Support for Hamas in Belgium and the Netherlands since the Outbreak of the Swords of Iron War

Dr. Hayim Iserovich

Introduction

• Since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, and the beginning of the Swords of Iron War, pro-Palestinian demonstrations against Israel have been held in Belgium and the Netherlands, like in many European Union (EU) countries, calling for a ceasefire and ending support for Israel alongside anti-Israeli slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
• The demonstrations in Belgium and the Netherlands are organized in cooperation between local Palestinian communities and solidarity organizations based on far-left organizations, anti-government organizations, student organizations, anarchist movements, and even political parties.^[1] Organizations and activists taking part in the protest have expressed support for the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and massacre and later for the Palestinian armed resistance, accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.ד
• The main organizations leading the pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas protests in Belgium are the Hamas-affiliated European Palestinian Council for Political Relations (EUPAC); the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP), a European umbrella organization for promoting cooperation between pro-Palestinian solidarity organizations throughout Europe, including six organizations in Belgium, including the Belgian-Palestinian Association (ABP), Palestine Solidarity Movement, and the Belgian Movement for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BABCI); the March 30 Movement, which promotes legal proceedings against IDF soldiers with dual citizenship; Brussels Against Genocide collective; the Popular Committee of Palestine in Belgium (PCP), considered the most militant movement; and Jewish anti-Zionist organizations.
• The main organizations leading the protest in the Netherlands are the umbrella organization of the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands (PGNL); the Palestinian Committee of the Netherlands (NPK); Students for Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP); pro-Palestinian solidarity organizations operating on a municipal basis; and Workers for Palestine Netherlands (WFP).
• Belgium and the Netherlands, as EU member states, designate Hamas as a whole (both its military and political wings) as a terrorist organization and implement the sanctions set by EU institutions against Hamas, against individuals put on the terrorist list, and against individuals and entities that provide financial assistance to Hamas.
• The prominent presence of large Muslim communities in Belgium and the Netherlands contributes to the strengthening of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli attitudes among the public in both countries. The communities have developed thanks to immigration policies that have facilitated the entry of asylum seekers from Muslim countries. Since these communities are younger than the local population and have a higher birth rate, it is estimated that the proportion of Muslims will increase significantly in the coming years, with Muslims in Belgium accounting for 11.1% in 2050 compared to 7.6% In 2016, while in the Netherlands they will be 9.1% compared to 7.1%. As a result, it can be assumed that demonstrations against Israel will continue in both countries if the war continues, and especially if the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip worsens.
• Belgium is home to a large immigrant community from the Gaza Strip. So much so that according to the testimony of Fadi Musbah, a young man living in the Khan Yunis district, “Some of the streets in Belgium began to be named after Gazan families, due to the large number of Khan Yunis residents living there.”^[2]

Belgium

Overview

• Belgium hosts in the capital Brussels the main EU institutions – the European Council, which represents the 27 member states at the leadership and ministerial levels; the European Commission, which is the EU’s executive arm; and the European Parliament, which serves as the EU’s legislative arm.
• Belgium is the rotating president of the EU in the first half of 2024. In that capacity, it plays a key role in shaping the agenda and policy of the bloc in various areas, including foreign policy issues (website of the Belgian presidency, undated).
• For that reason, it is important that Belgium is one of the most critical countries in the EU towards Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, although it did condemn the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and massacre. On November 6, 2023, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo declared that “what is happening in the Gaza Strip is disproportionate, it is one bridge too many” (Le Soir, November 2023). On January 19, 2024, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy Caroline Gennez announced that Belgium supported the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, which called on Israel to refrain from committing genocide in the Gaza Strip (Gennez’s X account, January 19, 2023).
• The local government of the French-speaking Wallonia region suspended two licenses for the export of gunpowder from a Liège factory to Israel following the ICJ ruling (VRT, February 6, 2024). The government in Wallonia is led by the Socialist Party, which is also a member of the federal government, which called for the suspension of the EU’s partnership agreement with Israel and a freeze on investments by European countries in Israel (Socialist Party website, January 12, 2024).
• Due to Belgium’s central role in the EU, it serves as a central arena for organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in general, and with Hamas in particular, which seek to be close to decision-making junctions in Brussels. In February 2024, Belgian media reported that Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt had confirmed that Hamas was active in the country through a network of companies and non-profit organizations that raised funds for the terrorist organization under the guise of activities for the Palestinian people, along with lobbying activities aimed at improving the movement’s image in the EU. Van Tigchelt also noted that no “extremist messages” related to these organizations had been identified. However, he admitted that he did not know where the funds were funneled (De Tijd, February 13, 2024).

