Author Herman Brusselmans is accused of spreading anti-Semitism and inciting to hate and violence in a column published last week in Flemish weekly Humo.

“This is the Dreyfus trial of our era,” stresses Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association.

 

The European Jewish Association (EJA) and its coalition partners have completed their criminal complaint against author Herman Brusselmans and the DPG media group for spreading anti-Semitism and incitement to hate and violence in a column published last week in Flemish weekly Humo. 

The lawsuit will be filed by EJA’s legal representatives in front an investigating judge in Ghent next week, the EJA said Friday in a statement

The EJA’s partners in the complaint are the Forum der Joodse Organisaties (FJO), the Joods Informatie en Documentatiecentrum (JID), de Israëlitische gemeente van Antwerpen Shomre Hadass and the Belgian League against antisemitism (LBCA).

In his controversial column last week about the war in Gaza, Brusselmans wrote: ‘’I see a picture of a Palestinian child crying and screaming completely beyond all senses to his mother lying under the debris, and I imagine that this child is my son Roman, and the mother is my friend Lena, and I am so angry that I want to push a sharp knife in the throat of every Jew I come across.”

He accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of murdering children and dragging the world into a third world war. He wrote: “The Middle East will explode, with unruly consequences for the rest of the world. And all this by a small, thick and bald Jew, who bears the ominous name of Bibi Netanyahu. I see a picture of a Palestinian child crying and screaming completely beyond all senses to his mother lying under the debris, and I imagine that this child is my son Roman, and the mother is my friend Lena, and I am so angry that I want to push a sharp knife in the throat of every Jew I come across.”

According to EJA, the editor of Humo magazine, the deputy editor, the editing company and it CEO, its directors and its officers also ”have played a key role and are responsible for their practical support in the publication of the hateful and inciting column.” ”If such support were not given, the publication of this inciting article would not have been published,” it said.

Humo is part of DPG Media, the largest Belgian multimedia group.

According to EJA, since the publication, the deputy editor in chief, supported by the highest officers of the editor, ‘’constantly continued to try to justify and to support this previous statement and also published a reaction of the author who saud “Above all, I meant that if this happened to my child, I would do something to the perpetrators.’’ ‘’In this additional statement explicitly relating to his previous incitement to kill every Jew that he meets, the author confirms with no doubts and no ambiguity that he considers – not even the parties involved in a conflict 4,000 km from here – but « every Jew » as a perpetrator of a crime and that this would justify his anger against all Jews and his public statement that he wants to stick a sharp knife down the throat of every Jew he meets,’’ the EJA added.

‘’The press organ that not only published these statements by Mr Herman Brusselmans, but also knowingly, continue to support and to try justifying these statements – instead of publicly condemning it and taking measures to avoid it in the future – assumes a distinct responsibility by stirring up antisemitism,’’ it said.

European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin described the complaint as ‘’the Dreyfus trial of our era,’’ adding that ‘’the interest in this is worldwide.’’

‘’People are waiting to see if the court will protect Jews in Belgium who find themselves fearing for their lives as incitement has spread from dark corners of social media into the mainstream media here,’’ said Margolin.

‘’This milestone trial will have a major impact on the attitude of the law enforcement authorities in Belgium, and indeed outside of it, in how it treats hate speech and incitement towards minorities,’’ he said.

‘’All eyes are on the court. The hope is that judges will understand the magnitude of the incitement against the Jews in Belgium that is reminiscent to that of the 1930s, which ultimately led to the Holocaust.’’

Rabbi Margolin said he expects the court to declare freedom of speech and of the press ‘’cannot be misused to spread and incite hate against innocent citizens and encourage harm towards them.”

‘’The European Jewish Association will act with full force, in every possible legal court action against DPG media group for justice to be served and Jewish life to be protected,’’ he added.

He called on other journalists to follow in the footsteps of Dutch writer Arnon Gorenberg who

EJA and its coalition partners of the Jewish community in the complaint are represented by Belgian lawyers David Szafran and Sven Mary to engage the relevant procedures before the competent jurisdictions amongst others for incitement to hatred and violence.

David Szafran declared: “It is largely accepted under the law and the jurisprudence that freedom of expression and so-called satire never justify incitement to hate and to violence and murder. It is also clear that the editor also has an important role and responsibility not only for its practical support in the publication of the hateful and inciting article but also, knowingly, for continuing to support and to try justifying these statements instead of publicly condemning it and prevent it from happening again in the future.”

Sven Mary added: “Especially in the context of a total absence of prevention and of appropriate measures by the responsible press organ, only a reaction from the judicial authorities is likely to prevent the recurrence of such infamy and the jeopardy of the safety of those who are thus violently stigmatized.”

Unia, a anti-discrimination public service in Belgium reportedly filed a complaint against Brusselmans with the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office in Ghent.

According to Unia, the author has violated the anti-racism law with his column and incited hatred or violence against persons of Jewish origin.