Brussels Jewish museum opens first exhibit since 2014 massacre
Institution hosting first exhibition since terrorist attack which killed four people in Belgian capital
Three years after the slaying of four people at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in what prosecutors say was a jihadist terrorist attack, the institution opened its first new exhibition.
“Belgium, Welcoming Land,” which opened last month, explores the history of immigration to the country through photographs, testimonies and other artifacts. The Brussels museum reopened briefly after the 2014 attack, but has been closed for renovations for the past several months.
The exhibition will remain open until March 19, which will be the sixth anniversary of the murder of four Jews in Toulouse, France, also by an Islamist.
A French national who fought in Syria, Mehdi Nemmouche, is standing trial for carrying out the attack in Belgium and killing two Israeli tourists, a worker of the Jewish museum and a volunteer. Like Nemmouche, the Toulouse killer was born in Europe to a family originating in the Middle East.
Pascale Falek-Alhadeff, the curator of the new exhibition, said on the Belgian broadaster RTBF that the exhibit was meant also to encourage the creation and opening in Belgium of a museum dedicated to immigration.
“This exposition is a wake-up call, reminding us that in 2017, in view of recent events, it is more necessary now than ever before to have such a museum,” Falek-Alhadeff said in reference to a museum devoted to immigration. The problems connected to immigration “need to be treated through historical and a historical consciousness, complemented by art.”
However, she added, the exhibit also underlines cultural commonalities among immigrants as a means for countering intolerance.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