European Palestinian Council for Political Relations

• The only organization mentioned by Van Tigchelt was the European Palestinian Council for Political Relations (EUPAC). Its objectives are to develop “European channels of communication with Palestine and its people” at the political, scientific, cultural, and civil society levels; raise awareness in Europe of the “challenges facing the Palestinians” and promote “understanding of shaping European policy in Palestine;” as well as promote within Europe an “understanding of the Palestinian goal that is grounded in reality and supported by evidence.” The activity is carried out through conferences and seminars, campaigns, media activity, and meetings between parties in various fields in the European and Palestinian arenas (EUPAC website, undated). In December 2013, Israel put EUPAC on the list of terrorist organizations and illegal associations (List of Declarations made by Israel’s Minister of Defense, December 12, 2013).
• The EUPAC’s director-general is Majed al-Zeer, a Hamas operative who had been affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Britain and served as director-general of the Palestine Return Center (PRC).^[3] Al-Zeer moved to Germany in 2014, and a report by the German Interior Ministry described him as “in charge of Hamas” in Germany and throughout Europe (The Times, December 22, 2023). Al-Zeer’s deputy is Mazen Kahel, one of the leaders of the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas umbrella organization that coordinates flotillas to the Gaza Strip.^[4] Kahil also serves as secretary-general of the European Palestinians Conference (EPC), an annual conference organized by the PRC across the continent that also includes Hamas-affiliated speakers.
• EUPAC also has its own representatives who coordinate ties in various countries across the continent. Its representative in Poland is Omar Fares, a Palestinian expatriate who heads the Social and Cultural Association of Palestinians in Poland and who promotes Hamas propaganda on his Facebook page, such as statements by Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, and various anti-Semitic posts.^[5]
• European Parliament elections will be held in June 2024, and EUPAC is campaigning to promote a vote in favor of “Palestinian rights defenders.” The organization condemned the response of EU institutions to the war in the Gaza Strip, saying that the EU’s “position remained deeply disappointing as it maintained support for Israel” and that the EU “failed to exert pressure on the state responsible for committing these war crimes.” Therefore, the organization noted that “it is crucial to select representatives who align with our values and prioritize European interests above external influences” (EUPAC website, undated).^[6]

European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP)

• Another umbrella organization based in Brussels is the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP). It is a non-profit organization established in 1986 as a network to coordinate the activities of organizations expressing solidarity with the “Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom and justice” throughout Europe, including solidarity committees, NGOs, labor organizations, and international solidarity movements. The organization works to end the occupation of “all Arab lands,” the right of return, and the release of all Palestinian prisoners, and tries to “challenge EU complicity with Israel’s ongoing violations of international law” (ECCP website, undated).
• The organization has 43 bodies working in 15 of the 27 EU countries, as well as organizations from the UK, Switzerland, and Norway. Among others on the list are branches of the boycott movement against Israel (BDS), the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in Britain,^[7] the France-Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS) and the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP)^[8], and the Czech branch of the International Solidarity Movement.^[9]
• The ECCP’s statement following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack and massacre generally condemned the “devastating violence in Israel and Gaza” and stressed that “deliberately targeting civilians, carrying out disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks which kill or injure civilians are war crimes,” calling Hamas and the other terrorist organizations “resistance groups of the people under occupation.” The statement condemned Israel for a “blatant violation of international law” and called for “an immediate ceasefire, UN protection for Palestinians in Gaza now and allowance for humanitarian aid to be delivered immediately,” but made no reference to the release of the Israeli hostages (ECCP website, October 13, 2023).
• Six Belgian organizations operate within the ECCP, more than in any other country, and have been taking an active part in organizing the pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War. One of the main organizations is the Belgian-Palestinian Association (Association Belgo-Palestinienne) (ABP), which describes itself as “a democratic, humanistic and progressive association that works for the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people in accordance with Security Council resolutions and international law.” The Association claims that “the political objective of the Zionist movement involves injustice towards the Palestinian people,” refers to the two-state solution as a “hypothesis” and calls for the right of return, the release of Palestinian “political” prisoners, Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied territories, condemnation of [alleged] “war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israel,” and an end to “apartheid and all forms of discrimination against Palestinians in Israel” (ABP website, undated).
• The Association engages in various pro-Palestinian campaigns, including campaigns within the boycott movement against Israel, campaigns entitled “Stop Israeli Apartheid,” and a campaign against administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners. The Association also sent civilian delegations of observers to meet with Palestinian representatives and conduct field trips “to understand the colonization of the area, the route of the wall and its various implications,” including a tour of Jerusalem (ABP website, June 12, 2023).
• ABP’s official statement following the October 7, 2023, massacre expressed support for “the right of Palestinians to resist colonialism” and vaguely condemned “any indiscriminate attack against civilians.” The statement added that “the endless cycle of violence will come to an end if Israel ends the structural violence of its colonialist apartheid regime. It is the international community that needs to force it to do so” (ABP website, October 7, 2023).

