”This decision has gravely damaged Belgium’s international reputation and emboldened antisemitic currents, at a time when Europe urgently needs unity and vigilance against hate. There can be no place for antisemitism in Belgium or anywhere in Europe in 2025,” says the European Jewish Association.
The European Jewish Association (EJA) called for the Flemish Minister of Culture Caroline Gennez to be removed from her post ”without delay” after she supported the decision of the Ghent Festival of Flanders to boycott Israeli conductor Lahav Shani.
The cancellation of the planned performance by Lahav Shani on September 18 at the Flanders Festival has triggered a storm of criticism and accusations of antisemitism. The Ghent festival organizers said they had decided to scrap the performance because Shani had not “unequivocally” distanced himself from Israel’s government in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
In a letter to Conner Rousseau, president of the Flemish Socianist Vooruit party, of which the minister is a member, the EJA expressed its ”deepest alarm and outrage over the recent decision of the Ghent Festival of Flanders to cancel the concert of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra solely because its future conductor, Lahav Shani, is Israeli and Jewish.”
The EJA represents hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe.
”Even more troubling is that Flemish Minister of Culture, Caroline Gennez, not only defended but actively supported this reckless act of cultural and ethnic discrimination,” reads the letter.
”This decision has gravely damaged Belgium’s international reputation and emboldened antisemitic currents, at a time when Europe urgently needs unity and vigilance against hate. There can be no place for antisemitism in Belgium or anywhere in Europe in 2025,” the EJA says.
”Discrimination on the basis of origin, nationality, religion, gender, or race is unacceptable and incompatible with the values of the European Union, the European Convention on Human Rights, and Belgium’s own constitutional principles,” it adds.
According to EJA, ”allowing a minister who legitimizes such exclusion to remain in office sends a disastrous signal: that prejudice and collective punishment are tolerated at the highest levels of government.”
”Belgium and Europe must remain places where artists and citizens are judged by their talent and character—not by their birth or faith.”
The EJA urged the president of Vooruit party ”to act swiftly and decisively to restore public confidence, protect Belgium’s international standing, and demonstrate that Vooruit will never compromise on the fight against antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.”
Belgium’s federal Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who had sharply criticized the move by the Ghen Festival, travelled on Saturday to Germany to attend a concert of the Munich Philharmonic and express his appreciation for Lahav Shani in person,’’ he said on X.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, of which Lahav Shani is also the music director, has expressed its Asupport for its conductor, recalling that he has “previously spoken out in the press in favor of peace and humanity” and that he has “made it clear that he does not represent any political position, but that he wants to contribute to solidarity and hope through art.”
The German embassy in Belgium said it has ended its partnership with the Gent Festival following the cancellation of Shani’s concert. The embassy’s logo has been removed from the festival’s website and references to the concerts have been deleted from social media, an embassy spokesperson told the DPA news agency.