“We are utterly shocked,” the European Jewish Congress wrote.

By JNS

The European Jewish Congress is raising attention about an act of vandalism in Fléron, Belgium, targeting a husband and wife who survived the Holocaust. “Gaza Free” and a swastika were spray-painted in hot pink on the side of the residents’ house.

“We are utterly shocked that the home of Holocaust survivors have been vandalized in Fléron, Belgium. This is blatant, targeted antisemitism,” the European Jewish Congress wrote on social media. “It’s another disturbing incident in the wave of vile antisemitism that has swept the country since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel.”

In Antwerp, Belgium, the European city with the largest Chassidic population, one group counted 91 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7 compared to 57 for the entirety of 2022.

Resident Regina Sluszny, President of the Forum of Jewish organizations (FJO) in Antwerp, said, “Jews are much more visible with these black coats and big hats, and bunches of boys go by, and they just try to throw the hat on the floor, or when they drive with the bicycle, they try to push them from the bicycle.”