Around 4,000 people participated in a national march against antisemitism in Brussels on Sunday, according to police.
The Coordination Committee of Jewish Organisations in Belgium (CCOJB), the Forum of Jewish Organisations (FJO), and the Belgian League Against Antisemitism (LBCA) initiated the event.
Several Belgian politicians also attended, including Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt who pledged to the participants that every incident of antisemitism will receive a proper legal follow-up.
The situation for Jews in Belgium has steadily deteriorated in recent years. This has resulted in an uptick in anti-Semitic acts, including the most tragic incident to date, the attack on the Jewish Museum in 2014 when 4 people were killed, desecration of Jewish graves, many Jewish students having to drop out of public schools, and a continuous emigration of Jewish families from Belgium.
Most recently, there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents since 7 October amidst the Israel-Hamas war.
“To those attending the march against antisemitism, our message is clear: we listen to you and will never permit or tolerate antisemitism. We fight against this menace on all fronts,” minister Van Tigchelt declared in a statement after the event.
“Protesters are right to draw attention to this issue. We can’t accept that citizens fear leaving their homes,” he added.
