”Far-right organizations that pretend to fight antisemitism while engaging in nostalgic tributes to fascism are totally devoid of credibility.” The European Jewish Association strongly condemned the actions of Filip Dewinter, a senior member of Belgium’s extreme-right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party, who was recently photographed posing with a fascist flag and using a Nazi slogan. The flag belongs to the of the fascist Verdinaso (Union of Dutch National Solidarists) movement, a collaborationist group active before and during World War II. Dewinter used the phrase “Onze eer is trouw,” a near-literal translation of the official SS motto “Meine Ehre heißt Treue” (“My Honor is Loyalty”). Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association, said in a statement: “There is no place in European politics for those who flirt with fascist symbols, historical revisionism, or Nazi-era slogans. It is simply grotesque and unacceptable that a politician in this day and age would openly pose with the flag of a movement whose members helped deport Jews and collaborated with the Nazi regime. “We call on Vlaams Belang to take immediate action and expel Mr. Dewinter from the party. Far-right organizations that pretend to fight antisemitism while simultaneously engaging in nostalgic tributes to fascism are totally devoid of credibility,” he added. Michael Freilich, a Belgian member of Parliament and the European Jewish Association’s special envoy for intercultural dialogue and Holocaust remembrance, raised this issue during a session of the Antwerp City Council last week, citing the unacceptable double standard of condemning antisemitism while glorifying collaborationist movements of the past.
via jns: Flemish politician posed with fascist flag, used Nazi slogan