Belgium: Two Schools Afraid to Participate in Holocaust Memorial Ceremony

Two local schools in Anderlecht, Belgium refused to participate in a memorial the Greater Brussels municipality had planned to commemorate the Holocaust due to possible “eruptions”. This has led to considerable bad publicity and the town is scrambling to ease tensions.

The below article in La Derniere Heure is translated from French by Fousesquawk. Here is more perspective from JNS (Jewish News Syndicate).

Anderlecht: The refusal of two schools to participate in a commemoration of the Holocaust sparks emotions

Two public schools in Anderlecht sparked polemics Thursday after the announcement in the press of their refusal to participate in a ceremony scheduled Friday in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

According to information from DH (La Derniere Heure), the two community establishments, namely the Carrefour School, as well as the Marius Renard Insititute, refused the invitation they received to participate Friday in the laying of memorial stones in the territory of the municipality.

The two schools reportedly justified their refusal to the organizers due to the fear of possible “eruptions” due to the conflict in the Middle East.

This attitude has sparked several reactions on the part of Jewish organizations, but also from the Center for Secular Action (CAL), as well as several liberal personalities, including the Education Minister, Valerie Glatigny, who announced on X that she has sent a letter to the two schools to remind them that the observation of the memorial was part of the school missions.

Faced with the polemics, the municipality of Anderlecht tried Thursday to ease the tensions.

In a statement from Mayor Fabrice Cumps and Alderwoman Luiza Duraki, the municipality  has announced that a delegation of pupils from these municipal schools will, indeed, participate Friday at the ceremony “to illustrate the will of the scholastic community to participate in the duty to commemorate.”

As for the decision by the Carrefour School and the Marius Renard Insititute, the municipality refutes any “external pressure” on the management.

“In a preliminary analysis, the managers considered, in regard to the international situation, that it was undoubtedly more prudent to approach it in a complete pedagogical perspective. Actions in this direction have already been programmed by the schools,” the statement notes.