Belgian watchdog complains over anti-Semitic sign
‘Dogs are allowed in this establishment, Jews are not under any circumstances,’ reads text at entrance to cafe
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A Belgian watchdog on anti-Semitism complained to the mayor of a suburb of Liege against owners of a cafe whose window display featured a sign that said Jews were not allowed inside.
The Belgian League Against anti-Semitism, or LBCA, filed the complaint Wednesday against the parties responsible for hanging a Turkish and French language sign at a cafe in Saint-Nicolas, a town located just east of the southern city of Liege.
The Turkish text reads: “Dogs are allowed in this establishment but Jews are not under any circumstances.” The French text replaces “Jews” with “Zionists.”
Following the LBCA complaint, the mayor of Saint-Nicolas, Jacques Heleven, dispatched police to the cafe, who had the sign removed and confirmed the LBCA report.
The window display also included a Palestinian flag, an Israeli flag crossed out with a red “X” sign, and a keffiyeh, or Palestinian shawl, draped around it.
“LBCA will file in the coming hours a criminal complaint with the Liege prosecutor over the actions of those responsible for this violation of the July 30 law against racism and xenophobia of 1981,” LBCA said in a statement.
Last week, the Belgian Jewish newspaper Joods Actueel reported that a shop owner in Antwerp had refused to sell an Orthodox Jewish woman clothes “out of protest.” An employee confirmed that the shop had temporarily adopted a policy of not selling to Jews.
Western Europe has seen a significant rise in anti-Semitic hate speech and attacks – including against nine synagogues in France – since Israel launched its Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza on July 8, following multiple launching of rockets from Gaza into Israeli cities and towns.
The Times of Israel Community.