• An article published in the ABP magazine opposed the classification of the October 7, 2023, attacks as “terrorism” and rejected Israel’s right to self-defense. According to the article, the focus on terrorism is “a way to turn Hamas into a prototype of the enemy and turn the Israeli occupier into an honorable figure.” It also claimed that “it is difficult for Israel to claim that it is acting in self-defense when it is an aggressive state” and that “although Israel withdrew its settlements from Gaza in 2005, it continues to militarily control that territory. As a result, according to international law, it is the occupying power in Gaza” (ABP website, January 12, 2024).
• Simon Moutquin, a member of the Belgian parliament for the Ecolo party (confederated ecologists for the organization of original struggles), a member of the coalition, was formerly an ABP member and co-secretary of the BDS movement in Belgium (Le Soir, February 29, 2016). In a post he published on October 7, 2023, at the time when people already knew about the massacre in the Israeli communities surrounding Gaza, he condemned only “Hamas rocket attacks against civilians” alongside “Israel’s occupation and apartheid policy” (Moutquin’s X account, October 7, 2023). He also takes part in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Belgium and calls for a “temporary” boycott of Israel, including an economic, cultural, and sporting boycott, including preventing Israel from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest and the Euro 2024 games (Moutquin’s Facebook page, February 29, 2024).
• Another organization that operates under the auspices of the ECCP and works in cooperation with ABP is the Plate-forme Charleroi Palestine platform. It was established during Operation Cast Lead (December 2008-January 2009) and incorporates social and anti-war organizations from the far left alongside political parties from the Charleroi region (platform website, November 21, 2020).
• The platform belongs to Samidoun, an international network of “solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners” affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which was declared a terrorist organization in Israel in 2021 (website of Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), March 3, 2021). In addition to supporting Palestinian prisoners, the platform is also involved in the boycott movement against Israel and holds demonstrations, conferences, seminars, and other events to “inform and act against apartheid against the entire Palestinian population.” Platform members also visited Judea and Samaria and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon (platform website, November 21, 2020). One of the platform’s activists, Yannick Vanonckelen, was a member of a delegation of an international flotilla that was supposed to leave for the Gaza Strip in June 2011 but was canceled.^[10]
• The platform stated that it “works for the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, and supports the resistance of the Palestinian people, including armed resistance.” Therefore, it expressed clear support for the October 7, 2023, attack and declared that “Gaza’s resistance broke out of the ghetto and achieved a significant military victory against the [Israeli] Gaza Division.” It also promoted the lie that “Israeli forces themselves were responsible for the deaths of a significant number of Israelis” (platform website, December 3, 2023).
• Since October 7, 2023, the platform has led demonstrations in Charleroi, in cooperation with the local Palestinian community, carrying signs reading “Long live the resistance.” In addition, protests were held against factories affiliated with the Israeli company Elbit Systems. The platform also demanded “the removal of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other resistance organizations from the European list of terrorist organizations” (platform website, December 3, 2023).

• The Palestine Solidarity (Palestina Solidariteit) Movement, also part of the ECCP, states that it works for “a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue based on international law, respect for human rights and democratic principles.” According to the movement, its members “don’t just write letters or post on Facebook, we take action on the streets, city councils, unions, and companies, up to municipal councils, parliament and governments to demand that everyone do their part to end the oppression of the Palestinian people.”
• The movement demands that Israel withdraw from all the territories occupied in 1967 and cancel the unification of Jerusalem; stop the “colonial expansion and evacuate the colonies in the occupied territories”; end the “reign of terror against the Palestinian people and their leaders;” destroy the “apartheid wall;” recognize the right of return; end the “policy of discrimination” against all minorities in Israel; and fulfill its obligations as an “occupying power”. On the other hand, the movement’s demands from the Palestinian leadership are only “to condemn violations of international humanitarian law, such as the deliberate killing of civilians” and “transparent and democratic representation of the entire Palestinian people.” European countries are called upon to take steps to implement the legitimate rights of the Palestinians and to establish “compliance with human rights” as a condition for partnership with Israel (Palestine Solidarity Movement website, undated).
• A statement issued by the Palestine Solidarity Movement referring to the October 7, 2023, attack and massacre was entitled “Gaza is exploding,” saying that “this is the result of a hopeless policy of occupation and increasingly aggressive colonization of the state,” and that the people of the Gaza Strip “have been pushed to the edge of the abyss.” The movement warned the United States and the EU that if they “continue to refuse to provide assistance to the Palestinian people so that they can obtain their freedom and rights peacefully, It is inevitable that groups like Hamas will continue to conclude that armed struggle is the only way to give the Palestinian people their freedom back, as they make clear with their widespread attack on Israel” (Palestine Solidarity Movement website, October 9, 2023).
• Palestine Solidarity also serves as an umbrella organization for local solidarity movements throughout Belgium that organize pro-Palestinian activities and demonstrations in other cities apart from Brussels. The most active branch is in Antwerp, which openly supported the October 7 attack. The branch issued a statement saying, “The resistance has decided that enough is enough! These spectacular images came from around the world. This is the beginning of a revolution and the decolonization of Palestine” (Antwerp for Palestine Facebook page, October 10, 2023).
• As part of the demonstrations held by the Antwerp branch, it called on the Belgian government and the EU to work to achieve a permanent ceasefire and lift the siege of the Gaza Strip, while at the same time releasing “political prisoners” without regard to the Israeli hostages, investigating war crimes and bringing war criminals to the International Criminal Court (ICC), banning the export of military equipment to Israel and taking “binding measures against Israel to end the policy of occupation, colonization and apartheid” (Antwerp branch Facebook page, November 29, 2023).

