'Hamas is operating in Belgium, but we can’t do anything about it' - interview

MP Michael Freilich from the opposition New Flemish Alliance Party recounted his astonishment at the response of Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt, who openly admitted as a response to his inquiry that there indeed are groups who operate in Belgium on the account of Hamas, lobbying, and fundraising for the terror group designated as such by EU laws.

"Though the minister refused to provide any names for specific organizations, he did admit that that they dealt with lobbying and fundraising. This led some to speculate that the lately funded European Palestinian Council for Political Relations (EUPAC) is among those proxy groups who fundraise and lobby for the terror organization responsible for the slaughter, rape, and kidnapping of at least 1,200 people on October 7."

EUPAC vaguely formulates its goals to “work to invest in the importance of the geo-strategic position of the Middle East region” as part of the Palestinian “struggle towards liberation from occupation.” This is done through meetings with high-ranking European officials, as well as seminars, campaigns, workshops, and more.

The council is led by Majed Al-Zeer, who has been recognized by German security authorities as a leading figure of Hamas operations in Europe, even naming him as a “representative of Hamas in Germany,” as revealed in mid-December 2023 by Der Spiegel.

He was designated over a decade ago by Israel as a Hamas operative in Europe, along with the Palestinian Return Center he founded in London.

Another leader of EUPAC is Mazen Kahil, another Israel-designated Hamas leader in Europe, who reportedly served as treasurer of the Committee for Charity and Support for the Palestinians (CBSP, for the French Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens), another group added by the US in 2003 to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists for its financial ties to Hamas.

Challenging Israel on the international stage

Dr. Ehud Rosen, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) specializing in political Islam, adds that in parallel to its military efforts, Hamas and its Islamist global support networks are engaging in a wide-ranging effort to challenge Israel’s standing on the international stage, carried out through a comprehensive framework of civil society groups.

Rosen also comments that pro-Hamas activists in the West emulate its parent movement – the global Muslim Brotherhood – by the creation of this vast “civil” infrastructure of which EUPAC is certainly a part. In other words, If Van Tigchelt’s signaling out of EUPAC as a Hamas arm is correct, this would mean that the council serves as part of Hamas’s civil wing, a sophisticated mechanism working in parallel to their more widely known military and political ones.

 FREILICH IS not sure why the minister decided to name an organization, questioning whether it was intentional or just a slip of the tongue – also adding that there are even more organizations active in the country that are known to the government and the secret services, though they were not named within Van Tigchelt’s response.

But that was not the end of it: The minister also added that dissolving these groups is not simple according to Belgian law. Freilich is furious. “The legal procedure may take months or even years in our country. To say ‘let the legal process work [itself] out and see if the court convicts these people, and only then we can act’ – that is something that I’ve never heard before, and it’s a disgrace,” the Belgian MP said.

“I’m wondering if the fact that the current government is so heavily critical of Israel plays any role in the decision to allow Hamas to continue operating in Belgium,” he said.

“This must be a wake-up call for Belgium,” adds Freilich, worried. “It’s a very small step between fundraising for Hamas and promoting terror attacks. There was a similar attempt in Denmark that was thwarted. The Jewish community in the country and in Europe is at an active risk.”

These aren’t the only organizations operating for designated terror groups in Europe. Other examples include Samidoun, which was designated by Israel a couple of years ago for providing a proxy for the terror-designated Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as another tributary named Masar Badil.

“I have it black on white,” Freilich says. The government acknowledged that Samidoun supports the PFLP, so [it] can’t open an office in Belgium. But Samidoun—which openly supports the PFLP—is allowed to operate. It makes absolutely zero sense. They’re looking for excuses not to do anything.”

The Belgian MP claims that there are enough legal procedures that can be considered, even if the “dry law” can provide an impediment. “They can take them to the court themselves,” he suggests. They can also change the law since they are the government, you know.”