Vlaams Belang MP, Filip Dewinter, recently posed with a flag Belgian fascist organisation from the interwar period, while captioning the social media with a Nazi motto.
On the occasion of the birthday of a member of his party, the Antwerp native posted a photo on Instagram showing him with the fascist banner of the flag of Verdinaso.
Under the photo, Dewinter wrote "Onze eer is trouw," a direct reference to the motto of the SS under Nazi Germany, "Meine Ehre heißt Treue" (my honour is loyalty).
The Forum of Jewish Organisations (FJO) responded to Jewish daily Joods Actueel, saying it was "scandalised" and speaking of “the true nature of Vlaams Belang” coming to the surface.
FJO chair Regina Sluszny referred to Vlaams Belang's "strategic support for the Jewish community", behind which, however, "the same ideological breeding ground still lurks: one that flirts with fascism, glorifies an authoritarian past, and promotes historical revisionism."
During the Antwerp city council meeting on Monday evening, VB city councillor Sam Van Rooy raised the growing problem of anti-Semitism in the city, not for the first time, and asked the city council for a concrete action plan.
However, N-VA councillor Michael Freilich referred to Dewinter's photo. "Van Rooy says that anti-Semitism often involves young Muslims, but sometimes it also involves white, older men."
