Soldiers deployed in Belgium amid rise in antisemitic attacks
Troops have been seen in Liege, Brussels and Antwerp after an explosion took place at a Belgian synagogue that authorities called an antisemitic act
Soldiers have been deployed on the streets of Belgium to protect its Jewish communities after a rise in antisemitic attacks across the country.
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Troops have been seen in Liege, Brussels and Antwerp after an explosion took place at a Belgian synagogue that authorities called an antisemitic act.
The move was confirmed Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken, who said the soldiers will work in collaboration with federal police to provide security at Jewish sites, including synagogues and schools.
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Antwerp “is again a little safer…. the Jewish community too. We say NO to antisemitism!”, Mr Francken said.
Antisemitic attacks have also been reported in the neighbouring Netherlands, with an arson attack taking place on a synagogue in Rotterdam and an explosion at a Jewish school in Amsterdam.
Dutch police have arrested five suspects, aged 17 to 19, over the synagogue attack in Rotterdam.
Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organisation in north London were also set ablaze on Monday.
There have been concerns raised about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world following the launch of the US and Israeli war on Iran.
Yves Oschinsky, president of the Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organisations, said: "We always need to have protection, to have security.
"We need security for our children, for the schools, for the youth movements.
"Our children must be totally protected when they have any communitarian activity. Especially now because we are very much concerned before the attack, but certainly more since the attack in Liege.
"We are somehow reassured, but we are never without concern."