Anti-Semitism in Belgium

written by Ofir (aged 14) My name is Ofir and I live in Belgium, my family and I are here on shlichut. My parents work at the Israeli Embassy in Brussels. I was asked to write something about anti-Semitism in Belgium. At first I thought that there was no anti-Semitism here, until my mother reminded me of some stories connected to this. It seems that there is - but somehow we’ve gotten used to it. For example: the burning of a synagogues or the story of how the Chief Rabbi of Belgium was beaten up. Here it is dangerous to wander around on the streets alone; when we walk around we need to hide our kippot, and basically not make it too obvious that we are Jews. It’s also not a good idea for us to talk Hebrew in public places and we prefer to speak French for our safety. On the day that I sat down to write about anti-Semitism in Belgium it turned out that four Arabs beat up the son of my English teacher (they’re obviously Jewish). These days it is dangerous to wander around the streets, not only in Belgium, but all through Europe. Anti-Semitism is spreading through Europe and it has reached the proportions of violent protests and even the stage of murders and burning of synagogues. The anti-Semitism affects everyone and therefore we receive instructions from the embassy security people not to stick out in a crowd and to check our car every time we want to travel somewhere [There is an order to check under cars to make sure there are no bombs - K.E.]. We are also not allowed to get mail at home, the only mail we can get must go through “shikuf” [=”transparency”] at the embassy [With “shikuf” one can see if there is a letter bomb in the envelope - K.E.]. On Shabbat I go to Bnei Akiva. Even though I am 14 years old I am not allowed to walk around alone on the streets of Brussels and one of my parents always accompanies me. When we get to the synagogue where our activities take place, we are confronted by a locked metal gate attached to a closed circuit television. We need to type in a code that is known only to the members of the Jewish community and only then can we enter the grounds of the synagogue. At the entrance to our house there is a doorkeeper who never misses an opportunity to make comments against Jews. Therefore we can say that anti-Semitism exists in Belgium and throughout Europe.