Radical Islam is running rampant in Belgium as the European country takes a pro-Hamas and anti-Israel stance, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night in response to an imam reciting a Quranic verse about warfare and captive-taking in the Belgian parliament on Tuesday.
“Belgium along with Spain lead the most pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line in all of Europe, and it’s no wonder that with them, radical Islam is rampant,” Chikli said. “Turning their back on Israel has been clarified as a difficult strategic mistake.”
Chikli added that he hopes the pro-Hamas government would be changed in the future to one that champions Western values.
Imam Qari Muhammad Ansar Norani, who had been invited to an event at the Belgian parliament by Socialist Party MP Hasan Koyuncu, recited a verse from the Quran that said “And He brought down those from the People of the Book who supported the enemy alliance from their own strongholds, and cast horror into their hearts. You ‘believers’ killed some, and took others captive.” (Surah 33:26)
The term “People of the book” is used to describe peoples of non-Islamic Abrahamic faiths, including Jews and Christians. The verse was seen as inflammatory given the recent October 7 massacre in which Hamas entered Israeli bases and border towns, killing more than 1,200 soldiers and civilians, and taking more than 240 captives.
Chikli’s comments about Belgium come after tensions over its response to Israel’s operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the massacre.
Belgian politicians have taken public anti-IDF stances
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo had called for a permanent ceasefire and for Israel to follow international humanitarian law, at a visit to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing on November 24, which led to the summoning of Belgium’s ambassador for reprimand.
“The military operation that Israel is conducting to stop the terrorist attacks must respect international humanitarian law (IHL),” said De Croo. “The killing of civilians needs to stop; the violence needs to stop now. Way too many people have died. The destruction of Gaza is unacceptable. We cannot accept that a society is destroyed the way the society of Gaza is being destroyed.”
While the prime minister had condemned Hamas terrorism, he also called to “stop the settler violence in the West Bank,” and said that all parties had to respect IHL.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter also called on her government to adopt sanctions against Israel and investigate some of the IDF’s operations for possible war crimes. This would include an increase of funding to the Criminal Court.
“It is time for sanctions against Israel. The rain of bombs is inhumane," she told Nieuwsblad on November 8. “It is clear that Israel does not care about the international demands for a ceasefire.”
De Sutter said that the European Union should suspend its association agreement with the Jewish state, and implement an import ban on products from the West Bank. Israelis living beyond the green line accused of violence, some politicians, and IDF soldiers accused of war crimes should be barred from entering the EU, she said.
Belgium has been host to massive anti-Israel rallies, including a protest on November 11 in Brussels where about 21,000 participants called for a ceasefire. Some protesters held signs calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea.”
Another large protest was held on January 21, in which activists raised banners that proclaimed “long live the Palestinian resistance,” and “resistance is not terrorism.” Some protesters also called for the release of Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah from a French prison.
Zvika Klein, Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report. An earlier version mistakingly quoted Chikli saying mentioning France as "one of the most pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line in all of Europe."