“Gaza in Belgium”

In light of our past reporting on Belgium, we were far from surprised by this report on the violent, pro-Hamas rallies that have taken place recently in Antwerp. Still, It makes worthwhile reading. The report, which appears on Diana West’s webpage, was filed by Bart Debie, a former senior police official in Antwerp, a former member of the Antwerp city counsel, and a victim of that city’s “Islamization.”

The conflict in Gaza where Israelis are defending themselves against the non-stop missile-attacks of Hamas-terrorists has been brought into and fought over in a lot of European cities. In Belgium violent incidents have been reported these last 2 weeks and Jewish citizens have become the victims of violence, threats, arson and even an attempt at murder.

On December 31st, 2008, the organization AEL, translated as Arabic-European League (of course, followers of Hamas and Hezbollah), and known extremists organized a protest march in Antwerp. This city has the biggest Jewish population of Europe. During the demonstration a few hundred masked Muslims gathered in the district of Borgerhout which is located next to the district where most of the Jewish community lives. The protesters were chanting slogans–or, rather, battle cries–such as “Jews out!” “Hamas!” “Hezbollah!” Prior to this demonstration, leaflets were handed out in the densely populated Islamic parts of Antwerp, blaming the Jews for the Gaza-conflict. During the march, the protesting Muslims destroyed many shops and cars and 2 police officers were badly wounded. The protesters wanted to head towards the Jewish diamond shops in the city center but this was narrowly avoided by the police.

On Saturday, January 3rd, Muslims gathered in the historical city center of Antwerp to pledge their allegiance and express their sympathy and support for Palestine and the Palestinian cause. The police arrested 95 protesters. Several of them were in the possession of Molotov-cocktails, firearms and pepperspray and they were clearly out to get Jews and attack Jewish targets. That same night the home of a Jewish family, where 12 children were asleep, was set on fire. Luckily, only the house was damaged and nobody was wounded. Arson at night in an inhabited house is a direct attempt at murder for which, according to Belgian Law, one can be condemned to an imprisonment of 20 years.

In Brussels, fire was set to the Synagogue Beth Hillel. In the Brussels city center a protest march turned into riots between Muslims and the police. Shop windows were destroyed and cars were wrecked. As this happened in the early afternoon lots of people were out shopping as this was the first day of winter sales and storekeepers had to lock their doors, keeping the shoppers inside just to protect them. The McDonald’s restaurant was completely turned into ruins.

Not only is the AEL, Arabic-European League, responsible for this trail of destruction and violence against Jewish citizens and Jewish targets in Belgium. Several still-unknown, extremist Islamic organizations are mobilizing Muslims via text messaging to attack Jewish targets, to protest in the streets, to cause riots and abolish anything that could be linked to the Jewish community. Even the organization “Composantes de la Communauté Arabe de Belgique” (CoCABe) assembled 3000 Muslims in Brussels to express their support for Palestine and to cry out anti-Jewish slogans.

Meanwhile several death threats were made to Jewish schools, synagogues and the editor of Jewish magazines. The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Belgium and the police have raised their vigilance as it is sure that these next days and weeks the anti-Jewish violence in this country will only increase.

JOHN adds: This photo is from the riot in Brussels on Jan. 11:

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