The Mayor of Antwerp Els Van Doesburg said “I am very concerned that we are importing this conflict into our streets, where both a large Jewish community and many people with Palestinian roots live.”
Yet due to the political and social debate, it is difficult to keep this conflict out of the city.
“Above all, I want to ensure that the 173 nationalities in our city feel like Antwerpians and that they all feel safe.”
But this, she stressed, is not the case for the Jewish community: “There is great fear of antisemitism, regardless of their view on the conflict. This week Jewish institutions were daubed with the slogan ‘Jews are child murderers’.”
This is precisely why she and her party, the Flemish nationalist N-VA, want to maintain nuance – something she sometimes misses in other parties.
“Last summer I was at times furious that politicians were using inflammatory language and trying to provoke a conflict here. That makes living together in a city incredibly difficult.”
