Antwerp, Belgium: Europe and the Arabs

The mayor of Antwerp, in northern Belgium, Els Van Doesburg (of the New Flemish Alliance party), announced before the city council that the Israeli flag would continue to fly over Antwerp's city hall this summer as well, due to disagreements. Local media, including the newspaper Nieuwsblad, reported that the dispute between the two coalition partners, the New Flemish Alliance and the Voreit party, persists on this issue, and therefore the situation remains unchanged "due to disagreements." The health website published a photo of the Israeli flag flying over the city hall. According to the same source, Van Doesburg was questioned about this by council member Peter Mertens, of the Flemish People's Alliance party, who also called last year for the flag not to be flown because of the conflict in Gaza. He said, "It is not appropriate for this flag to be on the facade of our city hall during the tourist season. A lot has changed in the last year, but unfortunately not for the better." He added that the flag is a symbol of the conflict, and that raising it is "a political signal of normalization." The Groen party and the Christian Democratic and Flemish Democratic Alliance also called for the flag not to be flown, while Vlaams Belang wanted it to be.

Speaking on behalf of the Voorwegt party, the governing party, Kathleen van Brempet called on Van Doesburg to issue a message "confirming our support and understanding for all segments of our city's population." Van Brempet referred, among other things, to the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which is currently under scrutiny, and spoke of the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the "impunity" that, she said, prevails there.

Van Doesburg offered a primarily technical explanation of the city's flag protocol, and how, based on that, there was no reason to stop the Israeli flag from being flown. She said: "A neutral framework has been established that takes into account the diplomatic regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The city council is a reflection of the city's character, and therefore there are different sensitivities as well. In the absence of consensus, the flag protocol remains as is."

Nevertheless, Van Doesburg emphasized that she understood the emotions evoked by the current geopolitical situation. It is worth noting that in May of last year, the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, ordered a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a free trade agreement between the two parties, following Israel's ban on aid entering Gaza.