EUJS Complaint to UNIA about Vlaams Belang’s Islamophobic Tweets

Get The Trolls Out partner for Flemish-language Belgian media, European Union of Jewish Students have sent a letter of complaint to Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (UNIA) – Belgium’s independent public institution that fights discrimination and promotes equal opportunities at the federal, regional and community level – after the Flemish-nationalist party Vlams Belang [Felmish Importance] launched an Islamophobic campaign in Antwerp under the title of "Vlaamse Antwerpenaar: trots op!" [Flemish from Antwerp and Proud of It!]. In incendiary videos on Twitter, the party’s politicians peddled the debunked ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory. Specifically, they claimed that Antwerp’s original population was being supplanted by Islamic immigrants, who are erasing the city’s Christian culture.

In their complaint, EUJS stated:

Vlams Belaang paint a picture of the city’s ‘Islamisation’ as a scourge to which inhabitants of Flemish origin must pay attention. Evidently, Islam is equated with the origin of all evil in our society. This type of campaign is very dangerous, especially when instigated by a political party. The latter normalises Islamophobic discourse in our country. This type of campaign should not be tolerated without any pushback from our state.  

EUJS has not received a reply as of yet - this page will be updated if and when UNIA respond.