‘’No anti-Semitic words or acts will be tolerated at our University,’’ said the Rector of the Brussels Free University (ULB) after a student movement, named ‘’Popular University’’ posted messages expressing ‘’solidarity’’ with their Dutch comrades, in a reference to what happened in Amsterdam last week when Israeli football fans were chased and attacked in the streets after a Europa League match. They also called for ‘’no Zionists in our neighborhoods.’’
Rector Annemie Schaus, denounced on social networks the remarks of the group of students as ‘’an intolerable call for violence against Jews.’’ “Beyond the easy play on words, ‘no neighborhood means nothing other than ‘kill them’,’’ she said. ‘’And words can kill when they condone crime and arm killers,” she added.
The “Popular University’’ movement reacted to the rector’s position, denouncing the “instrumentalization” of the fight against anti-Semitism “in the service of Israeli propaganda.’’
The Brussels University has witnessed several cases of anti-Jewish violence by pro-Palestinian activists since October 7. “I’m no longer safe on campus because I’m Jewish,” said Gad Deshayes, President of the Union of Jewish Students in Belgium (UEJB) earlier this year during a demonstration protesting the rise of an antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campus.