetstraat, wordt hier in de Regentschapsstraat toestemming gevraagd aan de Wijzen van Zion."

Link: http://maps.google.be/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode&q=Rue+de+la+R%C3%A9gence+32+1000+City+of+Brussels+&aq&sll=50.838685%2C4.355135&sspn=0.007182%2C0.01929&num=10&ie=UTF8&hq&hnear=Rue+de+la+R%C3%A9gence+32%2C+1000+Bruxelles&ll=50.83882%2C4.35536&spn=0.000898%2C0.002411&z=19
then click on the Synagogue.

Needless to say, no such remarks feature either on the Cathedral or on the Great Mosque Brussels maps.

Belgian students call for boycott of Israel at Brussels tourism fair

BRUSSELS (EJP)---Some 60 pro-Palestinian activists wearing a T-shirt calling for a boycott of Israel circled a Belgian stand promoting Israel at the annual tourism fair in Brussels on Saturday.
___________
The very anti-Israel Belgian Francophone TV channel even covered the event and reported that many of the protesters were students from the Free University of Brussels.  Belgian Jewish leaders, as usual, keep a low profile ... and say nothing.

T-shirt with Carlos Latuff's drawing. See Brussels : IDF child killer Christmas demonstration

Radouane Bouhlal, Belgian Human Rights leader, criticises Jewish representative

"Bouhlal says that we "should avoid crying wolf all the time and focus on the real abuses"."

Source: Islam in Europe

Background to this post: Brussels: Mayor says Jews deny Muslims right to diversity

Philippe Moureaux, a Socialist Party (PS) senator, former Justice Minister and the mayor of the Molenbeek borough of Brussels, was interviewed by Le Vif/L'Express last week [in the aftermath of rioting in Molenbeek during Ramadan], where he said the following:

"At the age of 20, when I was a Marxist, I was not a big supporter of the right to diversity. I evolved. And what made me turn around is precisely the conversations I had with representatives of the Jewish community. It saddens me, today, that they deny the right of diversity to Muslims."

According to Joël Rubinfeld, chairman of the CCOJB (Umbrella Organization of Jewish Institutions of Belgium), the phrasing is vague, "but it's clear that he stigmatizes a community unnecessarily". He points out the the number of anti-Jewish acts has increased since 2000. Rubinfeld says he doesn't understand what right to diversity the Jews have enjoyed. What privileges have they received that they would deny their fellow Muslims, he asks. And who among the representatives of the Jewish community denies this alleged right to diversity to the Muslim community in the country?

The president of the CCOJB says that this statement is dangerous, since "it instills in the minds of our fellow Muslims the treacherous idea that the Jews are their opponents on the way to successful integration, setting one community against another". Rubinfeld says that Phillippe Moureaux has a lot of prestige among the Muslims, and they can now infer from his words that all their problems are the fault of the Jews. He says that it would be better to advise the Muslims on how they could integrate while maintaining their identity.

Inteviewed by the Belgian State TV channel, RTBF, Radouane Bouhlal, president of the Movement against Racism, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia (MRAX) [1] says that it's a little exaggerated, but that Phillipe Moureaux should have been more careful with this sensitive subject. Bouhlal says that unfortunate statement should not substantiate the idea that an all-powerful "Jewish lobby" is capable of setting policies, for example on the right to wear a headscarf. Because, he says, "this fantasy exists in the Muslim community".

The president of MRAX doesn't agree with the CCOJB, though. He says it's "excessive", and that by speaking this way they feed another fantasy, that of the Jew who can't suffer any criticism. Bouhlal says that we "should avoid crying wolf all the time and focus on the real abuses".
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[1] For several years, and despite repeated complaints, the MRAX website featured links to two conspirationist/ negationist blogs. The links were removed only when this situation was exposed in public by a columnist of the Flemish magazine Joods Actueel during a conference hosted by a Jewish centre in Brussels at which Radouan Bouhlal was a speaker. At the same conference, the MRAX held a stand where a book in which Jean Bricmont, a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, criticised Israel and praised Hamas' victories, was offered for sale. Radouan Bouhlal and Nadine Rosa-Rosso also co-authored the book. That such a book was put up for sale by a Human Rights organisation at a Jewish community center goes a long way to explain Mr Bouhlal's reaction. The conference had been scheduled to be held at the Free University of Brussels but, for security reasons, the venue had to be changed and it was decided at short notice to move it to the Ben Gourion Center ... (Source: Philosémitisme, Le MRAX belge retire 2 liens vers des sites à relents négationnistes de son blog)

- Jean Bricmont and The De-Zionization of the American Mind - The anti-US ravings of an arrogant man
- Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges
- Comrade Nadine Rosa-Rosso (Harry's Place)

1,500 rally in front of EU institutions to call for release of Gilad Shalit

"Where is Gilad ? How does he feel ? How does he spend every day? The normal life of a young man stopped on June 25, 2006." (Maurice Blibaum)


BRUSSELS (EJP)---Around 1,500 people, including France’s ambassador to Belgium, rallied Thursday in the EU quarter of Brussels to mark the third anniversary of the detention of French-Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas and to call for his release. "I am here as a gesture of solidarity and to express my concern about the fate of Gilad Shalit. France is concerned because he is also French," Ambassador Dominique Broché, who was accompanied by his Israeli colleague Tamar Samash, told EJP.

