Humo’s Brusselmans’ Jew hate was cross-border, says Chairman of Netherlands Central Jewish Committee (CJO) as they – together with European Jewish Association (EJA) – launch legal proceedings against writer and magazine.

November 4, 2024

Humo is sold and read in Netherlands and therefore liable say both groups in a statement announcing the legal case.

Humo Magazine, and its writer Herman Brusselmans, already subject to ongoing legal proceedings in Belgium, are now facing the same pressures in the Netherlands after the principal body representing Dutch Jewry – the CJO together with the Brussels based EJA announced that they have started legal proceedings in Holland.

In a Humo article published in August, Herman Brusselmans wrote the following: “I see an image of a crying and screaming Palestinian boy that is crying inconsolably for his mother who lying under the rubble, and I imagine that the boy is my own son Roman, and the mother is my own girlfriend Lena, and I become so enraged that I want to ram a pointed knife straight into the throat of every Jew I meet.”

The article, despite horrified objections by Jews in Belgium, and indeed across the world, was allowed to remain on Humo pages, and in fact was only retracted under duress and acres of negative coverage. By then the damage had been done.

The legal proceedings have been launched in Holland as the magazine, written in Dutch, is readily available on newstands and in libraries across the country.

Chanan Hertzberger, the Chairman of the CJO, announcing the legal case against Brusselmans and Humo magazine, said in a statement:

“The antisemitic hate perpetuated by Brusselmans was cross-border, aided and abbetted by Humo magazine who acted as the courier to many thousands of readers in Holland.

“As such his antisemitic incitement to murder affects Dutch Jewry in the same way his incitement to murder affects Belgian Jewry. The irresponsibility and lack of Judgement at Humo – in light of the record rises in antisemitism across the continent since October the 7th – is astounding. Their reticence in pulling the piece, that should have been scrunched up and thrown in the editorial bin in the first place does not make them guardians of freedom of speech – as they would have it – but as willing accomplices. This cannot stand. And we at the CJO will not allow it to stand.”

 

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Chairman of the EJA, who along with partners in Belgian Jewish organisations have an ongoing case against the magazine and Brusselmans in the Belgian courts added

“The Brusselmans case is a hugely important one. It goes to the very heart of the battle against antisemitism. As a people denied a voice, or indeed representation throughout history, you will not find bigger advocates for freedom of speech than Jews. But Brusselmans and Humo exploited this freedom is the most disgusting and dangerous way, putting the lives of Jews literally in front of the writer’s pointed knife and in front of every reader he incited to do likewise either unwittingly or not.

 

“We must never allow hate to win and must always hold those that perpetuate it to account for their actions.”

Ends.

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Mogherini in a letter to EJA Chairman: "I have a personal obligation to fight anti-Semitism"

European Union Foreign Minister, Federica Mogherini To the Chairman of the Union of Jewish Organizations in Europe (EJA), Rabbi Menachem Margolin:
“I have a personal obligation to fight anti-Semitism. We must fight every day against those who harm or show contempt for the memory of the Holocaust ”
In light of the growing controversy with the Polish government with regards to the Holocaust Bill, EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini wrote to Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the Union of Jewish Organizations in Europe (EJA), stating her personal commitment to target and combat anti-Semitism.
In a personal letter sent by Mogherini to Rabbi Margolin, she said: “The struggle against anti-Semitism is a personal goal for me. It is 70 Years sonce the Holocaust and manifestations of anti-Semitism and hate crimes are on the rise again in Europe. The European Union cannot exist without the memory of the Holocaust and certainly cannot exist without the Jews of the continent. ” “It is important that our children learn about the Holocaust in schools and visit the camps in order to understand the enormity of the atrocities and to ensure that they never return,” she said.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the Union of Jewish Organizations in Europe (EJA), expressed great appreciation for Mrs Mogherini’s continuing personal commitment to the struggle against anti-Semitism and to preserve Holocaust memory, but warned that “the struggle against anti-Semitism and the memory of the Holocaust cannot be detached from the current political climate in the continent . Only in recent weeks have we been witness not only to attempts to damage the memory of the Holocaust from the ruling party in Poland, but also to attempts to enact laws banning circumcision (Iceland) or imposing scandalous restrictions on kosher slaughter (Poland), severely harming freedom of religion and the very fabric of Jewish life throughout the continent – Principles that are the guiding principles of the European Union, but which the EU is still not doing enough to safeguard and to prevent such legislation. ”

European Jewish Association accuses Belgian magazine of ‘incitement to murder’ Jews

GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL VISITS YAD VASHEM

With a busy schedule ahead of her, Merkel is expected to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa

German Chancellor Angela Merkel went to visit Yad Vashem, the official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, in Jerusalem on Thursday morning.
“Jews in Germany suffered from hatred and violence they had never known before,” Merkel somberly noted at Yad Vashem. “Since then, Germany is always responsible for remembering this crime and for fighting violence, xenophobia and hatred in general.”
Merkel was additionally given the honor of lighting the Eternal Flame and laying a wreath, part of a ceremony to commemorate those passed in the Holocaust, in the name of the German government.
Merkel landed in Israel on Wednesday evening, beginning a two-day visit to Israel. The government-to-government visit was delayed by a year and a half due to disagreements regarding Israel’s settlement policies and approach to the Palestinians.
With a busy schedule ahead of her, Merkel is expected to visit the Israel Museum, visit President Reuven Rivlin and receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa.
The article was published on JPost

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