Belgium

Government & Politics

Europe turning blind eye to Hamas and Hezbollah networks in its territory, experts say Analysts say terror groups operate largely unchecked, running charities, lobbying public opinion and recruiting supporters — and the legal means to stop them are scant

April 12, 2024   

(Times of Israel) A stash of weapons was found hidden under a pine tree in southern Bulgaria last week. The arms were linked to four suspected Hamas members arrested in Germany and the Netherlands in December on suspicion of preparing an attack […]

Clerics & Preachers

Chikli to ‘Post’: Radical Islam rampant in pro-Hamas and anti-Israel Belgium 'Belgium along with Spain lead the most pro-Hamas and anti-Israel line in all of Europe, and it’s no wonder that with them, radical Islam is rampant.'

February 18, 2024   

(Jerusalem Post) Radical Islam is running rampant in Belgium as the European country takes a pro-Hamas and anti-Israel stance, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday night in response to an imam reciting a Quranic verse about warfare […]

Clerics & Preachers

Imam recites Quran at Belgian parliament, calling for killing, kidnapping of Jews Since the war in Gaza began, between October 7 and December 7, Belgium's anti-discrimination agency registered 91 reported incidents related to the conflict, exceeding the 57 recorded in 2022.

February 17, 2024   

(Jerusalem Post) An imam at the Belgian parliament last week began reciting a verse from the Quran that explicitly calls on Muslims to kill and take Jews captive. The Quran excerpt is verse 33:26 from the Al-Ahzab surah (chapter). It translates to: […]

Animals

Top European rights court upholds ban on ritual animal slaughter After losing their case at the EU’s top court in Luxembourg, a coalition of Muslims and Jews turned to the European Court of Human Rights.

February 13, 2024   

(Courthouse News) Europe’s top rights court upheld a ban on killing livestock without first stunning them, finding on Tuesday that animal welfare could trump religious practice. A mixed-faith group of people and organizations brought the complaint to the European Court of Human […]

Government & Politics

‘Hamas is operating in Belgium, but we can’t do anything about it’ — interview ‘It’s something that I’ve never heard before, and it’s a disgrace’ — opposition MP Michael Freilich.

February 13, 2024   

(Jerusalem Post) MP Michael Freilich from the opposition New Flemish Alliance party recounted his astonishment at the response of Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt, who openly admitted as a response to his inquiry that there indeed are groups who operate in Belgium […]

Legal

France and Belgium in legal battle over Islamist terrorist Belgian lawyers and the French left have taken up the Paris 2015 attacker’s cause.

February 13, 2024   

(European Conservative) On Wednesday, February 7th, French Justice Minister Éric [Dupond]-Moretti announced the arrival on French soil of the terrorist Salah Abdeslam, who until then had been imprisoned in Belgium, to serve an “irreducible life imprisonment” (perpétuité incompressible) — a penalty that […]

Legal

European prosecutors adopt harsher sentences towards female ISIS returnees New book shows how different countries are adapting to an increase in female extremists behind bars

January 31, 2024   

(National-UAE) European prosecutors are adopting harsher sentences towards female ISIS returnees as their numbers increase due to government repatriation programmes from prison camps in north-east Syria, a new book published by Dutch counter-terrorism think tank ICCT has found. “Women can be both […]

Government & Politics

Israel-Hamas war poses long-term security threat, Belgian minister warns Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden tells POLITICO ‘flammability’ will likely continue even beyond any ceasefire.

January 2, 2024   

(Politico) The Israel-Hamas war has created a long-term threat to European security that is likely to last beyond any ceasefire, Belgium’s Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden has warned. Several countries, including Belgium, have raised their security threat level after terror attacks carried out […]

Clothing

It’s OK to ban wearing religious symbols at work, EU top court rules A public administration may prohibit staff from wearing items such as an Islamic headscarf, CJEU says.

November 28, 2023   

(Politico) The EU’s top court on Tuesday ruled that a public administration may ban staff from visibly wearing any sign which reveals philosophical or religious beliefs, in order to create a “neutral administrative environment.” “Such a rule is not discriminatory if it […]

Government & Politics

Belgium’s terror attack blunders tarnish its upcoming EU presidency Tunisia reveals that it had previously requested the extradition of gunman Abdesalem Lassoued — but that a prosecutor allowed the request to collect dust.

October 29, 2023   

(Politico) Belgium had big plans for its upcoming Council presidency. But its handling of the October 16 shooting spree by Tunisian gunman Abdesalem Lassoued, which left two Swedish football supporters dead, has since led to a series of embarrassing revelations. Lassoued was […]

Internet

Lone wolf terrorists in Europe are not so lonely anymore — who is radicalising and recruiting them? Europol warns that lone actors will carry out the majority of terrorist attacks in the EU — with Islamist terrorism the biggest threat in Western Europe.

October 26, 2023   

(Euronews) Just a week ago, Abdesalem Lassoued plunged the city of Brussels into chaos. Not even his wife or his closest friends knew that the Tunisian, who was in Belgium illegally, was about to commit an act of terrorism. After he shot […]