Belgian official: Terrorists hide ‘like Jews during WWII’

There was ‘no intention to hurt Jews,’ interior minister later says; comparison related to ‘mechanics of hiding’

By Sue Surkes

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14 April 2016, 1:19 pm

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Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

Belgium vice prime minister Jan Jambon arrives at the European Commission to take part in a ceremony in memory of the victims of Brussels' terror attacks on March 23, 2016 in Brussels. (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

Belgium’s deputy prime minister and interior minister sparked fury after a Flemish TV interview on Saturday in which he compared terrorists hiding out in Brussels with the aid of accomplices to Jews who hid with the assistance of Belgians during the Nazi occupation.

Former MP and Antwerp city council member Claude Marinower, who is Jewish, tweeted about Jan Jambon’s comments, telling a Jewish website, Regards, that he didn’t believe the story until he saw a video of the interview.

On Monday, he told the Jewish website Regard that a comparison between the terrorists and Nazis hiding out in South America would have been more appropriate.

“The comparison made by Jan Jambon was outrageous and unacceptable in relation to all those who endangered themselves to save Jews during the war,” he said, adding that he was not accusing the minister of an intentional slur.

A spokesman for Jambon, Olivier Van Raemdonck, said: “Mr. Jambon had no intention whatsoever of harming the Jewish population of our country. On the contrary, he is not comparing Jews with terrorists. He was just referring to a fact during Belgian history; hiding people was something positive. What’s happening in Brussels today is not. The term Mr Jambon used related to the mechanics of hiding.”