Life For Belgian Jews Feeling More Precarious
candle, magick, religion belief 0 Comments »
"JEWISH LEADERS IN BELGIUM REACTED STRONGLY TO SATURDAY'S MURDEROUS ATTACK AT A JEWISH MUSEUM IN BRUSSELS, VOWING THAT COMMUNAL LIFE IN THE WESTERN EUROPEAN NATION WILL CONTINUE NORMALLY DESPITE THE LOSS OF LIFE."Three people were killed outright and a fourth died later of his wounds after a gunman walked into the museum and opened fire with a rifle.
Two of the dead were Emanuel and Miriam Riva, a middle-aged Jewish couple on vacation from Tel Aviv; a French woman and a Belgian man were also killed.
The gunman, who is still at large, was shown wearing a baseball cap and carrying a large duffel bag on security footage released by city police on Sunday afternoon.
"COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS WILL REMAIN OPEN AND "JEWISH LIFE WILL CONTINUE IN BELGIUM, MAURICE SOSNOWSKI, PRESIDENT OF THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF BELGIAN JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS (CCOJB), TOLD THE JERUSALEM POST ON SUNDAY."
"We are shocked, but not destroyed," he asserted, disputing recent remarks by some expressing skepticism regarding the continuing viability of Jewish life on the continent.
"THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS MADE WAVES RECENTLY WHEN HE TOLD REPORTERS IN TEL AVIV THAT, WITHOUT A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE FEAR AND INSECURITY PLAGUING EUROPEAN JEWRY, NORMATIVE JEWISH LIFE THERE WILL QUICKLY BECOME "UNSUSTAINABLE."
Belgian Jewry can get through the current tragedy just as their coreligionists have survived two millennia of exile, Sosnowski declared. "WE CANNOT SAY THIS THAT IT IS OVER AND WE HAVE TO MOVE."
Sosnowski's assertive tone, however, is starkly at odds with recent research indicating that many members of his community are unsure of their collective and individual futures.
"SEVENTY-SEVEN PERCENT OF BELGIAN JEWS TERMED ANTI-SEMITISM A "VERY BIG" OR "FAIRLY BIG" PROBLEM IN A POLL CONDUCTED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION'S AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA) LAST YEAR, WHILE A 40 PERCENT INDICATED THAT THEY HAD CONSIDERED EMIGRATION AT SOME POINT OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS DUE TO A FEELING OF INSECURITY."Many Jews are reluctant to go in public wearing a kippa or any other garment that could identify them as Jewish or to visit institutions run by the community, Tel Aviv University anti-Semitism researcher Prof.
"WE HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE IMPORTING OF THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT IN BELGIUM"," said Raphael Werner, president of the FORUM der Joodse Organisaties, an umbrella organization representing a number of Flemish Jewish bodies. "A LOT OF POLITICIANS ARE PRO-PALESTINIANS AND THEY DON'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEWS AND ISRAELIS"."Read the full story here.
Reference: mysteryvoodoo.blogspot.com
