The cancellation of a lecture by Belgian-Palestinian Professor Bichara Khader is “concerning, as it reflects polarisation and an intolerance for debate,” the left-wing Jewish collective Golem Belgique said on Tuesday.
The collective noted that this was part of “a long series of event cancellations related in some way to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Professor Khader was scheduled to deliver a lecture on Europe’s role in Palestine on Friday, 7 February, at the invitation of the UCL-ULB Waterloo interuniversity branch. However, Waterloo Mayor Florence Reuter cancelled the event due to security concerns.
Le Soir newspaper reported that protest letters against the lecture were sent to the local government. One letter mentioned: “You are well aware that part of the Jewish community in Belgium moved from Brussels to Waterloo to expose our children less to the barbaric anti-Semitism of some.”
The decision to cancel the lecture left Professor Khader bewildered.
He said he was “shocked” and explained to RTBF that “it is the first time one of my interventions is prevented by pressure from a pro-Israel lobby.”
Khader is the founder of the Centre for Studies and Research on the Contemporary Arab World at UCLouvain and the author of 30 books.
He is frequently consulted by media on current events in the Mediterranean and Arab countries.
In recent months, several other events related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have also been cancelled in Belgium.
PolitiK, an international political film forum, decided on 3 December to cancel a debate in Liège on the “Geopolitics of Democracy.”
The organisers had received threats, this time related to the appearance of former Israeli Ambassador to France, Elie Barnavi.
