Reacting to the country’s current political and moral debate on a sharply divisive issue, Belgium’s Jewish community has expressed its opposition to the idea of providing amnesty to the thousands of Belgians who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. The Coordinating Committee for Belgian Jewish Organizations said in a statements that it stands… More ▸
David Susskind, who attempted to further Israeli-Palestinian dialogue in the past, has been elected chairman of the umbrella organization of Belgian Jews. Susskind, 68, succeeds Lazard Perez. Susskind was elected during a recent General Assembly of the Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organizations. Founded in 1970, the Coordinating Committee is a member of the European… More ▸
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who came here this week for his first official visit to the European Community headquarters, has gained the support of Belgian leaders for upgrading Israel’s relationship with the E.C. During his one-day visit here Wednesday, Rabin met with Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene and later with Foreign Minister Willy Claes…. More ▸
Israeli President Ezer Weizman was among the world leaders attending the funeral here Saturday for the late King Baudouin of Belgium. The king died the previous Saturday of a heart attack while vacationing in southern Spain. The Belgian Jewish community expressed its sadness at the death of King Baudouin in a number of public statements…. More ▸
The Belgian defense minister has caused a political storm here by stating he would not rule out a government coalition with the far-right Vlaams Blok, or Flemish Nationalist Party. Leo Delcroix, a Flemish Christian Democrat, said in an interview with the Belgian daily Le Soir that the party, seen as racist and anti-immigrant, is a… More ▸
A Belgian airplane en route to Israel made an emergency landing in Belgrade after a phony bomb and hijack threat was phoned into the airline’s Tel Aviv office halfway through the flight. Sabena Flight 203 from Brussels continued onto Tel Aviv after security officials checked the plane’s passengers and baggage. The flight landed Sunday some… More ▸
Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes returned from his meeting with Yasir Arafat in Tunis and said the Palestinian leader warned him the Middle East peace negotiations “will be very difficult” to renew unless the deportation crisis is resolved. The chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization was referring to the 415 Palestinians activists deported by Israel… More ▸
A Dutch court has ordered a Belgian publisher to stop disseminating pamphlets in the Netherlands alleging the Holocaust never took place. The court said the fact of the Nazi slaughter of the Jews required no further proof, and ordered Siegfried Verbeke to cease distributing the hate literature or pay a $17,000 fine for each pamphlet… More ▸
In what may be the first such suit to cross international borders, Dutch human rights groups have filed a civil suit here against a Belgian society that has published pamphlets denying that the Holocaust occurred. The suit is enabled by a European Community regulation that permits a resident of one E.C. member state suing a… More ▸
The Belgian Jewish community on Sunday commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first deportation of Belgian Jews to the Nazi death camps and laid a cornerstone of a new museum to commemorate the war years. The ceremonies, held at an ancient army camp, included participation by government officials and Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, Yitzhak Mayer…. More ▸
