By: Fern Sidman

In the early hours of Monday morning, a synagogue in the eastern Belgian city of Liège became the latest symbol of a disturbing trend spreading across Europe: the resurgence of overt antisemitism that increasingly manifests not only in rhetoric but also in acts of violence. The apparent bombing of the Jewish house of worship has jolted the country’s Jewish community, prompting urgent calls for stronger security measures and a broader national reckoning with the persistence of anti-Jewish prejudice.

Jewish leaders and security experts say the attack reflects a troubling escalation that has been building steadily in Belgium since the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, an event that unleashed waves of antisemitic hostility across many Western societies. According to report on Wednesday in The Algemeiner, the Liège bombing has intensified fears that the climate for Jews in Belgium is deteriorating at an alarming pace.

For many community members, the attack has become a stark reminder that antisemitism—long considered a relic of Europe’s darker past—remains deeply embedded in contemporary social and political discourse.

The gravity of the situation was underscored by Yves Oschinsky, president of the Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium (CCOJB), who delivered a blunt warning during an interview with the Belgian news outlet La Première. Oschinsky urged the government to deploy military forces to guard Jewish institutions if existing police protection proves inadequate.

“We must ensure that Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers are secure,” he said, emphasizing that the level of threat facing the community may be far greater than officials publicly acknowledge.

As detailed in coverage by The Algemeiner, Oschinsky criticized the Belgian government for failing to appoint a national coordinator to combat antisemitism, a role that Jewish advocacy groups have long argued is essential for coordinating security measures, monitoring threats, and developing long-term strategies to address rising hostility.

His remarks highlight growing frustration within Belgium’s Jewish population, which increasingly feels vulnerable in the face of both violent attacks and a broader cultural environment in which antisemitic narratives appear to be gaining renewed traction.

The attack on the Liège synagogue occurred shortly before dawn on Monday, when an explosive device struck the building in what authorities believe was an antisemitic act. While no fatalities were reported, the damage to the synagogue and the symbolic weight of the attack reverberated throughout the country.

Jewish leaders immediately condemned the bombing as a sign that antisemitic hostility has crossed a dangerous threshold. “The attack on the synagogue in Liège confirms that it is no longer just antisemitic speech that has been unleashed, but antisemitic acts as well,” a new report from the Jonathas Institute, a Brussels-based research organization, stated.

According to The Algemeiner report, the institute’s analysis warns that aggressive antisemitism is not only spreading but also becoming increasingly normalized in public discourse.

Statistics compiled by Belgium’s Interfederal Center for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism and Discrimination (Unia) reveal a striking surge in antisemitic incidents. In 2025, authorities recorded 192 reports of antisemitism and Holocaust denial, following a record 270 incidents in 2024. The sharp rise represents a dramatic increase compared with previous years.

Before the October 7 attacks in Israel, Belgium had documented only 31 antisemitic cases in 2022. The sudden escalation underscores how geopolitical events in the Middle East can trigger social tensions thousands of miles away.

The Algemeiner report indicated that experts warn that such spikes in antisemitism often follow periods of intense international focus on Israel, particularly when political rhetoric surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes polarized.

Beyond individual incidents of violence, the Jonathas Institute’s newly released study paints a troubling portrait of deeply entrenched antisemitic attitudes within Belgian society. Survey data collected in Brussels revealed that 40 percent of respondents believe Jews control the financial and banking sectors, a stereotype that has circulated in antisemitic propaganda for centuries.

Equally alarming, one in four respondents blamed Jews for various economic crises, perpetuating a long-standing conspiracy theory that portrays Jewish communities as secret manipulators of global finance. The findings suggest that these views are often expressed casually and without overt hostility, which researchers warn can make them more insidious. When stereotypes become normalized, experts say, they create fertile ground for discrimination and violence.

The survey also revealed persistent perceptions of Jews as outsiders within Belgian society. More than 20 percent of respondents said Jews are “not Belgians like the others,” while 21 percent described Jews as an “unassimilable race.” Such views evoke echoes of ideologies that once dominated European political movements during the early twentieth century. In addition, 70 percent of respondents said they believed Jews form a “closed or tight-knit community.”

