Posters denouncing hatred of Jews were torn down from the walls of the Université libre de Bruxelles (“Free University of Brussels”) campus on Wednesday, Belgian daily La Libre reports.
These acts were condemned by the Union of Jewish Students in Belgium (UEJB), which has launched a poster campaign to denounce antisemitism and the passivity of university authorities.
(There are two universities whose names mean the “Free University of Brussels” in English: the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel.)
The students’ campaign echoed another by the university, dating from March, in which the school said it wished to “fight against all forms of discrimination,” and reiterated this through posters featuring slogans such as “Ici, on sème la liberté” (“Here, we sow freedom”), “Ici, on cultiver la tolérance” (“Here, we cultivate tolerance”), and “Ici, on se remet en question, on doute, on débat, on nuance” (“Here, we question, we doubt, we debate, we nuance”).
Taking up the codes of the university’s posters, the Union of Jewish Students posters read “Ici, on exclut, on agresse, on insulte des Juifs” (“Here, Jews are excluded, attacked and insulted”) or “Ici, on traite les Juifs de sales sionistes” (“Here, Jews are called dirty Zionists”).
On its social networks, including Instagram, the Union of Jewish Students expressed dismay after its posters were removed.
“All the UEJB posters denouncing antisemitism have been torn down. As have all those which, since October 7, [2023], evoke—directly or indirectly—Judaism, Jews, memory or the fight against antisemitism.”
Over recent months, Jewish students have been the victims of violence on university campuses in Belgium, and have spoken out to denounce the excesses they have suffered as part of pro-Palestinian activities. At the Université libre de Bruxelles, Jewish students say they don’t feel safe.
The UEJB has repeatedly denounced the passivity of the university’s governing bodies. “While the ULB rolls out its façade messages, it willfully ignores the realities that Jewish students have been experiencing on its campuses for over a year and a half: harassment, verbal and physical aggression, exclusion from auditoriums, intimidation …, ” the student group said in a statement.
Asked for a reaction, the university authorities didn’t respond by press time.
Last week, the student group deplored the invitation to the campus of a speaker “whose social networks unambiguously display support for Hamas and signs of allegiance to the Islamic State.”
The university’s rectorate responded by stating that nothing on the speaker’s social networks “unquestionably” justified a ban.
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
