2023-11-09 11:59:00
The opposition in the Council of the Flemish Community Commission (CCF) – the Dutch-speaking members of the Brussels Parliament – believes that Fouad Ahidar (Vooruit) cannot remain president of the Council after his statements on the Hamas attack. Ans Persoons, Brussels Secretary of State and member of Vooruit, also reacted strongly, describing these statements as “nonsense”, while the leader of Groen, Arnaud Verstraete, considered that these statements were “totally inappropriate for a president of the CCF Council.
In an interview with Zinneke.tv, Mr. Ahidar called Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on October 7 a “small response” and compared Israel’s actions to the genocide of Jews during World War II. Vooruit has already distanced itself from Mr. Ahidar’s statements on Wednesday evening.
On the French-speaking Brussels regional channel BX1, Brussels Secretary of State and Vooruit member Ans Persoons described Ahidar’s statements as “bullshit”. “I had to listen to the passage three times. This is not Vooruit’s position. We condemn all forms of violence, both from Hamas and Israel.” She notes that it’s an emotional debate because terrible things happen, “but as a politician you have to weigh every word.”
Brussels MP Fouad Ahidar (Vooruit) compares Israel’s action in Gaza to the Shoah: “We use practically the same methods as in Auschwitz”
Arnaud Verstraete, group leader of the majority party Groen, finds these statements incomprehensible: “Groen is for peace and against violence. Violence against innocent civilians can never be justified. It is incomprehensible that Fouad Ahidar minimizes and justifies an attack violent attack by a terrorist organization which left 1,400 dead. These statements are his own and are totally inappropriate for a president of the council of the CCF.”
The Brussels group N-VA calls on Thursday for the replacement of Fouad Ahidar as President of the Council: “We are shocked by the statements of Fouad Ahidar, who called the massacre of civilians by Hamas a “small response” and declared that ” “Israelis reap what they sow.” We believe that Mr. Ahidar can no longer represent our Flemish community in Brussels as President of the Council and we call for his replacement.” For the N-VA, these declarations “go diametrically against the democratic norms and values that a president of the Council of the Flemish Community in Brussels should propagate”.
The group also recalls that Mr. Ahidar is not his first misstep: “In June last year, as part of the debate on the possible introduction of a ban on slaughter without anesthesia, Fouad Ahidar made a completely unscientific statement that he “could not believe that God would allow animals to suffer during slaughter without anesthesia.” Mr. Ahidar subsequently lost his seat on the Vooruit party board. .
Brussels MP Bianca Debaets (CD&V) reacts with shock to Fouad Ahidar’s statements. The latter did an excellent job for her as president of the CCF Council, “but here, he is seriously losing his temper”. “Such inflammatory statements are not acceptable. From someone in this position, we expect appropriate language and actions. Not statements whose sole purpose is to score personal points with a group and fueling hatred. This is why we demand an apology for these statements. If we do not receive them, we see no other way than to demand his resignation.”
Zakia Khattabi could hardly have ignored that Hamas is considered a terrorist organization
Debaets asked the CCF Bureau – Elke Van den Brandt (Groen), Sven Gatz (Open VLD) and Ans Persoons – to open tomorrow/Friday’s plenary session with a debate on the issue.
Dominiek Lootens-Stael (Vlaams Belang) also thinks that Mr. Ahidar should keep his ideas to himself: “Tolerate and minimize terrorism. This is really unacceptable. But this can only happen in Vooruit. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. the left has been facing for years. We saw the same thing with Khattabi, who failed to call Hamas a terrorist organization. We want him to keep his ideas to himself and resign from his post as President of the Council of the Flemish Community Commission.
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