While the perception may appear benign at first glance, researchers caution that such characterizations often feed narratives portraying Jews as insular or disloyal—an accusation historically used to justify persecution. As The Algemeiner noted in its coverage, scholars of antisemitism frequently emphasize that these stereotypes form the foundation upon which more explicit forms of hostility are built.

One of the most striking findings in the Jonathas Institute’s report concerns attitudes toward Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. Approximately 39 percent of Belgians surveyed claimed that “Jews are doing to Palestinians what the Nazis did to them.” This comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany has become increasingly common in political debates about the Middle East, particularly among younger demographics. According to the study, individuals aged 18 to 35 were significantly more likely to make such comparisons.

Researchers warn that these narratives blur the line between legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and rhetoric that demonizes Jews collectively. As The Algemeiner reported, many Jewish organizations view such comparisons as a form of modern antisemitism, particularly when they invoke Holocaust imagery to delegitimize Israel’s existence.

The study also examined attitudes within political subcultures, revealing troubling patterns among extremist groups. Within far-right circles, the survey found that 69 percent believe Jews exploit the Holocaust, while 72 percent claim Jews use antisemitism accusations to advance their own interests. Such claims mirror conspiracy theories widely circulated in online forums and extremist propaganda networks.

Experts caution that these narratives can serve as ideological gateways to more radical forms of antisemitism. According to analysts quoted in The Algemeiner report, the proliferation of these beliefs underscores the importance of monitoring extremist rhetoric in both digital and offline spaces.

In response to the findings, the Jonathas Institute urged policymakers to take decisive action to combat antisemitism at its roots. The organization recommended expanding Holocaust education programs, strengthening digital literacy initiatives, and closely monitoring online platforms where antisemitic narratives often spread unchecked.

Researchers also emphasized the importance of adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which provides a widely recognized framework for identifying and addressing anti-Jewish hatred.

The IHRA definition, adopted in 2016, has since been endorsed by hundreds of governmental institutions worldwide, including the United States State Department, the European Union, and the United Nations. As The Algemeiner has reported, the definition includes contemporary examples of antisemitism, such as denying Israel’s right to exist or applying double standards to the Jewish state that are not demanded of other democratic nations.

Supporters argue that adopting the IHRA framework would help Belgian authorities more effectively distinguish between legitimate political debate and rhetoric that crosses into antisemitic territory.

For many observers, the events unfolding in Belgium represent part of a broader pattern across Europe. In recent years, Jewish communities in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other countries have reported similar increases in antisemitic incidents. Synagogues have been vandalized, Jewish schools placed under armed guard, and individuals targeted for harassment or assault.

The bombing of the Liège synagogue has therefore become more than a local tragedy; it is a symbol of a wider challenge confronting European societies.  As The Algemeiner report noted in its analysis, the resurgence of antisemitism in Western democracies raises urgent questions about the resilience of pluralism and the effectiveness of existing legal protections.

For Belgium’s Jewish population the coming months may prove decisive. Community leaders are calling not only for enhanced security but also for a national conversation about the persistence of antisemitic stereotypes.

Oschinsky’s demand for military protection underscores the severity of the moment. Jewish institutions across the country already operate under heavy security measures, yet the Liège attack has revealed the limits of those safeguards.

The fear among many community members is that without stronger action, violence could escalate further.

Ultimately, the warning issued by Belgium’s Jewish community extends beyond their own security. History has repeatedly shown that antisemitism rarely remains confined to a single minority group. Instead, it often signals deeper societal fractures that can threaten democratic institutions themselves.

As The Algemeiner emphasized in its reporting, confronting antisemitism requires more than reactive measures—it demands sustained political leadership, education, and vigilance. Whether Belgium’s government will heed that warning remains to be seen. But after the bombing in Liège, one reality has become impossible to ignore: the ancient hatred that once devastated Europe has not vanished. It has merely been waiting for the moment to reemerge.