Wearing white T-shirts marked with the words "Liberté pour Gilad Shalit" (Freedom for Gilad Shalit), the people - mainly members of the Jewish community of Belgium - formed a human peaceful chain of solidarity in front of the Berlaymont, the building which headquarters the European Commission.

"We demand today with gravity the immediate and unconditional release of Gilad Shalit," Maurice Blibaum, president of the Association Belgian Support for Gilad Shalit, who organized the rally, said.

Gilad was 19-year-old when he was kidnapped by Palestinian groups in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. Since then, his parents have had no news from their son.

"Where is Gilad ? How does he feel ? How does he spend every day? The normal life of a young man stopped on June 25, 2006," Blibaum said, stressing that Hamas refuses a visit from the Red Cross or from any other international institution.

"This release should not be seen in terms of price or exchange but in view of the respect of fundamental human rights. This is a humanitarian urgency," he added, calling on Hamas in Gaza and outside to make proof of humanity in authorizing a medical visit in conformity with the international legislation.

"We also call on the Israeli authorities to left no stone unturned to find a compromise in order to get the release of Gilad Shalit".

"We also call on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to continue to show the same determination on this issue that led already to the release of the Bulgarian medics and Ingrid Betancourt".

During a meeting Wednesday in Paris with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sarkozy expressed his readiness "to take any initiative to help get the release of Gilad Shalit."

The organizers of the Brussels rally handed over a letter written by Noam Shalit, father of Gilad, to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

"The letter was delivered to Barroso’s diplomatic adviser, Fernando Andreson," Maurice Blibaum told EJP.

The EU Jewish building, which houses the main Jewish organizations operating in the EU area, was operational in opening its doors to the organizers of the rally and the security staff.

France's ambassador to Belgium Dominique Broché (L) and Israeli ambassador Tamar Samash at Thursday's rally for Gilad Shalit in Brussels

Source: article by Yossi Lempkowicz in EJP

Gilad Shalit named honorary citizen of Paris, Rome and Miami (unfortunately nothing of the sort is forthcoming from Brussels, the capital of Europe)

Ken Loach: "self-proclaimed Jewish State" is greatest instigator of anti-Semitism

"Nothing has been a greater instigator of anti-Semitism than the self-proclaimed Jewish State itself." (Ken Loach)

See video here introducing the "Media Circus Russell Tribunal on Palestine" and admire the self-styled European Bertrand Russells and Jean-Paul Sartres of today. All of them put together have never written a single book worth reading ... In other words, their intellectual output is far from impressive. The initiator of the "Media Circus Russell Tribunal on Palestine" is the head of the official Belgian (French) of the Secular Action Center (Centre d'Action Laïque), Pierre Galand.)
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Source: article by Ben Cohen in Z Word

"Ken Loach, whose oeuvre as a film director includes the masterful Kes and the cringe-making Land and Freedom, believes that antisemitism is "understandable".

According to The Parliament:

"British film director Ken Loach says that a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe since the Gaza crisis is "not surprising and understandable".

He was responding to a report earlier this week by the Vienna-based agency for fundamental rights (FRA) which said cases of anti-Semitism had risen across Europe since last December.

The agency, which collected information from 19 EU members, said rises in anti-Semitism, ranging from vandalism to physical attacks, were a serious concern …

But, speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Loach said, "If there has been a rise I am not surprised. In fact, it is perfectly understandable because Israel feeds feelings of anti-Semitism".

Loach, famous for films like Kes, Cathy Come Home and Riff Raff, stressed that "no-one can condone violence".

But the director, who has spoken out against Israel in the past, branded the report as a "red herring" designed to "distract attention" from Israel’s recent military actions."

This is a wonderful example of what David Hirsh refers to as the "Livingstone Formulation".

Let’s be clear. What we have here is a Marxist film director, a professed internationalist, saying that if a Jew is beaten to a pulp, Israel is to blame - and that those who dare complain about it are engaged in the well-worn Zionist tactic of changing the subject.

This is the same logic which blames Al Qaeda for assaults on Muslims or the Victoria’s Secret catalog for rape. It is idiocy and it is dangerous. And if Loach and those like him think we’re just going to take it lying down, they are even more stupid than I thought."

Brussels: Launching of the "Russell Tribunal" on Palestine
Editorial: Why Ken Loach should apologise for High School Musical 3
I Understand
A year ago in Brussels another tribunal/another condemnation :
- Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges
- Israel bashing: International citizens' tribunal to try Israel in Brussels
The real thing:
the Russell-Sartre Tribunal

Masarat, Belgium in the Middle East, by the Islam in Europe blog

Article by Esther in Islam in Europe:

Masarat is an art project subsidized by the Walloon government. It brings Palestinian artists to Brussels, some of whom had made controversial hateful statements against Israel and calls for violence.

