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Herman Brusselmans, who penned an article venting his frustrations with Jews over the war against Hamas by fantasizing about antisemitic mass murder, acquitted of charges of incitement and Holocaust denial, in a decision that drew criticism from the European Jewish community.
By World Israel News Staff
A Belgian columnist who was charged with Holocaust denial and incitement to hatred and racism over an antisemitic murder-fantasy piece published last year has been acquitted of all charges by a court in Ghent.
Last August, 67-year-old Herman Brusselmans, a Flemish satirist and writer for the HUMO magazine, came under fire after he penned a column in which he reflected upon his own antisemitic feelings stirred up by the war between Israel and Hamas.
In the article, Brusselmans admitted that the current conflict and coverage of the war had caused him dramatic “mood swings,” impacting his personal feelings towards Jews, towards whom he felt alternating senses of pity and murderous hatred.
“For every Hamas or Hezbollah fighter who is killed by the shitty Israeli army, hundreds of innocent civilians are killed, and we can do nothing but keep repeating that many of them are children, and that we here, in the so-called safe West, cannot imagine that the same fate would befall our children,” Brusselmans wrote.
Brusselmans described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “small, fat, bald Jew,” and opined that he wished he could “stab every Jew in the throat.”
Humo later retracted the article, though authorities charged Brusselmans with incitement to hatred and racism and Holocaust denial.
In its ruling on Tuesday, however, the Criminal Court of Ghent found that Brusselmans’ article was protected speech, and noted that given its broader context and the author’s use of the polemic as a social critique.
“The court acknowledges that members of the Jewish community may have been hurt by some of the statements, but emphasizes that the writer’s words are protected by the right to freedom of expression,” the court ruled.
In the verdict, the judge found that Brusselmans’ work “did not cross criminal boundaries,” as it was not intended to promote hatred against Jews.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association, castigated the ruling, claiming that it legalized and legitimized antisemitic incitement.
“Today, the Belgian judicial system set a dangerous precedent: hate crime laws are flexible — and when it comes to Jews, they suddenly disappear,” Rabbi Margolin said.
“This ruling creates an unacceptable precedent — it effectively grants legitimacy to someone with an audience of hundreds of thousands to publicly call for the murder of Jews without facing any legal consequences.”
“With this decision, the Belgian judicial system sends a dangerous message: incitement to murder and hatred can be reinterpreted, justified, and ultimately legitimized—at least when the target is Jews. This ruling is not just a legal mistake; it is a complete betrayal of fundamental principles of the rule of law.”
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