Belgium is used to seeing spikes in hatred of Jews and Muslims during Middle East conflicts, but the Gaza war is tearing apart society in deeper ways than before.
That was the warning from Youssef Kobo, a writer and speaker on Belgian politics, speaking to EUobserver this week.
"Antisemitism and Islamophobia go through the roof" in Belgium, he said, because it is home to some 50,000 Jews and 800,000 Muslims.
According to Back our independent journalism by becoming a supporting memberGet EU news that matters
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.