The home of Holocaust survivors in Belgium was allegedly spray-painted with a swastika and the words “Gaza Free” in bright pink, the European Jewish Congress reported Tuesday.
The Jewish organization expressed its shock at the vandalism and tweeted that this “is blatant, targeted antisemitism. It’s another disturbing incident in the wave of vile antisemitism that has swept the country since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel.”
The tweet contained a photo of the purported incident.
We are utterly shocked that the home of Holocaust survivors have been vandalized in Fléron, Belgium.
This is blatant, targeted antisemitism.
It’s another disturbing incident in the wave of vile antisemitism that has swept the country since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel. pic.twitter.com/mYwdlURdSu
— European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) April 2, 2024
“This is absolutely awful. Targeting a home of survivors of the Holocaust. A new low,” Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, tweeted Tuesday. (RELATED: Pastor Apparently Caught On Video Drawing Swastika On Jewish Neighbor’s Groceries)
This is absolutely awful. Targeting a home of survivors of the Holocaust. A new low. @HolocaustUK https://t.co/cmlgyv5Sqc
— Karen Pollock 🎗️ (@KarenPollock100) April 2, 2024
“A strong and unambiguous response is required, beyond condemnations,” the Coordination Committee of Jewish Organisations of Belgium said of the incident, according to The Jewish Chronicle. The Belgian police have yet to respond for comment, the outlet noted.
Jews make up a community of around 22,000 people in Belgium or about 0.25% of the country’s total population in 2022, according to the World Jewish Congress. Antisemitic attacks against Jews in Europe has risen by over 1,000 percent since Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, according to Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the chairman of the European Jewish Association.
“Across Europe, one can find placards calling Jews terrorists; the blood libel of child killers is used regularly; death threats against rabbis are common; Jews are insulted on the street daily; and our children are cursed at,” Rabbi Margolin wrote in an article in Politico.