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Former leader of Belgian far-right party, Frank Vanhecke.
Last update - 00:00 09/11/2008
Belgian far right leader: I am one of Israel's staunchest defenders
By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: belgium, frank vanhecke 

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Although it's one of the country?s largest parties, and the second largest political party in Flanders, it is kept out of government by the Cordon Sanitaire, a pact between all other Belgian parties to refrain from joining a coalition with Vlaams Belang.

Belgian justice minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jo Vandeurzen asked the European Parliament in April to lift Vanhecke's immunity so that Vanhecke can be prosecuted for a short article which appeared in 2005 a local party brochure, that linked an act of vandalism at a Christian cemetery to the Muslim minority in Sint-Niklaas, a city in the Flemish province of East Flanders.

Although Vanhecke was not the author, as Vlaams Belang president at that time - and consequently the publisher - he was legally responsible for all party publications. Vanhecke claims he had no knowledge of the 130-word article prior to publication.

Police apprehended the vandals, but Belgian law prohibits disclosing their identity because they were underage. Vlaams Belang says this prevents the party from proving that the youths were indeed Muslim immigrants. The author, whose identity is known, is not being prosecuted.

If convicted under Belgian anti-racism legislation, Vanhecke could lose his seat in the European Parliament as well as his right to be active in politics. Last Monday, the European Parliament?s Committee on Legal Affairs voted to lift Vanhecke's immunity, leaving the final vote for a plenary session in December. Commentators following the case say the December vote is a mere formality on the way to lifting Vanhecke's immunity.


"The Belgian government is persecuting me because I'm a member of a party which calls for Flemish independence," MEP Frank Vanhecke told Haaretz last week. In Vlaams Belang's official reaction to the Monday vote, the party said that "Belgium really is a banana republic."

Guido Naets, a Belgian ex-journalist and former spokesman of the European Parliament, asked the Legal Affairs Committee to turn down the Belgian request on the grounds of a conflict of interest on Brussel's part.

Naets also pointed out that Vlaams Belang is a Flemish-secessionist party which aims for the independence of Flanders from Belgium. He declared that this, and not racism, is the real reason for an attempt to ban Vanhecke from the coming European elections.

"In the almost 30 years that I have known Vanhecke [...] I have never been able to catch him out on any form of racism whatsoever," Naets said. "Vanhecke will be prosecuted because he is a symbol for a party that wants to abolish Belgium."

Before it became Vlaams Belang in 2004, the party was called Vlaams Blok. It changed its name and adjusted its platform after Belgium's supreme court declared it was a racist movement, effectively banning it from the political establishment.

During the interview, Vanhecke, 49, said he was aware that many Jews view Vlaams Belang antisemitic. "It's a form of automation, where we are immediately classified as antisemitic despite the facts on the ground."

Noting Vlaams Belang's "excellent contacts" with the Antwerp Jewish community, Vanhecke went on to say that the "misconception" owes in part to a "grave error" on the part of some Flemish secessionists who sided with the Nazis in the 1940s "only as a misguided and naïve attempt to achieve independence."

Another relevant issue is "the unacceptable behavior of a few weeds" who associate themselves with the party, Vanhecke said.
With a hint of frustration in his voice, Vanhecke adds: "They say I'm antisemitic when the truth is I am one of Israel's staunchest defenders in the European Parliament. I invite you to read my queries to the European Parliament concerning its unjust treatment of Israel, and about the support the same parliament is giving to Palestinian murderers."

Vanhecke went on to say he thinks of himself as "a defender of Israel and of the Jewish people," adding: "Israel stands for the spirit that we stand for; liberty and self-determination.
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  1.   It`s true, (far) right-wing Europe is pro-Israel..... 02:37  |  Swiss (Dino) 10/11/08
  2.   Burning the right wing witch at the stake 03:46  |  Schmidlap 10/11/08
  3.   Or maybe... 03:59  |  Swiss (T-Rex) 10/11/08
  4.   Weighing In 04:18  |  Ron 10/11/08
  5.   On same grounds all Imams and Muslims should be kicked out 04:40  |  Genuine Tosefta 10/11/08
  6.   European Hypocrisy At Its Worst 04:54  |  massaraksh 10/11/08
  7.   So Swiss (Dino): 05:55  |  Robert Haymond 10/11/08
  8.   On Belang 06:17  |  Belgian Jew 10/11/08
  9.   Could be, Dino, but we are not pro-them--this is your blind spot 10:16  |  Israeli citizen 10/11/08
  10.   He would rather see fighting terror in Israel than Belgium 10:20  |  PETER SM 10/11/08
  11.   on vlaams belang 13:45  |  jan 10/11/08
  12.   Don`t listen to him and go to LGF 14:38  |  sean 10/11/08
  13.   To Jan 11 14:58  |  Belgian Jew 10/11/08
  14.   If pointing out a bigoted attack on Christian graves is racist... 15:07  |  Matt C 10/11/08
  15.   # 7 Robert Haymond (2nd try) 15:33  |  Swiss (Dino) 10/11/08
  16.   Vlaams Belang is not racist 15:56  |  KGS 10/11/08
  17.   #12: Haaretz can prove that LGF is lying. (2nd try) 16:20  |  Matt C 10/11/08
  18.   Dissimulation 17:02  |  Shaul 10/11/08
  19.   Matt C. or anyone else... 17:18  |  Chaval 10/11/08
  20.   Unfortunately - In Europe the party and people doesn`t matter 17:50  |  GHook93 10/11/08
  21.   Swiss Dingo 17:56  |  JR 10/11/08
  22.   KGS 18:00  |  JR 10/11/08
  23.   to 19 18:02  |  Belgian Jew 10/11/08
  24.   Dewinter did not purchase anything there 18:04  |  KGS 10/11/08
  25.   And furthermore 18:10  |  JR 10/11/08
  26.   JR..untrue 18:14  |  KGS 10/11/08
  27.   #23 & #24 18:17  |  JR 10/11/08
  28.   JR is way off the mark 18:34  |  KGS 10/11/08
  29.   Come on.... 18:38  |  KGS 10/11/08
  30.   To JR 27 18:56  |  Belgian Jew 10/11/08
  31.   To all you Jewish VB supporters 19:33  |  JR 10/11/08
  32.   A taste of VB 19:50  |  JR 10/11/08
  33.   Masked 19:51  |  shaul 10/11/08
  34.   # 21 JR, not exactly so..... 19:53  |  Swiss (Dino) 10/11/08
  35.   #30 20:00  |  JR 10/11/08
  36.   To Belgian Jew 20:56  |  Thanos 10/11/08
  37.   As the first `LGF`er to post... 22:22  |  Sean 10/11/08
  38.   Thanos spreads it thick 22:25  |  KGS 10/11/08
  39.   Difference being Sean 22:38  |  KGS 10/11/08
  40.   Extremists 02:46  |  Abdulatif 11/11/08
  41.   Another Flaams Belang MEP loses immunity 21:42  |  Angela 19/11/08
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