A child wearing a kippah was attacked on the street and wine was thrown in a girl's face in a series of ugly antisemitic incidents last week on the streets of the Belgian city of Antwerp, home to a large Jewish community and once a symbol of coexistence on the continent.
The first incident occurred on Friday when a father and his daughter were walking the streets of Antwerp. When the pair passed by a restaurant, a man sitting at the restaurant with his face toward the street stood up, took his wine glass, and threw the liquid directly into the girl's eyes while cursing and shouting "Free Palestine." Immediately afterward, he took the second glass from the person sitting with him at the restaurant and poured it on the girl as well.
Antwerp. 2025.
A Jewish father and daughter are walking down the street when suddenly they're doused with wine, spat on, and screamed at: "F*** Jews!"
Simply because they're Jewish.Anyone who thinks antisemitism is a thing of the past is living a lie.
This isn't an incident.…— Partij Voor Behoud van de Nederlandse Identiteit (@PVBNI) May 16, 2025
When the father and daughter confronted the man, he began shouting at the girl that she was a "child killer," committing "genocide," along with additional vigorous cursing and obscenities. Although passersby and restaurant staff tried to calm him down, he did not stop and continued to curse the Jews whom he did not know at all. Even when it was made clear to the man that he was being recorded, he continued cursing.
"What's sad to discover in the manager's response and the general response of the Belgian public is that first of all they defend the attacker and look to remove responsibility, instead of standing clearly against violence and antisemitism," Ralph Pais, co-founder of the Jewish Information and Documentation Center in Belgium (Joods Informatie & Documentatiecentrum [JID]) said. "Jews are no longer safe in Belgium, and if we look at the demographics in the country, we understand that it will only get worse. If we don't stand up for ourselves, no one will stand up for us; we are alone. And that's not a pleasant message, but it's the truth."
Another prominent incident that occurred just Sunday involved a Jewish child who was walking alone with a kippah on the streets of Antwerp, until a person with a Middle Eastern appearance approached him, shouted "Free Palestine" in his face, and hit him forcefully in his face.
"Antisemitism in Belgium is acceptable today. It's like in the 1930s – you can blame the Jews, and it's met with understanding. Although, unlike the 1930s, fortunately, we have the Jewish state and Jews have somewhere to go, but in the public sphere, there is containment of antisemitic incidents. I think the duty of every Jew in Europe is to defend Israel wherever possible. Unfortunately, I see that there are Jews who, instead of defending Israe,l go against u,s and the media loves them – they show 'Here, there's a Jew who's against Israel.'"
"True, Israel is not perfect, it's a democratic country and it's allowed to criticize Israel, but we need to remember that we only have one country and there are media outlets that exploit Jews to harm Israel, and that also eventually promotes antisemitism and brings it to the street. The Belgian government must take this case as an example and punish this man severely so that others understand that such acts are forbidden, because if they don't punish him severely, then others will understand that there is legitimacy to hurt Jews, and as time passes we feel that this legitimacy is increasing," Pais added.
Just last week, a comprehensive survey conducted in several European countries was published, carried out at the request of the "European Jewish Association" (EJA), headed by Rabbi Menachem Margolin, which examined the level of support and security that European countries provide to Jewish communities.
The survey, conducted by the leading European polling company IPSOS among 4,400 respondents from Germany, France, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium, found that Belgium ranked last among the six countries as the least safe country for Jews among the countries examined. The data collected from the respondents indicated a high sense of alienation toward Jews and minimal support for government intervention regarding support for the security of the country's Jews.