• Another member of the ECCP is the Belgian Movement for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BACBI). The movement was established in May 2015 and includes hundreds of academics from universities and other institutions of higher education alongside cultural figures. It is part of the boycott movement that calls for severing all ties with the State of Israel. In a statement issued when the movement was established, it said that the members would refrain from any cooperation with academic institutions in Israel because they “share a policy of apartheid and occupation towards the Palestinians, through their silence, but also through active cooperation with the army and the defense industries” (Le Soir, May 18, 2015).
• Calls for a boycott, along with support for armed resistance against Israel, continued in the Belgian academic world after October 7, 2023. Lecturers and students in the Ghent University Department of Conflict and Development Studies issued a statement accusing Israel of “responsibility for the unfolding of violence” and condemning the [alleged] “war crimes committed by the Israeli regime,” without any reference to the Hamas attack. The statement added that “referring to the Palestinian struggle for freedom as ‘terrorist’ or ‘complex’ is a lazy attempt to portray a reality of violent colonial oppression.” The signatories declared that “this declaration is for the sake of the Palestinian people, whose suffering cannot be forgotten and whose stubbornness and fierce resistance in the face of settler racism and colonialism inspire us” (Ghent University website, October 19, 2023).
• The 1,500 members of the university community in institutions of higher education in the Flanders region issued a statement accusing Israel of committing an “educide” by targeting universities in the Gaza Strip and denying students access to educational institutions. They called for “the immediate suspension of all academic cooperation with educational institutions in Israel and with other public and private partners as long as the destruction of the Palestinian education system and systematic discrimination continue,” without addressing at all the effects of the Hamas and Hezbollah attacks (BDS movement website, February 1, 2024).
• Another petition by more than 500 academics and student representatives from Wallonia and Brussels provided relatively more moderate statements. The signatories noted that “it appears certain that Hamas and Israel have committed or are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity” and stressed that the October 7, 2023, attack and massacre were “an unjustified attack that reawakened memories of the Holocaust.” The petition also called for the suspension of ties at the Belgian and European levels with Israeli institutions “that participate in or support ongoing crimes against humanity, occupation and colonization” and for a permanent ceasefire that would enable the release of the hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid. They also called for an arms embargo on Israel, sanctions against Israel and Hamas to bring about a ceasefire, and sanctions on “politicians, soldiers, settlers and all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity” (Le Soir, December 18, 2023).
• The student movement of the Belgian Labor Party (COMAC) published a petition calling for an academic boycott of institutions of higher education in Israel and for an indictment of war crimes against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (COMAC website, November 14, 2023). The student protests led the law faculty of the University of Antwerp to sever ties with Bar Ilan University due to “uncompromising support for military action” (COMAC X account, January 25, 2024).

• Another prominent organization operating under the ECCP umbrella in Belgium is the National Center for Development Cooperation (Centre national de coopération au développement, CNCD-11.11.11), an umbrella organization established in 1966 that includes more than 70 NGO organizations and civil solidarity movements, including the Belgian-Palestinian Association (ABP). The organization’s activities progress in three areas: coordinating campaigns designed to raise awareness of issues of “global and united citizenship”, such as climate justice, gender equality, food security, and migration; challenging political leadership to promote a “just and sustainable world;” and assistance for a development program in poor countries (CNCD website, undated).
• CNCD-11.11.11 is active in the pro-Palestinian arena, mainly in the campaigns of the boycott movement against Israel. A statement signed by the organization following the October 7, 2023, attack and massacre condemned Hamas for committing war crimes against civilians and Israel for indiscriminate attacks. However, it called the terrorists “commandos” and added that “it is necessary to remember the context in which this escalation occurred.” The statement also called on Belgium and the EU to promote an immediate ceasefire, protect civilian populations on both sides, and act to respect international law, but did not call for the immediate release of the hostages. Among the signatories were the Belgian-Palestinian Association, the Palestine Solidarity Movement, and the Belgian Movement for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, but it did not prevent them from issuing their own statements expressing clear support for the Hamas attack, as described above (CNCD website, October 9, 2023).
• An organization that belongs to the ECCP and CNCD-11.11.11 is Intal, which is described as an international solidarity movement that, among other things, promotes anti-war and environmental campaigns alongside activities within the framework of the boycott movement against Israel (Intal website, undated).
• Intal, which was also a signatory to the statement issued following October 7, 2023, alongside CNCD-11.11.11, published its own post stating that “to end the tragic loss of innocent lives, we must first end the Israeli occupation and apartheid,” without explicitly condemning Hamas (Intal Facebook page, October 2023).
• Intal also participates in organizing pro-Palestinian demonstrations throughout Belgium, independently and in cooperation with other organizations, in addition to calls for a military boycott of Israel and workshops designed to explain “the historical and political context of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine” (Intal Facebook page, various dates between October 2023 and February 2024).

• The Palestinian Community in Belgium and Luxembourg is an umbrella organization that represents the community in both countries and has also played a central role in organizing pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Belgium since October 7, 2023. The community’s coordinator is Hamdan Aldamiri, a Palestinian expatriate born in a refugee camp in the West Bank. Aldamiri has expressed support for popular resistance in the past, declaring that “this is the way Palestinians can express themselves against the occupation, the only way to push out the enemy, the settler” (Le Grand Soir, October 27, 2017).
• On October 20, 2023, Aldamiri led a delegation of Palestinian representatives to a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. Aldamiri accused Israel of being a “criminal” and declared that “the conflict cannot end without a ceasefire, without ending the siege and without recognizing the rights of the people of Gaza,” without addressing the need to release all the hostages in order to end the war (Bruzz, October 20, 2023).
• Another veteran activist of the Palestinian community in Belgium is Tahsin Zaki, one of the organizers of a daily demonstration in Brussels since October 7, 2023. Zaki declared that “we support the resistance and are not ashamed of it” and expressed opposition to the two-state solution because, he said, it does not allow the realization of the right of return. According to him, although the daily demonstration is supposed to stop when a permanent ceasefire is reached, they intend to continue working for an economic and academic boycott against Israel (Vice, January 17, 2024).

