Over the last months, Jewish students have been the victims of violence on university campuses in Belgium, and have spoken out to denounce the excesses they have suffered as part of pro-Palestinian activities. At Brussels Free University, Jewish students say they don’t feel safe.

Posters denouncing anti-Semitism were torn down on the walls of the Brussels Free University (ULB) campus on Wednesday, Belgian daily La Libre reported.

These acts have been condemned by the Union of Jewish Students in Belgium (UEJB) which has launched a poster campaign to denounce anti-Semitism and the passivity of university authorities.

The UEJB’s campaign echoed another, this time by the ULB, dating from March 2025, in which the University wished to “fight against all forms of discrimination”, and reiterated this through posters featuring slogans such as “Ici, on sème la liberté” (Here, we sow freedom), “Ici, on cultiver la tolérance” (Here, we cultivate tolerance), and “Ici, on se remet en question, on doute, on débat, on nuance” (Here, we question, we doubt, we debate, we nuance).

Taking up the codes of the ULB posters, the UEJB posters read “Ici, on exclut, on agresse, on insulte des Juifs” (Here, Jews are excluded, attacked and insulted”) or “Ici, on traite les Juifs de sales sionistes” (“Here, Jews are called dirty Zionists”).

On its social networks, including Instagram, the UEJB expressed its dismay after its posters were torn down.

“All the UEJB posters denouncing anti-Semitism have been torn down. As have all those which, since October 7, evoke – directly or indirectly – Judaism, Jews, memory or the fight against anti-Semitism”.

Over the last months, Jewish students have been the victims of violence on university campuses in Belgium, and have spoken out to denounce the excesses they have suffered as part of pro-Palestinian activities. At ULB, Jewish students say they don’t feel safe.

The UEJB has repeatedly denounced the passivity of the university’s governing bodies. “While the ULB rolls out its façade messages, it wilfully ignores the realities that Jewish students have been experiencing on its campuses for over a year and a half: harassment, verbal and physical aggression, exclusion from auditoriums, intimidation…”, it said in a statement.

Asked for a reaction, the ULB authorities didn’t respond so far.

Last week, the student group deplored the invitation on the ULB campus of a speaker “whose social networks unambiguously display support for Hamas and signs of allegiance to the Islamic State”. The university’s rectorate responded, stating that nothing on the speaker’s social networks “unquestionably” justified a ban.