Fiamma Nirenstein, President of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP) expressed the "great concern" of the organization for the recent violent attack in Brussels on a 13-year-old Jewish girl by five Muslim teenagers of Moroccan descent.
The assault took place on November 18th at a sport center in Brussels. The Muslim girls beat their Jewish classmate, calling her a "dirty Jew” and telling her "return to your country."
The victim was badly injured and continued to receive threats for days following the attack. Suffering from a psychological trauma she has since stayed home and decided not to return to her school.
Brussels MP Viviane Teitelbaum, who is a member of the ICJP steering committee and who publicized the aggression, has denounced the indifference of political leaders and the majority of the media toward the heinous act.
"The attack against the Jewish girl in Belgium is a violent and shocking episode that takes us back to Europe’s darkest days," Nirenstein, an Italian MP, said in a statement.
She said the local 40,000-member Jewish community "is angry and exasperated."
"As the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians, we express our solidarity and support for the Belgian Jewish community."
The organization added: "Over the last few years, we have witnessed the worsening of anti-Semitism towards the Jewish community in Belgium, which has been suffering from the vertical growth of anti-Semitic episodes, including verbal attacks, physical violence, synagogues set on fire,…Sadly, this is a well-known worldwide trend that is particularly sharp in Europe, as indicated in various reports on the subject, including a recently released report by the Inquiry Committee on anti-Semitism held by the Italian Parliament."
"It is time for Belgium to come to terms with the alarming rise in anti-Semitic incidents, a fact that can no longer be taken too lightly. We invite our colleagues from all political parties, Jewish and non-Jewish, to raise their voices and undertake relevant parliamentary action to urge the government of Belgium to counter this inconceivable form of hatred."