She admitted to having “made a mistake.”  “The current situation in Gaza is heating up spirits and discussions, as can be seen in universities in particular,  and our organization is no exception,” she said.

The director of arts center hall Monty  in Antwerp said she apologized to a Jewish school after she refused to rent a room to the school on the pretext of the ongoing war in Gaza.

The rental was initially confirmed to the Jewish school, before it received an e-mail in which the arts center retrograded on the ground that the rental request came from ‘’an organization for which we see links with Israel”.

The center, which is publicly subsidized, said that it works “in close collaboration with several Palestinian artists who suffer from the occupation.’’

In a statement issued in reaction to the refusal, the European Jewish Association (EJA), an organization which represents hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe, spoke of,“discrimination and anti-Semitism”.

The association called for the resignation of Monty director Lana Willems and demanded  an end to Flemish subsidies for the arts center. “This is discrimination pure and simple, based on a conflict that is taking place thousands of kilometers away, and which affects the most innocent among us, Jewish schoolchildren”, the EJA said.

Contacted by the Belgian news agency Belga, the director admits to having “made a mistake” and says she has apologized to the chool. “The current situation in Gaza is heating up spirits and discussions, as can be seen in universities in particular,  and our organization is no exception,” she said.

“In this context, I erroneously and too quickly established a link between the Jewish school and the Israeli government – with which we do not wish to cooperate, nor with the organizations affiliated to it”, she added.

“I would like to apologize explicitly to those I have hurt with this email. I share the concerns expressed about the rise of anti-Semitism, racism and polarization in our society in general,” she concluded.