“Investigate Belgian parole procedures and acknowledge that those who inculcate hate and violence – in mosques, schools, prison or the Internet – are accomplices to murder.”

Paris, 30 May 2018

In a letter to the Mayor of Liege, Belgium, Mr. Willy Demeyer, Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, noted that, “in April, we participated in the ECCAR (European Coalition of Cities Against Racism) held in your beautiful city of Liege... We wish to express our outrage at the assault by a radical Jihadist, screaming 'Allahu Akhbar!' while shooting three innocent victims.”

The letter requested the Mayor to “convey our Centre’s sympathy to the families and our respect for the Liege police, who lost two female officers,” continuing, “an investigation into Belgian prison procedures for releasing on parole radicalized convicts, as in the case of this murderer, Benjamin Herman.”

Samuels stressed that “only the rapid response of your counter-terror officers prevented a massacre, possibly from the high school to which he fled.”

The Centre commended Belgium for declaring itself “on red alert, hoping that – whether targetted or indiscriminate, native-born or imported – terror will be quashed.”

“This will require an acknowledgement that those who inculcate hate and violence – in mosques, schools, prison or the Internet – are accomplices to murder,” concluded Samuels.