An EU official is being investigated by Belgian police after he allegedly assaulted a co-worker, calling her a "dirty Jewess”.
In the incident, which took place on July 16 at an Italian café in Brussels, the alleged assailant was seen carrying a metal placard engraved with Benito Mussolini's name.
When the woman asked him why he was promoting the fascist leader, stating, "Mussolini was still a dictator”, the man allegedly erupted with a volley antisemitic abuse before hitting her over the head with the placard.
During the attack, the man reportedly called the woman a “dirty Jewess”, and said: “Hitler should have exterminated all Jews, just like Jews today are exterminating Palestinians.” The woman, who is not Jewish, said: “I could be a Jew.”
In a statement, AJC Transatlantic director Daniel Schwammenthal said he was “appalled by what appears to be a brutal antisemitic assault by a European Union official against another EU official.
“We are shocked about this apparent antisemitic aggression involving an employee of an organization committed to human dignity, freedom and human rights.”
Mr Schwammenthal added: “The fact that the assaulted woman was not even Jewish underlines how antisemitism is not only a Jewish concern but an attack on the very fabric of our society and the very values Europe stands for.”
Mr Schwammenthal called on the Belgian authorities to “thoroughly investigate the incident” and, said “if the evidence bears out, prosecute the man with the full force of the law."
In May, the institute called on Europe’s leaders to prioritise the fight against the growing threat of antisemitism at its Strategy Conference on Combating Antisemitism
Mr Schwammenthal said: “The latest incident is another wake-up call for European institutions to fight antisemitism on the highest level.”
