The Aalst Carnival shows how quickly we forgot 'Never Again'

By PAUL PACKER

Published: FEBRUARY 27, 2020 21:26

Giant figures depicting Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (C) and other politicians are seen during the 87th carnival parade of Aalst February 15, 2015. The Aalst Carnival, which is inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, often shows informal groups (photo credit: YVES HERMAN / REUTERS) — Giant figures depicting Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (C) and other politicians are seen during the 87th carnival parade of Aalst February 15, 2015. The Aalst Carnival, which is inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, often shows informal groups

(photo credit: YVES HERMAN / REUTERS)

Sadly, the Aalst parade was not the only European Carnival celebration to feature offensive imagery this week.

On January 27, the king and queen of Belgium, along with the country’s recently elected prime minister, Sophie Wilmès – the first Jewish woman to hold the position – visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its liberation. Less than a month later, the Belgian city of Aalst held its annual Carnival parade, featuring grossly antisemitic imagery in the name of humor.

Alongside participants satirizing issues such as climate change and Brexit were numerous marchers displaying antisemitic tropes, including marchers dressed as ants wearing shtreimels (the traditional headgear of many hassidim), and others donning oversized prosthetic noses or SS uniforms.

Last year, the Aalst parade was widely condemned for featuring similar content, and Prime Minister Wilmès has herself said the parade’s antisemitic imagery “damage[s] our values and the reputation of our country.” But local government officials ignored calls to cancel the event this year, insisting that the parade represents unity, humor and free expression.

Sadly, the Aalst parade was not the only European Carnival celebration to feature offensive imagery this week. A similar parade in Campo de Criptana, Spain, included performers dressed as Jewish Holocaust victims and Nazis, flanked by a float carrying chimneys (presumably representing Nazi crematoria). The Spanish presentation, though intended to honor Holocaust victims, nevertheless dangerously trivialized their suffering and the Holocaust itself.

As the chairman of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, I work to protect and preserve the heritage of Americans and their ancestors. The antisemitism on display at the Aalst parade is not only false heritage, it is an affront to all that we do at the commission, and it represents a societal regression to the pre-war 1930s.

UNESCO was correct last December when it removed the parade from its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. However, the Belgian government must do more to ensure that future events are not marred by antisemitic imagery.

Although the Aalst parade is unusual in that it featured such blatant antisemitism in a public forum, the images displayed at the parade promulgate the widespread and deeply ingrained belief that Jews use their wealth to control world events.

According to recent polling from the Anti-Defamation League, a shocking 35% of Western Europeans believe that Jews have too much power in the business world, and 28% believe they have too much control over global affairs. Half of all Belgians believe that the country’s Jews are more loyal to Israel than to Belgium.

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While Europe’s leaders promised “never again” at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial, 39% of Western Europeans believe “Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust.”

And last year, Germany saw a 70% spike in antisemitic violence.

IN THE face of these numbers and events such as the Aalst parade, we must ask our European allies: What are you doing to fix this? Do you traffic in empty promises, or will you take concrete steps to address both blatant and subterranean antisemitism to ensure that modern Europe is a safe and welcoming haven for Jews everywhere?

Here in the United States, the Trump administration has decisively moved to stem the rising tide of antisemitic hate and ensure that “never forget” and “never again” are not just words, but actions. In December, President Trump expanded Title VI protections for Jewish Americans and broadened our definition of antisemitism to include statements and actions that unfairly target Israel.

During my time with the administration, I have traveled to numerous countries and worked successfully with their governments to preserve Jewish heritage as a bulwark against those who would erase the past.

When I look at disturbing displays like those at the Aalst parade, I don’t just see modern-day antisemitism; I see a societal willingness to ignore religiously motivated hate, akin to that shown in the Weimar Republic and elsewhere throughout pre-war Europe. The promise of “never forget” means that we must remember the Nazis’ violence against Jews, and also those non-violent tactics which enabled the Holocaust.

We must keep in mind that hatred toward Jews quickly morphs into hatred toward other minority groups. Hate has no borders, and those with antisemitic beliefs can easily target other vulnerable people. If we turn a blind eye to antisemitic tropes today, there’s no telling what we might permit tomorrow, and soon, violence is at hand.

Indeed, antisemitic beliefs similar to those widespread in Western Europe are responsible in part for motivating some of the worst mass violence against Jews in recent years. The Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooter shared Holocaust-denial memes, and posted about Jews exercising control over major world events, like immigration.

The Poway shooter published a manifesto espousing the white genocide conspiracy theory, and one of the Jersey City shooters was connected to the Black Hebrew Israelites, many sects of which have been designated hate groups for their antisemitic beliefs and practices.

Antisemitic tropes and stereotypes do not always lead directly to murder, but there is an inescapable correlation between their perpetuation and violence targeting Jews. It is for this reason most of all that the international community, as well as leaders throughout Belgium, both national and local, must not afford antisemitism any public forum, whether in the name of free expression, humor or any other excuse used to justify hate.

Only by taking decisive and immediate action can we fulfill the promise of “never again.”

The writer is chairman of the United States Commission for the preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.