Other organizations participating in the protests

• The March 30 (30-3) Movement was founded in Brussels in late 2023 “out of a sense of urgency of the situation in Palestine, especially with regard to the [alleged] genocide in Gaza that began in 2023 and continues into 2024.” The movement’s name is based on the date of a seminal event, the demonstrations of Israeli Arabs on March 30, 1976, which became Land Day. Although the movement focuses on “recognizing the genocide in Gaza and bringing those responsible to justice” and working to “end the genocide and colonial apartheid regime in Palestine,” it attempts to appeal to a wider audience by presenting itself as working “for indigenous peoples’ right to their land and sovereignty, resisting colonial domination and the destructive effects of uncontrolled globalization, and also representing the human connection to the planet” (the movement’s website, undated).
• The founder of the movement is Dyab Abou Jahjah, a Belgian immigrant born in south Lebanon. Abou Jahjah, who previously founded the Arab-European League and was tried for inciting the riots in Antwerp in November 2002, admitted that he had undergone training by Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a teenager and returned to Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War, where he remained until 2013. He stated that the September 11 attacks gave him a “sense of victory” and that he believed that “every American, British and Dutch soldier who dies is a victory” because of the war in Iraq. After a vehicle ramming attack in Jerusalem in January 2017, he declared in posts, “This is not terrorism but resistance” and “By all necessary means, Palestine will be liberated.” He also expressed anti-Semitic views, with his organization publishing a picture of Anne Frank with Adolf Hitler in bed and a cartoon claiming that the Holocaust was a Jewish invention (Times of Israel, January 10, 2017; The Guardian, August 20, 2015).
• After the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Abou Jahjah published an article entitled “The Events of 7 October 2023 in Gaza/Palestine. Without the (pro)-Israel propaganda,” in which he wrote that “fighters attacked some of the Israeli military positions near the prison wall around the Gaza Strip” and that “although they are members of Hamas, this is secondary; at their core, they are Palestinians who oppose the occupation of their land.” He also claimed most of those killed at the Israeli Nova Festival “were caught in the crossfire,” and although he added that if it turned out that the gunmen had killed them, it would be a “condemnable war crime,” he claimed that “Israeli firepower killed hundreds of Israeli civilians” (Abou Jahjah’s website, October 22, 2023).
• Abou Jahjah is also active in the Belgian political arena. In 2019, he ran for the top of a list in the Brussels elections but withdrew after failing to get representatives into the legislature (De Standaard, May 2019). In December 2023, he established the Viva Palestina list ahead of parliamentary elections in Brussels in June 2024 intending to bring about “recognition of the genocide in Gaza” and promote an “uncompromising position against apartheid in Palestine” (Abou Jahjah’s website, undated; Abou Jahjah’s X account, December 6, 2023).
• The March 30 movement promotes legal proceedings against Israeli soldiers who hold citizenship of one of the European countries in addition to their Israeli citizenship on the grounds of alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, Judea, and Samaria, and even distributes pictures of the soldiers on social media, thereby putting them at risk. One of the movement’s posts threatened, “The March 30 movement is watching you. We will always breath in your neck till this injustice is lifted and justice is served” (the movement X account, February 23, 2024).

• Brussels Against Genocide is an action collective formed in October 2023 that includes “concerned individuals and anti-colonialist activists who wanted to join forces and resources to support the people of Gaza and Palestine.” The group established a special fund to assist actions and initiatives against the “apartheid regime of Israel in all of Palestine” that promote the boycott and sanctions against Israel, and to finance the activities of Palestinians in Brussels and Palestinian collectives operating in Gaza (Stuud.info, November 13, 2023).
• The group’s activists participate in demonstrations in Brussels and carry out protests, such as pouring red paint into the fountain near the stock exchange building and placing a sign saying, “Stop the Genocide” on the Manneken Pis statue along with the names of children killed in the Gaza Strip. The group called on EU institutions to “impose immediate sanctions on the State of Israel, deliver unconditional humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, bring about the immediate termination of Israeli military operations and the release of political prisoners and hostages held by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages” (Sudinfo, November 13, 2023).
• In November 2023, a new organization called the Popular Committee for Palestine – Belgium (PCP) was established, which is affiliated with the Samidoun organization and provides the most militant dimension among the pro-Palestinian bodies in the country. The Committee aims to “provide a framework for political work, education and action in defense of the rights of the Palestinian people” and expresses “unconditional support for the revolutionary struggle for freedom, full right of return and self-determination for the Palestinian people throughout historic Palestine” (PCP Instagram account, February 12, 2024). The organization uses slogans such as “Long live the Palestinian resistance,” “From the sea to the Jordan River,” and “Intifada until victory” (PCP Instagram account, various dates from January to February 2024).

