Belgian magazine Vif-L'Express interviewed Freddy Thielemans, the former Socialist mayor of Brussels.
Mr. Thielemans was asked whether the Socialist party was tackling antisemitism. He replied:
"I do not think that there is any ambiguity in the total rejection of antisemitism by the PS. But where is the debate? The lack of debate could be the real question. Dare we invite representatives of secular Jew to the party branches? I think we should do it more often."
Like many parties in Belgium, the Socialist Party is keen to attract the Muslim vote. There are around 800,000 Muslims in Belgian compared to less than 40,000 Jews. Muslims often refer to Jews as Zionists
and Jewish buildings are protected, schools are becoming Jew-free,. According to the Pew Research the Muslim population is expected to climb to 1,1490,000 in Belgium by 2030 for a total population of 13 million. Most likely there will even fewer Jews - as many are leaving.
It is not surprising that a Belgian Jew wrote to Jeffrrey Goldberg: "I read your article, and the experience of the Jews
of Belgium is similar, or maybe worse, than the experience in France,
because our government is quiet on the subject and there are not so many
of us here. However, I don't want to leave. This is my country. You
probably feel that way about your country. If you were a Belgian Jew,
what do you think you would do?"
Indeed. Very quiet on the subjet. Isn't that what the former Brussels mayor had in mind?
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