Belgium’s left-wing Labour Party (PvdA) member Peter Mertens and Vooruit (Socialist) MEP Kathleen Van Brempt have called for the Israeli flag to be taken down from Antwerp City Hall.
Mertens and Van Brempt argued that flying the banner at the present time sent the wrong public message.
Reacting to the presence of the Israeli flag, Mertens took to social media on June 12 to condemn what he saw as international indifference to what he said Israel was perpetrating in Gaza.
“As if there is no genocide, as if there is no ethnic cleansing, as if there are no starvation of children, as if there aren’t statements from the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as if everything is ‘normal’,” Mertens said.
He accused the city of double standards in flying the Israeli flag given the continued absence of the Russian one.
“You just can’t explain this,” said Mertens. “The Israeli regime is sowing death and destruction in Gaza. To let the flag under which all these crimes are committed fly happily at city hall is extremely problematic.”
The Israeli flag has been on the building for years because of the Israeli consulate’s presence in Antwerp but Mertens insisted that current events made its inclusion indefensible.
In its defence, the city council of Antwerp said the Russian flag was not flown as the Russian consulate was currently closed and diplomatic ties were suspended.
“The countries of the European Union and countries with a consulate in the city will receive a flag. That is stated in the protocol of the city,” said Liesbeth De Maeyer, spokesperson for the city of Antwerp.
Van Brempt contested the city’s decision: “There is no protocol that can excuse the suffering of thousands,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Raising the flag today of the country whose government is guilty of genocidal acts is indefensible. We completely distance ourselves and will raise this issue within the administration,” she said.
The comments from the left-wing politicians came amid Israel’s “pre-emptive” military strikes aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 12.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address that this operation “will continue for as many days as it takes”.
On June 13, Iran said that the strike was a “declaration of war” and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appointed new Revolutionary Guards and armed forces chiefs to replace those killed in targeted Israeli strikes.
Iran also warned of a “lethal response” on X.
“This will not be a mere demonstration of will or technological capability. This time, our response will be lethalm,” it said.
European Commissioner for foreign policy Kaja Kallas called for all sides to “exercise restraint” after the Israeli strikes.
A ban on the Palestinian flag in the French town of Chalon-sur-Saône has been instigated by the local mayor. https://t.co/lOfO0HcRWX
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 2, 2025
