European parliament
European parliamentFlash 90

European Parliament Member Bastiaan Belder of the Netherlands has urged the parliament to hold a debate on anti-Semitism. "It's a shame that this has not been done before,'' he said.

Belder made his latest comments in an address at the annual conference of the European Coalition for Israel (ECI), a Christian initiative promoting European-Israeli cooperation. The session took place in the European Parliament on Thursday.

Following the synagogue slaughter in Jerusalem last week, the ECI called upon the European Union to halt its funding to the PA until incitement to violence by PA leadership stops.

MP Belder deplored the situation in which ''living in fear is almost normal life for Jews in Europe,'' and denounced what he called the ''Israelisation'' of anti-Semitism. Several speakers stressed that it is dangerous these days to wear a Star of David or a yarmulke in the streets of Europe.

Belder, 68, is a Dutchpolitician who sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs.  He also chairs the Parliament’s delegation for relations with Israel and is a Member of the Political Board of the European Friends of Israel (EFI) organization.

This is not the first time Belder has called the European Parliament to task for its passive stance vis-à-vis anti-Semitism. Earlier this year, he said the body “is much too silent on anti-Semitism."

Anti-Semitic attacks in Europe over the past two weeks include the stabbing of a Jewish man in Antwerp; "Kill the Jews" graffiti on a Jewish school building in Kharkov; and two attacks in Paris – a firebomb at a kosher restaurant and a gang attack against a Jewish youth.