Belgian Jews plan to sue satirical magazine

Belgian Jews say they are preparing legal action against a highly popular satirical magazine sold in Belgium and the Netherlands, after one of its columnists said he ”wants to shove a sharp knife in the throat of every Jew I come across”.

Yossi Lempkowicz, editor-in-chief of the European Jewish Press, has reported that the European Jewish Association is opening “incitement to murder” proceedings against Herman Brusselmans, a controversial writer whose latest column in Humo magazine attacks Israel. Brusselmans says that Israel’s behaviour towards Gaza and the deaths of Palestinian children makes him so angry that he wants to retaliate physically against Jews. Brusselmans has a weekly column in the magazine and has a well-established reputation for being the “bad boy” of Belgian commentary.

“There is a long-standing law in Belgium against incitement to murder”, Lempkowicz told Jewish News. The EJA chairman, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, has written a furious letter to the Humo magazine’s editor-in-chief, Bart Veneger, demanding that Brusselmans should be suspended and a full apology issued.

Rabbi Margolin, perhaps anticipating that the magazine’s defence would be that it is a satirical publication, said: “There is nothing, nothing even remotely funny, ironic or satirical about the psychopathic incitement to murder Jews”.

And he challenged Bart Veneger: “As editor of a popular magazine we find it incredible that this got past your desk.With antisemitism and anti-Zionism at record levels in Europe, did you really believe it was appropriate to publish this piece?”

Lempkowicz reported the rabbi as saying “we know this is a shock-jock journalist, who pushes the boundaries. But publicly expressing his desire to stab the throat of any Jew he comes across is psychopathic. Given his popularity and infamy, it is also an invitation for others to do likewise. It is completely and utterly out of all bounds.”

In a statement,  DPG Media, which owns and publishes Humo magazine, said: “Herman Brusselmans’ statements are part of a satirical column, not a journalistic article or an interview. For anyone who reads the entire column, it is abundantly clear that Herman did not mean the sentences literally.

“Herman Brusselmans is a celebrated and respected writer who likes to swear and sneer in his many books and texts, eagerly using hyperbole and abusive language. Even more than for other columns, his must be judged by literary and not journalistic standards. With satirical writers such as Herman Brusselmans, what is written should never be taken 100 per cent literally. That is why the editorial staff did not intervene in the text of our columnist”.

In a statement, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), said: “The published words of the well-known Belgian author and public figure Herman Brusselmans, that ‘he wants to ram a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew he meets’, is murderous incitement. Declaring his intent to murder is a shocking criminal offence. His heinous writing cloaked in free speech and legitimate political opinion must be dealt with by utter condemnation and harsh legal action.”