• Union of Progressive Jews of Belgium (UPJB) is one of the oldest organizations in the Jewish community founded by communist and anti-fascist activists in 1939, but it does not belong to the umbrella organization of Jewish groups in Belgium due to its anti-Israel and anti-Zionist positions. The Union, which is an association of French speakers in Belgium, describes itself as “a militant Jewish organization anchored in the progressive movement” and identifies itself as an “organization of the Jewish Diaspora” that does not base its identity “on loyalty to the State of Israel, and less so to its governments.” On the issue of the conflict with the Palestinians, the organization “works for justice and equality for both sides and an end to the Israeli occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories” and takes an active part in the boycott movement against Israel (UPJB website, undated).
• The UPJB condemned the attacks on civilians in the October 7 events, calling them war crimes, but immediately noted that it “recognizes the Palestinians’ right to resistance, including armed resistance when it attacks armed soldiers or settlers since they are victims of an endless military occupation” (UPJB website, October 10, 2023). The Union takes part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Belgium, calling for a ceasefire in the war and accusing Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. It also calls for the release of hostages held in Gaza. However, it refers only to “civilian hostages” and not to soldiers, while it refers to Palestinian prisoners as “political prisoners, hostages of the State of Israel” (UPJB website, December 18, 2023).
• Another Jewish Voice (Een Andere Joodse Stem) (EAJS), an organization active mainly in Dutch-speaking Flanders, describes itself as “a diverse and democratic community of Jews living in Belgium” whose members “hold a variety of critical views on the State of Israel, on the meaning of Zionism and the politics of Zionism, and do not seek to reduce these divisions to one voice” (EAJS website, undated).
• The organization’s statement following the October 7 attacks made no mention of Hamas terrorists, but rather noted “the violent escalation in Israel/Palestine and the hundreds of lives lost in recent days.” The organization added that “the root of the violence we see is oppression” and that “the Israeli civilians who have lost their lives in recent days are victims of failed strategies and the ongoing oppression of Palestinians by Israeli governments and military forces” (EAJS website, October 8, 2023).
• Women’s Life (Vie Féminine) is a feminist movement that promotes women’s rights in society and takes an active part in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Belgium. However, the movement expresses the hypocrisy of many women’s organizations around the world, as well as the UN Women agency, which do not condemn the rapes and sexual assaults of Hamas terrorists against Israeli women during the October 7 attack and massacre and against Israeli kidnapped women in Gaza. On November 26, 2023, the movement participated in a nationwide demonstration against violence against women, and its official statement said, “We are troubled by the suppression of the Solidarity with Palestine movement. More than ever, and given the current situation, we want to emphasize once again that Palestine is a feminist issue. When we chant ‘Solidarity with women everywhere,’ we don’t forget anyone,” but not a word was said about the Israeli victims (Women’s Life website, November 26, 2023).
• The Women’s Life Movement, along with dozens of feminist and civil society organizations and dozens of activists, published a joint letter marking International Women’s Day, expressing support for “the women of Gaza who suffer oppression,” without any reference to the rapes and sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and to the kidnapped women still held in Gaza (RTBF, March 8, 2024).

Netherlands

• In the Netherlands, there is a prominent presence of pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas organizations, which have held routine demonstrations, strikes, and other protests since October 7, 2023. The protests take place in the country’s main cities, but a major focus of activity is The Hague, the administrative capital of the Netherlands, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are located (the ICJ held hearings on South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel, alleging genocide in the Gaza Strip).
• Evidence of Hamas activity in the Netherlands was provided by the arrest of Amin Abu Rashid in June 2023 on suspicion of transferring millions of euros to Hamas, in violation of the sanctions imposed on the movement and on suspicion of continuing activity of the al-Aqsa Foundation, which was outlawed in the Netherlands in 2003 for supporting Hamas (CIDI, March 5, 2024; Israel Hayom, September 27, 2023). Abu Rashid, considered a senior Hamas figure in Europe, serves as president of the European Palestinians Conference (EPC), an annual conference of Palestinian exiles from across the continent founded by the Palestine Return Center (PRC) in Britain and hosting senior Hamas figures. He was also involved in attempts to organize flotillas to the Gaza Strip (Walla!, June 30, 2011).
• On December 14, 2023, Dutch security forces arrested Nazih Rustom from Rotterdam on suspicion of membership in Hamas, concurrently with the arrest of three suspects in Germany. According to a statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on behalf of the Mossad and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), the four detainees, in addition to seven suspects detained in Denmark, were part of a Hamas terrorist network operating in Europe that planned attacks upon instruction from Hamas commanders in Lebanon (Ynet, January 13, 2024).

Leaders of the demonstrations in the Netherlands

• The umbrella organization of the Palestinian Community in the Netherlands (PGNL), led by Iyad Atta Allah (إياد عطا الله), was established at a conference held in Amsterdam in May 2016 as a framework to “defend the rights of Palestinians in the Netherlands” (Palestinian refugee portal, February 13, 2017). In addition to community events for Palestinians in the Netherlands, the organization is responsible for activities within the BDS movement to boycott Israel and organizes anti-Israeli demonstrations and rallies.
• On October 9, 2023, PGNL issued a statement that made no reference to the Hamas attack on Israel but condemned “Israel’s aggression against the Gaza Strip” and called on “Palestinians in the Netherlands and continental Europe to participate in demonstrations designed to convey the message of our people” (PGNL Facebook page, October 9, 2023).
• In March 2024, PGNL, along with other pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist organizations, organized a large demonstration against Israeli President Isaac Herzog as he arrived to inaugurate the Dutch National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam. The demonstrators held signs reading “ceasefire now” and “never again is now” and chanted slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” (Het Parool, March 10, 2024).

