At the European Jewish Association's annual conference in Brussels, MR President Georges-Louis Bouchez chose to speak plainly. “The security of Jews in Belgium and Europe is not negotiable,” he said, denouncing an antisemitism that “is once again appearing in our streets, on social media and on some university campuses”.
For him, protecting the Jewish community “is not a symbolic gesture, it is protecting the very heart of our democracy”. He calls for stronger and lasting protection of synagogues, schools and community centres, increased resources for police and intelligence services, and a firm criminal policy against attacks, threats and online incitement to hatred.
Bouchez also stresses the need for a structural response from the state. He calls, “without further delay”, for the appointment of a federal coordinator for the fight against antisemitism, with a clear mandate and a direct line to the government. “The Jewish community deserves a single point of contact within the Belgian state, so that commitments do not remain mere words,” he stresses.
The MR President also highlights the bill put forward by Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, which would make it possible to ban radical organisations that spread hatred and threaten the democratic order. He specifically targets structures such as Samidoun, which “present themselves as solidarity organisations but glorify terrorist movements and prepare the ideological ground for violence”. “A strong liberal state must be able to say: certain organisations cross a red line and no longer have a place in the public sphere,” he states.
Neutralising extremist organisations
This fight, he adds, fits within an international context marked by the confrontation between Israel and the mullahs' regime in Iran, “a regime of hatred” towards democracies. Mr Bouchez reaffirms Israel's right to exist and defend itself, and calls for a firm European stance towards Tehran. Consistency, he sums up, means protecting Jews in Belgium, neutralising extremist organisations here, and rejecting regimes elsewhere that call for the destruction of Israel. Throughout his speech, his remarks were repeatedly greeted with applause from the audience. “It is our responsibility as democrats, as Belgians, as Europeans, and ultimately our responsibility as human beings,” he concludes.