Two-year jail sentence for man who made antisemitic threats against MP

Viviane Teitelbaum, a parliamentary representative for the capital Brussels, was subjected to a stream of antisemitic insults.

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
Orthodox Jews in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2012 (photo credit: ALEXANDER STEIN/ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES)
Orthodox Jews in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2012
(photo credit: ALEXANDER STEIN/ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES)
A man has been sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of €800 for carrying out an antisemitic death-threat campaign against a Jewish Belgian member of parliament.
Viviane Teitelbaum, a parliamentary representative for the capital of Brussels, was subjected to a stream of antisemitic insults over the Internet including death threats in 2018, by the unnamed man. The messages included antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories, such as a connection between Teitelbaum and the diamond trade in Antwerp, and issued the parliamentarian with a series of deadlines, threatening to kill her if she did not meet them, The Algemeiner has reported.
One message read: “After this deadline, Ms. Teitelbaum, I promise you that nothing will be left !!! Neither from your stalls, nor from your constructions made with our programs, nor from your network, nor therefore from your money, nor from your cities, nor from your diamonds…!”
Another accused an Israeli couple, Emmanuel and Miriam Riva, who were killed at the Jewish Museum of Belgium by an Islamic terrorist gunman in 2014, of being Mossad agents. "As a reminder, Mrs. Teitelbaum, the 2 members, a couple who died at the Museum were indeed agents of the Mossad!" he wrote. "Question: are they still alive? No official images of their repatriation!"
Another threatened: "You have 48 hours left to ask your Israeli-Zionist friends to end their involvement in the Yemeni conflict! Since YOU are also the origin."
Yet another referred to "Isra-hell."
Teitelbaum welcomed the verdict, saying that “Antisemitic death threats cannot be overlooked and must be tried and severely condemned.” However, she expressed regret that the judge did not mete out the maximum sentence applicable: four years.
According to Belgian media outlet RTFB, the prosecutor in the case sought to have the crimes classified as antisemitic hate crime, which would have doubled the sentence. However, the judge declined to do so.
Teitelbaum added: "While the Public Prosecutor brought a truly remarkable case to the court, highlighting why it is important to fight antisemitism, why it is important to fight against all forms of discrimination, and qualifying these acts in that light, unfortunately the Judge decided not to name them as such. I regret this; it's a shame the ruling didn't go all the way."


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