• The Palestinian Committee of the Netherlands (Nederlands Palestina Komitee) (NPK) was established in 1969 to “strengthen solidarity with the Palestinians.” The organization participates in the BDS movement and operates based on a vision of a bi-national Palestinian-Jewish state with the right of return and compensation for Palestinian refugees. The Committee also expresses support for “the Palestinian struggle against the Zionist project in Palestine” (website of the Palestinian Committee of the Netherlands, undated).
• The official statement issued by the Palestinian Committee on October 7, 2023, stated that “the Hamas attack did not come out of the blue” and that “Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are subject to inherent Israeli violence.” It added, “When all political paths are blocked in order to change the situation, Palestinians in Gaza (and everywhere) have the right to resist their oppression – even by force of arms” (Committee website, October 7, 2023).
• The Committee referred to the agreement on the first hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas at the end of November 2023 as “exchanging Palestinian political prisoners against imprisoned Jewish Israelis,” without explaining that they were kidnapped civilians, mostly women and children, held by Hamas and the PIJ (NPK Instagram account, November 2023).
• Pro-Palestinian student organizations led anti-Israel protests on campuses and throughout the Netherlands even before the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War. The activity consisted of calls for a total academic boycott of Israel alongside activities such as “Israeli Apartheid Week.” The protest activity has continued since October 7, 2023, during which student organizations hold demonstrations, sit-ins, and school shutdowns on campuses.
• The most prominent organizations are Students for Palestine based in The Hague and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) based in Amsterdam. Alongside them are other solidarity organizations led by students who define themselves as “anti-Zionist, anti-racist and anti-colonial” – Utrecht in Solidarity with Palestine (USP), Nijmegen for Palestine, Groningen for Palestine (GfP), Free Palestine Maastricht (FPM), Palestine Solidarity Rotterdam (PSR), and Palestinian Solidarity Tilburg (PST).
• On October 10, 2023, the Netherlands Student Coalition, made up of eight student organizations, issued a statement in support of Hamas’ attack on Israel, which featured a photograph of the breach of the border fence and an illustration of a paratrooper. The statement called the attack “a stunning response to the ongoing violence of Zionism and the settler Israeli colony” and concluded, “Glory to Gaza and all of Palestine for their daring and exemplary resistance. We will stand in solidarity with you against the brutal, continuing repression from the Zionist regime” (Students for Palestine Facebook page, October 10, 2023).

• In addition to the students, the organization of Dutch Scholars for Palestine (DSP) is also active in the academic world. It is described as “a network of academic and cultural workers committed to solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation and self-determination,” and it also works for an academic boycott of Israel (DSP website, undated).
• On October 14, 2023, DSP members issued a “Letter of Solidarity” calling for the establishment of a “robust and long-term movement in the Netherlands, in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom.” It added, “We, Dutch Scholars for Palestine, express our unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people and their liberation. We call on everyone to redouble our collective efforts to end the violent realities that Palestinians face, to increase the pressure on our institutions and governments, in order to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, and to end its colonial regime” (DSP Instagram account, October 14, 2023).
• The Workers for Palestine Netherlands (WFP) action group describes itself as advocating “for the liberation of occupied Palestine from within art, social, academic, and political institutions” (WFP Instagram account, undated).
• Since October 7, 2023, WFP members have carried out several anti-Israel protests. On November 4, 2023, they poured buckets of red paint near the Netherlands’ main museums, most notably the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, declaring that “as long as museums and art institutions in the Netherlands continue to feign impartiality and refuse to condemn the genocide in Gaza, they are co-opting” (WFP Instagram account, November 5, 2023).
• On November 8, 2023, WFP activists disrupted the opening event of the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival by standing on stage with a sign reading “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. After the festival management issued an apology stating that the slogan was “anti-Semitic and offensive,” some of the filmmakers and some of the festival’s judges withdrew (Hyperallergic, November 13, 2023).
• Another protest was carried out on December 23, 2023, as part of a campaign in several European countries entitled “Christmas is cancelled.” WFP activists demonstrated in shopping centers in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Rotterdam distributing leaflets accusing Israel of genocide and calling on shoppers to stop shopping because they are funding Israel (WFP Instagram account, December 24, 2023).

• Palestinian community organizations and pro-Palestinian solidarity organizations hold sit-ins regularly, mainly at the main train stations in cities across the Netherlands (sitin4palestine.nl Instagram account, dates from November 2023 to March 2024). The most prominent protest took place on March 5, 2024, when dozens of activists held a sit-in in the main hall of the House of Representatives building in The Hague, chanting “ceasefire now” and “the Netherlands has blood on its hands.” Some of the demonstrators managed to enter the visitors’ gallery, where they waved Palestinian flags and shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” (De Telegraaf, March 6, 2024).