One of their art projects is the following picture, showing Israel as Flanders, the West Bank as Wallonia and the Gaza Strip as the disputed municipality of Voeren. Jerusalem is transformed into Brussels.
Masarat has removed the picture from their site after it was criticized in the news. [The map was removed because of strong Flemish opposition (see below), and not out of regard for Belgian Jews' alarm at the way the Belgian French-speaking government seems to be turning a blind eye to the most hostile aspects of the festival, such as qualifying the separation wall as "the wall of segregation" ("mur de la ségrégation") and the displaying of the Zan Studio posters in Belgium and France.]

Huub Broers, mayor of Voeren, was not happy about his municipality being portrayed as the Gaza Strip. He said that the the intention was to portray both Flemish and Israelis as villians who occupy land and oppress others. Broers says that this can lead to new problems in the Belgian "language-battle" and that peace in the Middle East will never come about through taking one-sided points of view.

The Flemish minister of the interior, Marino Keulen, said that this picture comes to shock and provoke and not to inform, and that he finds it tasteless.

The exhibition had been shown in Paris. The UPFJ (French Jewish Business Union) criticized the Walloon government for subsidizing such a project, and thereby confirming such sick propoganda which is shockingly both anti-Flemish and anti-Israel.

Michael Freilich, head editor of Belgian Jewish magazine Joods Actueel, says this picture calls for the destruction of Israel. I don't think it calls for the destruction of Israel more than it calls for the destruction of the Arab Palestine.

The French speaking Belgians, rich off their natural resources, have for years oppressed the majority Flemish. The Flemish, being an industrial nation, have prospered in the current economy and are now subsidizing the poorer Walloons. If Flanders would secede from Belgium, would Wallonia be able to survive as an independent state? Palestinians are usually portrayed as the helpless victims against the Israeli superpower, but I'm not sure this art project paints either 'Palestine' or Wallonia in good light.

Brussels is a historically Flemish city which through government aided immigration has been transformed into a French-speaking city. The city is now divided among enclaves of Dutch and French speakers. There is certainly a basis to compare it to Jerusalem, a historically Jewish city which has regained its Jewish majority in the mid 1800s, except that nobody expects the 'Brussels-problem' to be solved by the end of the year.

This art project super-imposes a European problem on the Middle East, but I think that it just emphasizes the complexity of the European issues. These problems are not less complex than what goes on in the Middle East, but they enjoy much more favorable PR, as well as a wish to solve problems peacefully, without resorting to violence.

See also: Marking Israel's 60th anniversary...
2008: Israel is wiped off the map and replaced by Flaanderen (Flanders)
Content of Belgian-sponsored Palestinian festival irks Jews, JTA
Palestinian festival sparks controversy - Belgium
Zan Studio of Ramallah - anti-Israeli artists invited to Belgium
Brussels: Lebanon war mock tribunal condemns Israel and U.S.

2008: Israel is wiped off the map and replaced by Flaanderen (Flanders)

I have written on this blog about the Palestinian cultural festival Masarat being held this year in Belgium: namely in Brussels, in Wallonia and now in Paris (sensibly, Flanders has not joined in), and which is a Belgian French Community government-funded initiative. It was feared from the outset that the whole event would be highly politicized and used to discredit Israel, this has indeed proved the case.

Take for instance:

- the use of inflammatory rhetoric: "the wall of segregation";

- the choice of guest artists: Zan Studio of Ramallah whose members deny Israel’s right of existence and chastize moderate Palestinian artists who cooperate with their Israeli counterparts;

- the timing: 2008, meant to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel.

On its 60th anniversary, Israel is wiped off the face of the earth and duly replaced

The festival has now gone one step further. A map has been posted on the festival's website in which Gaza becomes Fourons, the West Bank is depicted as Wallonia (co-organizers of the festival) and Israel is cast as Flanders.

The “artists/mapmakers” supposedly got their inspiration from the fact that Palestinians are called “the Belgians” in neighboring Jordan (an extensive search on the internet has provided no evidence to substantiate this claim). Palestinian and Belgian writers will be exploring "the complexity of Belgian and Palestinian identities" in Paris, in Ramallah and in Belgium (Wallonia and Brussels).

Columnist Menahem Macina (UPJF) has written two fascinating pieces about the odd configuration of the map and the underlying message. He believes, among other assumptions, that the organizers were miffed because the Flemish Government did not join in. Who is going to blame them for that?

Made in Brussels/Palestine and exported to Paris

The whole thing is objectionable and insulting in the extreme. To add insult to injury this coarse exercise in political propaganda packaged as "culture" and dialogue with the "Other" is being exported from Brussels and Palestine to a foreign capital, Paris, in an effort to delegitimize Israel. The silly event was totally ignored by the French media and cultural establishment.
See also:
Zan Studio of Ramallah - anti-Israeli artists invited to Belgium
Israel on trial in Brussels: Iranian and Syrian Ambassadors give standing ovation to judges