Le Soir en Ligne, le 17/10/2002

Ghetto? No thanks…

The time has perhaps come for the Jews from Belgium to sound the end of the recreation and to send back to their dear studies the few extreme rightists excited ones, Belgians or Israelis (see for instance " Le Soir " of the 27/9), who prevail among them. There are months now that these self proclaimed spokemen of the "silent majority" of the Judaism multiply amalgams, insults and exclusions against the Jews which have the misfortune not to support in an unconditional way the current Israeli government. Who, in the community, is not pro-Sharon is an ashamed Jew or one filled up with hatred of oneself. At best, an idiot, in the worst case a traitor, in any case, a blind man who does not even realize that he lives in a savagely anti-semit country (a continent, a planet, a galaxy?).

Because, to this will of putting things straight internally, overall attacks against Belgium presented like basically antijew are added: the government would not cease criticizing Israel, justice of creating problems to Ariel Sharon, the population of launching pogroms against the synagogues. As for the press, it would not have anything to envy the one of Germany in the Thirties - especially " Le Soir " and the RTBF (state radio TV), as per happenstance, the two most significant political media of the country. It would only be ridiculous if it were not known, precisely since Goebbels (minister Nazi of Propaganda, NDLR), that an often enough-repeated lie can become a truth, especially with people traumatized by the terrifying sufferings of the Israeli population.

Let us point out some realities. On the one hand, nobody has quality to speak neither in the name of the whole Belgian Judaism nor in the one of its silent majority (no one did receive mandate neither to grant patents of Judaism or Zionism). On the other hand, the Jews are distributed on the whole of the political chessboard, from the extreme right to the extreme left. And, if they are one crushing majority to support the existence of the State of Israel, that is not an automatic approval neither of its policy nor of its leaders.

It is, in addition, as a forgery as it is insulting to claim that Belgium would be an antijews country. It is the opposite as a matter of fact: since 1945, our successive governments did not cease bringing to the community, openly or discreetly, all possible assistance. The population is not more antisemitic, except for two minuscule groups: a small part of the Arab community (joined by some hooligans as depolitized as thirsty of destruction) and a part of the extreme right-hand sides (the other supporting Israel … by hate of the Arabs).

As for the press? Me neither, I do not like the articles that " Le Soir " (and other newspapers) devotes to the Middle East, same for TV reports. They make me sick and I prefer by far the time when the media braided laurel wreathes to Rabin and Peres squeezing the hand of Arafat under the benevolent eye of Clinton, before the extremists of the two sides joined in destroying the Oslo process of peace.

The explanation of such a change of attitude could be that the whole of the journalists of the Belgian press (and European) became anti-semitic. But, if the image of Israel tends to go down in the mind of the public, wouldn't this be rather because its current government follows disastrous policies, short and long term? More precisely, and even if they made, or have let make, some mistakes, I want it to pay homage to the journalists of the " Soir ": working under the difficult conditions of a daily newspaper, unceasingly subject to the pressure of the daily news, they ply their trade without aiming at an improbable objectivity, but seriously and honestly as required by their ethic.

Of course, those who launch these attacks are not unaware of all that. If they proceed so, it is first with the hope of intimidating the government and the media. But especially to make believe to the Jews that they are alone and rejected in order to lock them up in a kind of "mental ghetto" similar to those, quite real, where their ancestors lived with such hardship at one time. However, if "everyone is against the Jews", isn't the escape to Israel the logical solution? That some sorcerer's apprentices play with this kind of fire; ultimately it is their own business. As it is the job of the media to do their job. And that of the free Jews of this country to make their opinions known and to answer these little Machiavellis with "the ghetto? No thanks"…

Columnist Ouri Wesoly Former head of the staff of « Regards », monthly of the Jewish secularist Community Center, author of ' " Shall Israel survive in 2048? (Editions Luc Pire)