Not in Our Name!

Belgian Jews denounce Israel’s Crimes and Europe’s Inaction

May 13, 2025

As Belgian Jews, we are deeply committed to the humanist values inherited from our history. It is in the name of these values that we express our outrage at the suffering currently being inflicted by the State of Israel on the Palestinian people.

In Gaza: relentless bombings, with civilian deaths already exceeding 52,000, including over 15,000 children; the deliberate organization of famine; targeted killing of journalists and medical personnel; the total sealing-off of the territory; and ethnic cleansing. In the West Bank: unchecked violence by fanatical settlers, with the encouragement of the government and the support of the army.

These massacres, which constitute genocide according to many international legal experts and human rights organizations, concern us and implicate us directly.

They implicate us as citizens of the European Union. Europe cannot remain indifferent to this carnage unfolding on its doorstep. Despite the undeniable scale of these atrocities — which no one can ignore anymore — the EU has taken no appropriate measure. It has not suspended its association agreement with Israel, has not banned arms deliveries, has not recalled its diplomatic staff, and has taken no action against violent settlers, many of whom hold dual nationality. The persistent inaction of our governments in the face of these massacres amounts to an admission of complicity. We are ashamed.

They implicate us as Jews. The confusion between the State of Israel and Jews around the world is maintained from all sides. For much of public opinion, being Jewish means blindly supporting the State of Israel no matter what it does. This is one of the main drivers of the resurgence of antisemitism.

Jewish communities are not monolithic. Like all human groups, they include a diversity of opinions. But across the globe — starting with the United States, home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel — more and more Jews are now declaring, “Not in our name.” So are we.

We do not deny our roots. Many of us have family backgrounds that connect us closely to Israel’s Jewish population. We were horrified by the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. We remain in solidarity with the Israeli families who anxiously and hopefully await the return of the hostages still held. But that does not justify remaining silent in the face of the crimes committed since.

In the face of these crimes, we say: Not in our name.

We say “Not in our name” to the Belgian and European authorities who seek to spare a state governed by the far right and cherished by today’s fascist movements around the world. Eight decades after the Liberation, while “Never again” is repeated like a mantra, we — the descendants of survivors of the greatest genocide perpetrated on European soil — refuse to let our memory be instrumentalized to justify the unjustifiable.

We say “Not in our name” to our fellow citizens who sympathize with the Palestinian cause. We share their aspiration for justice in this wounded land — a justice that requires the end of colonization and occupation, the prosecution of war criminals, and full equality of individual and collective rights for both peoples living between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river, in forms they will determine themselves.

As Jews from Belgium, we call on Belgian and European political leaders to end all complacency toward a criminal government and to impose sanctions proportional to the gravity of the crimes committed.

History will judge. There is still time to choose the side of justice and humanity.