Belgium celebrates 40th anniversary of oldest Israel hating NGO in Europe... in Molenbeek

Venue: Molenbeek, Rue Adolphe Lavallée.

The Association Belgo-Palestinienne Wallonie-Bruxelles (ABP) celebrated its 40th anniversary on 28 November - it is very likely the oldest anti-Israel organisation in the world.  The organisation is funded by the francophone Wallonie-Brussels authorities (there is no such organisation in Flanders).  They boast 40 years of solidarity with Palestine.  The event took place in Molenbeek, a notorious previously Socialist-ruled Brussels neighborhood where 'youths' threatened Jews and drove Jewish shops out of business and has been in the news for its links with radical islam and terrorism.

The man behind the ABP is Pierre Galand.  In 2004, NGO Monitor wrote  a Special Report: "Pierre Galand (Belgium) Using Political NGOs to Promote Demonization & Anti-Semitism in the UN & EU"

There are very few radical NGO activities in the United Nations or in Europe in which Pierre Galand does not actively participate. His rhetoric of hatred, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism (disguised, as in the case of many other members of the political NGO community, in the language of human rights and sympathy for Palestinian victimization), includes references to Israeli "aggression", "war crimes", "colonization", "apartheid", etc. while referring to Palestinian terror as "heroic" and in need of international protection.

Historian Joël Kotek wrote in 2005:

The Socialist party, in both the French and Flemish regions, has embraced the Palestinian cause. This position could be genuine or simply opportunistic. On the one hand, one can be a genuine Israel-hater as is the case of Pierre Galand, the President of the Belgian-Palestinian Association and a radical "anti-Zionist" who even opposed the Oslo Agreements. Galand regularly makes statements which depict Israel as the most evil country in the world.  [...]

One might say that in Belgium, like elsewhere in Europe, there are important politicians who are not anti-Semites but who have decided to follow an opportunistic radical anti-Zionist policy. This is not a new phenomenon. Pierre Laval, Prime Minister in the Vichy government of Marshall Pétain, was not an anti-Semite before the war. He even had Jewish collaborators and friends. When the Germans became dominant in Europe, he followed an anti-Semitic policy because it pleased them. 

This opportunism is the reason why the Wallonian Socialist party choose to co-opt Pierre Galand to the Senate (he was not elected). At the same time, they put on the list an anti-Zionist Jew, Baron Paul Halter, who is 78 years old and President of the Auschwitz Foundation. That sounds good for the public because he is associated with the Shoah. He was not elected.

Philosemitism blog has more (2013):

Pierre Galand, Head of European Humanist Association, calls Shimon Peres a 'war criminal', a liar and a hypocrite

Belgian Israel-basher Pierre Galand, a much respected (and this is surreal, he is also highly regarded by Belgian francophone Jewish leaders) and highly influencial socialist politician and 'humanist', has called for the boycott of Shimon Peres and accused him of being a "war criminal" who behind the façade of a "man of peace" is the representative of a "criminal State".  On a previous occasion Mr Galand said that Israel was a rogue State.  He also suggested that Yithzak Rabin was a war criminal.  

On the occasion of Peres' visit to Belgium, one of the anti-Israel associations he chairs (one of them is BDS) released a statement:  "His dovish image serves to obscure the real face of this Israeli politician.  Since 2007 as President of the State of Israel, he has used his positive image to help tone down the international negative reactions to the policies of the Israeli governments who lean more and more to the right".

Pierre Galand also summoned "criminal" Shimon Peres to the last session of the Belgian kangaroo court he created (Russell Tribunal on Palestine) to be held next week in Brussels and to free Marwan Barghouti, hinting at Israel-apartheid. More on Mr Peres visit to Belgium: Belgian Jewish leaders invite head of anti-Israel university to debate with Shimon Peres.