Palestinism, Electoral Calculations, Tribalization… The Lessons of an Explosive Report on Belgium, Now a 'Laboratory' of Antisemitism
Réservé aux abonnés
The Jonathas Institute, a center for the study of antisemitism, delivers for the first time a staggering assessment of Belgian society.
Has Belgium been under a kind of omerta until now? That's the question raised by the Jonathas Institute, a Belgian research center, in its explosive report on antisemitism, supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, one of Belgium's three federated communities. Reviewed by Le Figaro, this 76-page analysis, based in part on an Ipsos poll, paints a disturbing picture of a deeply divided society — one that is, in some respects, more antisemitic than France.
'In a context marked by a resurgence of antisemitic acts and rhetoric, surveying Belgians about their perceptions of Jews seemed obvious. And yet, no public, media, academic, or civil society actor has undertaken such a large-scale study in recent memory,' the report notes. The institute is led by Joël Kotek, an emeritus university professor and former lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, and Joël Amar, an advisor to the presidents of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF).
The authors observe that 'in contrast, studies…
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Le Figaro
4 hours ago
- Le Figaro
Palestinism, Electoral Calculations, Tribalization… The Lessons of an Explosive Report on Belgium, Now a 'Laboratory' of Antisemitism
Réservé aux abonnés The Jonathas Institute, a center for the study of antisemitism, delivers for the first time a staggering assessment of Belgian society. Has Belgium been under a kind of omerta until now? That's the question raised by the Jonathas Institute, a Belgian research center, in its explosive report on antisemitism, supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, one of Belgium's three federated communities. Reviewed by Le Figaro, this 76-page analysis, based in part on an Ipsos poll, paints a disturbing picture of a deeply divided society — one that is, in some respects, more antisemitic than France. 'In a context marked by a resurgence of antisemitic acts and rhetoric, surveying Belgians about their perceptions of Jews seemed obvious. And yet, no public, media, academic, or civil society actor has undertaken such a large-scale study in recent memory,' the report notes. The institute is led by Joël Kotek, an emeritus university professor and former lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, and Joël Amar, an advisor to the presidents of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF). The authors observe that 'in contrast, studies…
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
Iran-Israel war: a lifeline for Netanyahu?
On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition. Nearly two years on from Hamas's unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where dozens of hostages remain unaccounted for. Internationally too, he was coming under pressure including from longstanding allies, who since the war with Iran began have gone back to expressing support. Just days ago, polls were predicting Netanyahu would lose his majority if new elections were held, but now, his fortunes appear to have reversed, and Israelis are seeing in "Bibi" the man of the moment. – 'Reshape the Middle East' – For decades, Netanyahu has warned of the risk of a nuclear attack on Israel by Iran -- a fear shared by most Israelis. Yonatan Freeman, a geopolitics expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu's argument that the pre-emptive strike on Iran was necessary draws "a lot of public support" and that the prime minister has been "greatly strengthened". Even the opposition has rallied behind him. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one," opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed. A poll published Saturday by a conservative Israeli channel showed that 54 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the prime minister. The public had had time to prepare for the possibility of an offensive against Iran, with Netanyahu repeatedly warning that Israel was fighting for its survival and had an opportunity to "reshape the Middle East." During tit-for-tat military exchanges last year, Israel launched air raids on targets in Iran in October that are thought to have severely damaged Iranian air defences. Israel's then-defence minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had shifted "the balance of power" and had "weakened" Iran. "In fact, for the past 20 months, Israelis have been thinking about this (a war with Iran)," said Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel's Open University. Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu has ordered military action in Gaza, against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Huthis in Yemen, as well as targets in Syria where long-time leader Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year. "Netanyahu always wants to dominate the agenda, to be the one who reshuffles the deck himself -- not the one who reacts -- and here he is clearly asserting his Churchillian side, which is, incidentally, his model," Charbit said. "But depending on the outcome and the duration (of the war), everything could change, and Israelis might turn against Bibi and demand answers." – Silencing critics – For now, however, people in Israel see the conflict with Iran as a "necessary war," according to Nitzan Perelman, a researcher specialised in Israel at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France. "Public opinion supports this war, just as it has supported previous ones," she added. "It's very useful for Netanyahu because it silences criticism, both inside the country and abroad." In the weeks ahead of the Iran strikes, international criticism of Netanyahu and Israel's military had reached unprecedented levels. After more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, and a blockade that has produced famine-like conditions there, Israel has faced growing isolation and the risk of sanctions, while Netanyahu himself is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes. But on Sunday, two days into the war with Iran, the Israeli leader received a phone call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has held talks with numerous counterparts. "There's more consensus in Europe in how they see Iran, which is more equal to how Israel sees Iran," explained Freeman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that Israel was doing "the dirty work... for all of us." The idea that a weakened Iran could lead to regional peace and the emergence of a new Middle East is appealing to the United States and some European countries, according to Freeman. © 2025 AFP
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Belgium seeking to put ex-official on trial over killing of Congo's Lumumba
Belgian prosecutors said Tuesday that they were seeking to put a 92-year-old former diplomat on trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. Etienne Davignon is the only one still alive among 10 Belgians who were accused of complicity in the murder of the independence icon in a 2011 lawsuit filed by Lumumba's children. If he goes on trial, Davignon would be the first Belgian official to face justice in the more than six decades since Lumumba was murdered. A fiery critic of Belgium's colonial rule, Lumumba became his country's first prime minister after it gained independence in 1960. 02:09 But he fell out with the former colonial power and with the United States and was ousted in a coup a few months after taking office. He was executed on January 17, 1961, aged just 35, in the southern region of Katanga, with the support of Belgian mercenaries. His body was dissolved in acid and never recovered. Davignon, who went on to be a vice president of the European Commission in the 1980s, was a trainee diplomat at the time of the assassination. He is accused of involvement in the "unlawful detention and transfer" of Lumumba at the time he was taken prisoner and his "humiliating and degrading treatment", the prosecutor's office said. But prosecutors added that a charge of intent to kill should be dropped. It is now up to a magistrate to decide if the trial should proceed, following a hearing on the case set for January 2026. "We're moving in the right direction. What we're seeking is, first and foremost, the truth," Juliana Lumumba, the daughter of the former Congolese premier, told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. The prosecutor's decision is the latest step in Belgium's decades-long reckoning with the role it played in Lumumba's killing. In 2022, Belgium returned a tooth -- the last remains of Lumumba -- to his family in a bid to turn a page on the grim chapter of its colonial past. The tooth was seized by Belgian authorities in 2016 from the daughter of a policeman, Gerard Soete. A Belgian parliamentary commission of enquiry concluded in 2001 that Belgium had "moral responsibility" for the assassination, and the government presented the country's "apologies" a year later.
