Antwerp's Jews "prime target" of Islamist attacks, says public prosecutor

21 Dec 2004

Antwerp’s Jews are a prime target for Islamic terrorism, a Belgian official has said. “The threat of a terrorist strike on Antwerp is grossly underestimated,” the city’s public prosecutor, Bart Van Lijsebeth said in an interview with the "Gazet van Antwerpen" newspaper. “The presence of the large Jewish community turns Antwerp into a potential target for radical Islamic strikes.” Antwerp’s 15,000 Jews, most of them Orthodox, have been unsettled by an upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks, many of them attributed to Arab immigrants.