Belgian Green Party Leader Defended Against Anti-Semitism Claims Amid Israel-Palestine Tensions

In a joint statement, "the UPJB, the ABP and De-Colonizer ASBL unconditionally support the co-chair of Ecolo in the face of the slanders she is the victim of, as well as all those who suffer the same campaigns of intimidation because of their commitment to human rights in Israel-Palestine".

Since last Monday, tensions have risen a notch between Palestine and Israel. The next day, Rajae Maouane posted a photo on Instagram accompanied by a song, "Wein Al Malayeen", a hit by Lebanese singer Julia Boutros, known to be close to Hezbollah, reports Belga. We see a Palestinian fighter spinning a slingshot. This publication sparked heated controversy. The LBCA accused "the Ecolo party of promoting contemporary anti-Semitism and its train of violence in our country, which it will have to answer for if and when they should materialize". For her, this publication would incite "the act of passage" and would be "the climax of an anti-Semitic perversion observed for several years in the Green party".

The UPJB, the ABP and De-Colonizer ASBL do not share this opinion. "The incriminated song is indeed a war song, but it contains no trace of calls for hatred of Jews and focuses mainly on the passivity of Arab leaders in the face of Israel, whose war crimes committed at the time were still fresh in memory. And if attacks on civilians, whoever they are, are obviously condemnable, it is difficult to see how the illustration of a stone thrower surrounded by soldiers could mean anything other than support for the legitimate right of Palestinians to resistance. Moreover, no positioning of Ecolo makes it possible to attest to a supposed anti-Semitic drift on its part," explained the three associations, denouncing an instrumentalization of the fight against anti-Semitism.

"I am deeply hurt that I could be attributed anti-Semitic intentions when I have never ceased, in my political and associative commitment, to bring the two communities closer together. Respect, dialogue and the enhancement of cultures are at the heart of my political commitment," reacted Rajae Maouane.