The criticism extended beyond the procurement decision to broader actions and statements by Antwerp's mayor, aligning the city with Israeli interests in ways that Mertens and the PVDA find troubling.
Israel has already agreed to revise the lyrics of its potential submission to the song contest after EBU took issue with verses that appeared to reference Hamas' October 7 attack.
“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.”
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.
Two of Belgium’s three regions banned slaughter without stunning in 2017 and 2018, saying that the practice was cruel to animals.
‘It’s something that I’ve never heard before, and it’s a disgrace’ – opposition MP Michael Freilich.
While some countries enforce the mandatory wearing of traditional headwear, several European countries have banned it or are considering banning it in certain public areas.
Antisemitism has long been an issue in European soccer, with one major league, Germany’s Bundesliga, taking steps to curb anti-Jewish sentiment among its fans and at its stadiums.
The paintings, Picasso's "Tête" and Chagall's "L’homme en prière," were stolen from an art collector in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2010 and are worth $900.000.
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