Anderlecht has dismissed comments by the US ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, following his visit to an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the Kuregem district, with Mayor Fabrice Cumps accusing him of unwelcome interference.
The row follows an act of vandalism at the Brussels Orthodox Jewish community’s synagogue on Kliniekstraat in Anderlecht during the night of 27 to 28 October when someone threw a cobblestone through a third-floor window.
White described the incident as a clear act of antisemitism. On Saturday, he visited the synagogue with Israel’s ambassador, David Saranga.
During the visit, White spoke of what he said was a need for military protection at the synagogue, and said he would raise money himself to strengthen security around the site.
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He also said he wanted to organise together with the Israeli and Moroccan ambassadors a “major concert and celebration for religious freedom” in the neighbourhood, adding that he would contact Mayor Cumps "soon."
The mayor said communication between the different communities in the area was already working very well. He noted that the synagogue and the neighbourhood committee regularly organise activities and concerts in the synagogue that are open to all residents.
He also pointed to the municipal Council for Faiths, Belief and Secularism, saying relations between the various communities were excellent. According to Cumps, joint events are organised regularly, and the ambassador should “mind his own business.”
Cumps has now joined earlier criticism from Philippe Markiewicz of the Central Israelite Consistory of Belgium, who said that “it is not up to President Trump, nor his ambassador, to deal with the situation in Belgium and Anderlecht, whatever their good intentions.”
