Belgian Green Party Leader Denies Anti-Semitism Accusation Over Palestinian Post

In Belgium, political parties have not remained indifferent to the acts of violence of recent days, opposing Israelis and Palestinians. Several parties in the coalition have condemned Israel, going so far as to call for sanctions against this State, for the dispossession of property belonging to Palestinians, reported 7 sur 7, specifying that the photo denounced, posted on Tuesday in "story" amid tension between Israelis and Palestinians, represents a Palestinian fighter spinning a slingshot, accompanied by the song "Wein Al Malayeen", a hit by Lebanese singer Julia Boutros, known as close to Hezbollah, and which exhorts the Arab people to armed struggle against the "sons of Zion".

"This incitement to action endorsed by the co-president of Ecolo is the climax of an anti-Semitic perversion observed for several years in the head of the Green party," fumes the association, referring to an anti-Israel deputy elected in 2019 and instigator in Belgium of the "BDS" (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement, advocating the boycott of Israel. It also calls for the exclusion of Maouane from the Greens, and for democratic parties to firmly condemn "these extremely dangerous and potentially criminal drifts of a party member of the governing coalition".

Rajae Maouane’s response did not wait: "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," she reacted, continuing: "I regret that such an essential and current struggle as the fight against anti-Semitism can be instrumentalized to disqualify and smear those who call for justice and international law to put an end to this conflict that has lasted too long." "By accompanying this photo with a short excerpt from a song, my intention was in no way to offend anyone. If that is the case, I regret it," she confessed.