Radical Islam is running rampant in Belgium as it takes a pro-Hamas and anti-Israel stance, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night in response to an imam reciting a Quranic verse about warfare and captive taking in Belgian parliament on Tuesday.
“Belgium along with France lead the most pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line in all of Europe, and it’s no wonder that with them radical Islam is rampant,” said Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli. “Turning their back on Israel has been clarified as a difficult strategic mistake.”
Chikli added that he hopes that the pro-Hamas government would be changed in the future for one that champions western values.
Imam Qari Muhammad Ansar Norani, who had been invited to an event at the Belgian parliament by Socialist Party MP Hasan Koyuncu recited a verse that said “And He brought down those from the People of the Book who supported the enemy alliance from their own strongholds, and cast horror into their hearts. You ‘believers’ killed some, and took others captive.”
The term “People of the book” is used for describing peoples of non-Islamic Abrahamic faiths, including Jews. The verse was seen as inflammatory given the recent October 7 massacre in which Hamas entered Israeli bases and border towns, killed soldiers and civilians, and took many captives.
Chikli’s comments about Belgium come after tensions over its response to Israel’s operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the massacre.
Belgian politicians have taken public anti-IDF stances
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo had called for a permanent ceasefire and for Israel to follow international humanitarian law at a visit to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing on November 24, which led to the summoning of Belgium’s ambassador for reprimand.
“The military operation that Israel is conducting to stop the terrorist attacks must respect international humanitarian law (IHL),” said De Croo. “The killing of civilians needs to stop. The violence needs to stop now. Way too many people have died. The destruction of Gaza is unacceptable. We cannot accept a society is destroyed the way the society of Gaza is being destroyed.”
While the Prime Minister had condemned Hamas terrorism, he also called to “stop the settler violence in the West Bank,” and said that all parties had to respect IHL.
Deputy Belgian prime minister Petra De Sutter also called on her government to adopt sanctions against Israel and investigate some of the IDF’s operations for possible war crimes. This would include an increase of funding to the Criminal Court.
“It is time for sanctions against Israel. The rain of bombs is inhumane,” De Sutter told Nieuwsblad on November 8. “It is clear that Israel does not care about the international demands for a ceasefire.”
De Sutter said that the European Union should suspend its association agreement with the Jewish state, and to implement an import ban on products from the West Bank. Israelis living beyond the green line accused of violence, some politicians, and IDF soldiers accused of war crimes should be barred from entering the EU, she also said.
Belgium has been the host to massive anti-Israel rallies, including a protest on November 11 in Brussels in which around 21,000 participants called for ceasefire. Some protesters held signs calling for an establishment of a Palestinian state from the “river to the sea.”
Another large protest was held on January 21, in which activists raised banners that proclaimed “long live the Palestinian resistance,” and “resistance is not terrorism.” Some protesters also called for the release of Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah from a French prison.
Zvika Klein, Reuters, and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.