• The March 30 Movement, based in Belgium, is also active in the Netherlands in filing criminal complaints with the ICC in The Hague and other courts in the country against individuals, Israeli soldiers with dual citizenship, and local companies on the grounds of involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinians (Nieuws, January 1, 2024). In March 2024, the movement filed a complaint against Israeli President Isaac Herzog ahead of his visit to the Netherlands, demanding that he be arrested “with the aim of prosecuting him for his critical role in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, war crimes and genocide in Gaza.” The movement accused the president of having a “pivotal role in fostering a climate conducive to genocide in Gaza,” adding that the accusations stem from his “direct and indirect contributions to systematic atrocities against the Palestinian population, effectively breaching international humanitarian and criminal laws” (Dyab Abou Jahjah’s X account, March 7, 2024).
• The Groningen-Jabalya Foundation (Stichting Groningen-Jabalya), established in the 1990s, was intended to express “friendship” between the Dutch city and the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The Foundation is active in the boycott movement against Israel and participates in pro-Palestinian activities in the Netherlands alongside other organizations in Groningen and throughout the country (the Foundation’s 2022 Activity Report).
• A statement issued by the Foundation following the October 7 attack and massacre praised “the Palestinian fighters who carried out an unprecedented attack, killing and wounding hundreds of Israelis and kidnapping civilians,” claiming that “under international law, the Palestinian people have the right to resist Israeli oppression by force” (the foundation website, October 8, 2023).
• The Foundation has participated in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have been held since October 7, 2023. At the same time, it continues to raise funds for the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) (the Foundation Facebook page, November 2, 2023). PMRS, a non-governmental health NGO established in 1979, operates in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip under the leadership of Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. The organization has ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and after October 7, 2023, Barghouti expressed support for the “resistance from Gaza” (NGO Monitor, January 1, 2024).

• Another organization actively participating in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations is the Dutch branch of the European Youth Association (Avrupa Gençlik Derneği) (AGD) (Dogus, January 8, 2023). The European AGD operates from its headquarters in Vienna and is affiliated with the Islamic Felicity Party from Turkey, founded by former Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, which took part in the Mavi Marmara flotilla and expressed support for Hamas.^[11]
• Left-wing and anti-war organizations also take part in the pro-Palestinian protest activity, as part of the Red-Green Alliance. On February 12, 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that the government had to block the transfer to Israel of F-35 fighter jet parts stored in the Netherlands for fear of violating international humanitarian law. The petition was filed by four NGOs – Amnesty International, the anti-war organization PAX, the Dutch branch of Oxfam, and the Rights Forum, which promotes “a just and sustainable Dutch and European policy on the Palestine/Israel issue” (NGO Monitor, February 18, 2024).
• Silvana Simons, who was the sole representative of the far-left BIJ1 party in the previous session of the Dutch parliament (2021-2023), said in a discussion after the start of the Swords of Iron War that “any question that leads to condemnation of Hamas, without mentioning the context of 75 years of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, is not perfect” (BIJ1 website, October 26, 2023). BIJ1 activists projected the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” on the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague (BIJ1 website, November 2, 2023).
• The Dutch branch of the radical climate movement Extinction Rebellion declared that it “stands in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for self-determination” and called Israel an “apartheid state” (the movement’s Instagram account, October 13, 2023). Activists poured red paint into the Hofplein Fountain in Rotterdam and declared it “a protest against Dutch support for the brutal apartheid regime of the extreme right-wing Israeli government” (Extinction Rebellion website, November 15, 2023).
• MiGreat, which advocates for immigrant rights in the EU, did not condemn the October 7 Hamas attack and massacre, stating that “there is no such thing as ‘equal conflict’ or ‘unprovoked attack’ and that “like anyone under attack and oppression, Palestinians have the right to resist” (MiGreat Facebook account, October 2023). The Stop Wapenhandel movement called for an end to security ties between the Netherlands and Israel, accusing the Netherlands of contributing to “the continued oppression of the Palestinian people” (the movement website, October 16, 2023).

^[1] The Red-Green Alliance is a deep partnership between far-left organizations and Palestinian organizations, including those affiliated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. ↑
^[2] For further information, see the ITIC’s Information Bulletin from September 26, 2023, “The mass exodus of young men from the Gaza Strip” ↑
^[3] The Palestine Return Center (PRC) is an anti-Israeli propaganda center in London affiliated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed in Israel. It specializes in promoting the demand for the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel as a means of changing its Jewish character and sabotaging the political process. Senior PRC officials are members of other organizations that send flotillas and convoys to the Gaza Strip and transfer funds to Hamas. ↑
^[4] See the ITIC’s study from October 5, 2010, “The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) is an Anti-Israel, pro-Hamas umbrella organization which participated in the Mavi Marmara flotilla. The ECESG is currently involved in organizing an upgraded flotilla, and in other projects to further isolate Israel, part of the campaign to delegitimize it.” ↑
^[5] See the ITIC’s study from January 23, 2024, “Mapping the Leaders of the demonstrations supporting Hamas in eastern European Union countries since the outbreak of Operation Iron Swords” ↑
^[6] https://www.eupac.org/ar/news-ar/ ↑
^[7] See the ITIC’s study from December 19, 2023, “The organizations leading the pro-Hamas demonstrations in Britain since the outbreak of Operation Iron Swords” ↑
^[8] See the ITIC's study from February 11, 2024, “Support for Hamas in France since the Outbreak of Operation Iron Swords” ↑
^[9] See the ITIC’s study from January 23, 2024, “Mapping the Leaders of the demonstrations supporting Hamas in eastern European Union countries since the outbreak of Operation Iron Swords” ↑
^[10] See the ITIC’s study from June 24, 2011, “The Upcoming Flotilla to the Gaza Strip Update (June 22, 2011)” ↑
^[11] See the ITIC’s study from June 21, 2010, “Profile of the Turkish Felicity Party”. ↑

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