NEW YORK(VINnews) — For about a hundred years, the Jewish community in Belgium has had a tradition of requesting New Year greetings from national leaders ahead of Rosh Hashanah. These greetings are then shared with the Jewish public through the community’s communication channels.
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However, in the current climate, even sending a simple “Shana Tova” message to the Jewish community has become a political issue.
In a letter received by the Jewish community from the cabinet of the Minister-President of the Flanders region, Matthias Diependaele, the following was written:
“Thank you very much for your kind request and for bringing attention to the special edition for the Jewish New Year. We wish you great success with the publication and appreciate your efforts to shape this initiative.
“After internal discussion, we regret to inform you that, given the current situation and sensitivities regarding tensions in the Middle East, we are unable to grant your request. Anything even remotely connected to that conflict is being closely monitored and examined under a magnifying glass.
“For this reason, we do not consider it appropriate to comment further on the matter. We hope for your understanding and thank you again for your involvement.”
The Jewish community was shocked by this letter, and the matter quickly escalated into a public controversy that reached the Minister-President himself, the head of a government that oversees nearly half of Belgium’s territory. It became clear that the justification of refusing to issue a “Happy New Year” greeting due to the Middle East situation was, to say the least, problematic.
However, instead of admitting a mistake and sending a proper greeting, Diapendaele responded with a new letter, this time signed personally by him and not just by his office or cabinet advisors. In it, he wrote:
“I have learned that a controversy has erupted over my refusal to respond to the request below. Therefore, I wish to clarify something. My refusal does not stem from the situation in the Middle East, as was incorrectly presented in the previous message from my cabinet.
“I want to share my personal motive: My refusal is solely based on the principle that, for over 15 years in public office, I have not supported religious activities. I have never accepted invitations to Muslim Eid celebrations. I have never attended Catholic Te Deum services. And so on.
“This is not in any way a judgment of any religion or those who practice it. However, I am convinced that no religion, including my own, plays any role in fulfilling my mandate. I hope I can count on your mutual respect on this matter.”
This response further angered the Jewish community, as well as other politicians. Member of Parliament Sam Van Rooy of the Vlaams Belang party harshly criticized the Minister:
“To me, this proves it’s madness, if the cabinet of the Minister-President of Flanders is being influenced by far-left activists who are either antisemitic or cowards, or both,” said Van Rooy.
He accused the ruling N-VA party, which had initially shown strong support for Israel after October 7, of now turning against Israel under pressure from the political left, including elements within its own coalition.
“The letter he sent afterward is like rubbing salt in the wound, it makes things even worse,” added Van Rooy. “He still refuses to wish Jews a ‘Happy New Year’ because he wants to remain neutral. That’s just nonsense.
“The Minister-President of Flanders is a coward who keeps coming up with more excuses not to wish Jews a good year—especially now, when Jews are under attack and antisemitism is skyrocketing in the streets of Antwerp and Brussels.
“This is the time to show support for Jews and to wish them well. This is simply a disgrace.”
Whats the chidush they should want us to have a happy year? they dont want us to have a happy minute, they dont want us period, its called antisemitism.
To make mohalim criminals they also want to brake antisemitic boundries.
The jews in Belgium will have a happy new year if the minister- president wishes them or not ,the question should be if the minister-president if he will have a happy new year
Excuse me, but with all the countries in the world supporting a Palestinian state, the withholding of “ Shana Tovah” is of little significance.
Outside of the NYC metro area, very few cable and and local stations in the USA, wish their Jewish viewers greetings for Rosh Hashanah. The same holds true for the other major Jewish holidays. The only time that they wish their Jewish viewers any greetings (and this is not always the case), is for Chanukah, since the average gentile equates Chanukah, which is a minor holiday, with a major gentile holiday, which occurs at the end of December.