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Jewish woman claims to have been attacked by pro-Palestinian activists in Brussels

Theo

On the same day that the anti-Israel protest camp in front of Brussels universities was cleared by police on Tuesday, a Jewish woman claimed that she had been threatened and thrown objects by student activists.

The Brussels Popular University group and pro-Palestinian organizations complain of brutality against their activists when police expelled them from Building B of the French-speaking Free University of Brussels, which they had occupied since May 7 and which was renamed after the late terrorist Walid Daqqah of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Belgian pro-Palestinian groups published a post on Instagram on Tuesday vowing to continue their activism, proclaiming: “It is not an expulsion: it is the beginning of a movement!”

A Brussels monument to non-Jews who fought to save Jews from the Nazi genocide was defaced with anti-Israel messages on Tuesday, Jewish organizations said. (Source: SCREENSHOT/X:@OdileMargaux)

A video of the raid posted by the People’s University of Brussels and photos released by the European Jewish Congress showed that the interior of the building had been vandalised. The walls were adorned with graffiti in several languages. The EJC claimed that some of the slogans on the wall called for the destruction of Tel Aviv.

“This is the sad result of a weak administration that has given in to the violence, hatred and blackmail of these wannabe revolutionary students,” Ariella Witchik, EJC’s director of European affairs, said on X on Thursday in response to the vandalism. “This is far from the values ​​that this university represents and that I once respected.”

On the same day that the camp was cleared, Joel Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, shared a statement from a Jewish woman who said she was verbally abused by the student activists as she walked past the camp with her dog. They allegedly called her “Jew” and “dirty bourgeoisie” in Arabic. The activists were accused of throwing objects at her, causing her to be cut. She was also threatened and allegedly told: “We will cut off your head and that of your dogs too” and “You will pay for the others.”

Rubinfeld said she reported the incident to police.

Brussels Against Genocide accused Rubinfeld on Instagram on Thursday of misrepresenting the event. The group claimed the woman taunted and insulted the students but did not touch them. The group released a video of the incident, which shows a hostile verbal exchange without any physical altercation.

After the camp was established, the ULB issued a statement on May 8 declaring itself open to dialogue. It boasted of its previous criticism of both the October 7 massacre and Israel’s “disproportionate military response,” as well as its acceptance of motions calling for respect for international law and a “just and lasting peace,” and condemned the alleged systematic destruction of Palestinian higher education institutions in Gaza.

The university also condemned any violence and anti-Semitism on campus and said it was monitoring the situation.

The ULB camp hosted an “Intifada Festival” on June 23, with advertisements proclaiming “Long live the resistance.” One of the participating groups was Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which has long been accused of being an activist arm of the PFLP. Alleged PFLP leader and founder of the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, Khaled Barakat, gave a lecture to the group in mid-May. Another alleged PFLP activist, Samidoun’s European coordinator, Mohammed Khatib, gave a lecture on June 7 at the camp of ULB’s nearby Dutch partner university of the same name (VUB).

The VUB camp said on Wednesday that the protesters had also been evicted from their camp by police. They also claimed that the police had evicted the students using force.



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