A sign written in both Turkish and French posted on a cafe in Belgium said doors were open to dogs, but not to Jews — and now the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA, is demanding a criminal investigation.
The sign read: “Dogs are allowed in this establishment but Jews are not under any circumstances,” the Jewish Forward first reported. And the French version of the sign actually used the word “Zionists” in place of the word “Jews,” the New York Daily News reported.
“LBCA will file in the coming hours a criminal complaint with the Liege prosecutor over the actions of those responsible for this violation of the July 30 law against racism and xenophobia of 1981,” LBCA said to the Forward in a statement.
Next to the sign was a picture of a Palestinian flag and a photo of a Palestinian shawl, or kaffleh, the New York Daily News reported. The Israeli flag was shown in the window — but it had a big red “X” over it.
The incident is similar to another that took place also in Belgium last week, when an Orthodox Jewish woman said a shop owner in Antwerp denied her a sale “out of protest” against Jews, the Jewish Daily, the Joods Actueel, first reported. The store’s CEO denied any such store protest against Jewish people — including a refusal to sell to them — had taken place.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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