Around two thousand people, mainly members of the Jewish community but also some Christians and Muslims, marched Sunday afternoon in the center of Brusselos to pay tribute to the vixctims of the October 7 2023 massacrer, call for the release of all hostages, support the people of Israel and denounce the rise of antisemitism.
The march, under heavy police surveillance, was organized by Jewish and non-Jewish organizations under the “”Alliance for Peace in the Middle East.’’
Israeli and Belgian flags as well as pictures of hostages were waived by the participants as they marched through the streets of the Belgian capital.
The march was organized as the release of the remaing 48 hostages – alive and deceased- is expected to take place early on Monday. After 734 days of war, U.S. President Donald Trump officially announced that Israel and Hamas have approved the first phase of the peace plan, a deal that will lead to ending the war and returning all hostages home.
Among the marchers memories of the October 7 attacks were still fresh. “We will not forget this barbaric act of unprecedented cruelty, perpetrated by terrorists devoid of all humanity,” said Yves Oschinsky, president of the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium (CCOJB).
“Here, anti-Semitic acts have exploded. Hostility towards the Jewish community is manifesting itself in a worrying way,” he added.