UNIA’s response came as orgnizers of  the Carnival just released ribbons for participants making fun of UNESCO and Jews in view of the 2020 parade edition.  These 150 ribbons depict stereotypical anti-semitic caricatures of Jews with scullcaps, ringlet side curls, hooked noses and even gold teeth, all standing on an imitation of the UNESCO logo.

 

BRUSSELS— A Belgian public institution which aims at combating discrimination and promoting equal opportunities in the country, has taken the defense of the Aalst carnival which provoked an international uproar, including condemnation from UNESCO as well as from the European Commission, over antisemitic representation at an annual parade.

At the parade in March, the carnival in the city of Aalst, located 20 km west of Brussels, displayed giant puppets depicting Orthodox Jews with hooked noses standing on chests of money surrounded by rats.

UNESCO, the Paris-headquartered United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, condemned the parade – which is on the UN agency’s list of ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’- as did the European Commission.

But UNIA, which is a Belgian federal government body, has concluded in a report that the float caricaturing Orthodox Jews during the Aalst Carnival parade did not violate the law.

”We believe there was no deliberate incitement to hatred, discrimination or violence against Jews,” the centre for equal opportunities declared. It also said it would argue for the Aalst case at UNESCO.

CCOJB, the Brussels-based umbrella representative group of Belgian Jewish organisations and the Forum of Jewish organisations in Antwerp expressed outrage at UNIA’s response.  Hans Knoop, a spokesperson for the Forum, said he will contact the European Commission’s special coordinator in charge of anti-Semitism. In a second phase, the Forum of Jewish Organizations wants to file a complaint against the Aalst Carnival.

UNIA’s response came as orgnizers of  the Carnival just released ribbons for participants making fun of UNESCO and Jews in view of the 2020 parade edition.  These 150 ribbons depict stereotypical anti-semitic caricatures of Jews with scullcaps, ringlet side curls, hooked noses and even gold teeth, all standing on an imitation of the UNESCO logo.

The ribbon makers say this is the spirit of the carnival and they make fun of everyone.

“There are no nasty things on them. They are not about gassing or concentration camps. We are not really making fun of Jews directly. We are mainly focussing on UNESCO, not Jews,” Kris Vonck, the designer of the ribbons, was quoted as saying.

The head of the European Jewish Association Rabbi Menachem Margolin has called on UNESCO to remove the carnival from the world heritage list at a committee meeting scheduled to take place in Bogota in December.

“I will be writing to UNESCO to demand it ceases to fund or associate in anyway with this carnival from now on. The Carnival itself is now beyond the pale and we expect nothing from people who get their humour kicks from kicking Jews. This is supposed to be 2019 not 1939.”

In a letter to UNESCO Director General Audey Azoulay, the Simon Wiesenthal Center International Director, Shimon Samuels, wrote : ‘’As the first Jewish Director-General and the organization’s commitment to fight antisemitism and Holocaust distortion, we urge you to respond publicly and most vigorously.’’

“We call on your Secretariat to endorse our campaign to cleanse the Intangible Cultural Heritage and UNESCO from a recidivist incitement, by encouraging member-States to delist Aalst at the Bogotà Committee meeting,” ” Intangible Cultural Heritage status must not serve as camouflage for hate”, wrote Samuels.