Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Belgian Jewish Leader Branded ‘Enemy of Islam’

Belgian Health Minister Laurette Onkelinx has complained to police about a pamphlet naming a Jewish member of her party an “enemy of Islam.”

The Turkish-language pamphlet called Yves Goldstein, an associate of Onkelinx and fellow member of the Socialist Party, “an active Zionist and an enemy of Islam,” Onkelinx said at a news conference on Oct. 8.

“It is a call to Jew-hatred, much like the anti-Muslim calls we hear too often,” she added. “It is unacceptable and must stop immediately.” Goldstein, a candidate for the Socialist Party at Schaarbeek near Brussels, was also present at the meeting with journalists.

Onkelinx also filed a complaint with the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Belgian NGO.

On Oct. 4, an Internet user identified as Soumaya Talib sent an email to multiple recipients warning of the Goldstein’s candidacy for the local elections in Schaarbeek on Oct. 14.

“We wish to warn the Umma (“Muslim Nation”) that Muslims and friends of peace do not vote for the enemies of Palestine,” the letter read. It referred to Goldman the “Zionist” as “the right hand and diplomatic advisor of a Belgian minister.”

Goldman’s Zionism was “revealed with god’s help” after “Zionist services erased them,” it also said.

“Voting for a Zionist is to stick a knife into the back of a Palestinian to kill. May god protect us from Zionism and its friends at the Socialist Party.”

The letter included a text attributed to Goldman, stating he was a member of Hashomer Hatzair, a Socialist-Zionist youth movement founded in 1913.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.