Anti-Semitic incidents rise in Belgium since Gaza conflict

A man walks by a sticker on a building during a pro-Palestinian rally in Brussels, on Jan 21, 2024. (AP)

• Unia registered 91 reported incidents related to the conflict
• “We can therefore speak of a net increase in notifications about anti-Semitic incidents since October 7, 2023,” the report said

BRUSSELS: Belgium has seen a rise in the number of anti-Semitic acts and messages recorded since the start of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, its anti-discrimination agency Unia said Thursday.
Since October 7 — when Hamas attacked Israeli communities near Gaza, triggering Israel’s war against it — and December 7, Unia registered 91 reported incidents related to the conflict.
That exceeded the 57 recorded for the whole of 2022, Unia noted.
“We can therefore speak of a net increase in notifications about anti-Semitic incidents since October 7, 2023,” the report said.
In 66 of the notifications “there was clearly a reference to Jewish origins” of the person experiencing the incident, or of the Jewish community, the Unia report said.
The reports included eight notifications making reference to Palestinian or Arab origins, or were of anti-Islamic character, it added.
Most of the reports logged had to do with hate speech in messages, and the majority of those received online targetted groups or communities rather than individuals, Unia said.
Nine notifications concerned hate acts, such as blows, graffiti and vandalism, said the agency. It is in touch with police and prosecutors in some of the cases, it added.
In November, an investigation was opened into the vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in Marcinelle, a district of the southern city of Charleroi, where 85 graves were desecrated and objects including bronze Stars of David were stolen.
The Unia report said that “even though most of the incidents did not break the law, they de facto create a hostile atmosphere, particularly toward Jews in Belgium.”