“We are shocked and we are sad, but we are determined to fight this scourge until it is defeated,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said in reaction to Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in the Belgian capital Brussels.
Lauder condemned the attacks at the city’s airport and a metro station in downtown Brussels, in which at least 34 people were killed, and dozens wounded. He urged more international cooperation in the fight against Islamist terrorism and said police and intelligence services “must now get all necessary resources to prevent further attacks from happening.”
“On Saturday, four people were murdered in Istanbul, three of them Israelis, presumably by an ISIS supporter. Today, it was in the same fanatic ideology that struck at the very heart of Europe, in Brussels. Our hearts go out to the many victims and their families. Those who masterminded these attacks must be caught, their support network must be dismantled and their financial resources dried out.
“Having suffered from so many attacks in recent months and years, Europe and the wider world must now sit together and come up with adequate measures. Albeit important, it is not sufficient to just have more police or military patrolling the streets, to improve border controls, or to install extra security measures at airports. What is more important is to cut the tree from its roots, to combat the Islamist and jihadist ideologies on all fronts, and to finally ensure that the senseless killing of people by fanatics is stopped wherever it takes place.
“This is a deteriorating situation. It’s clear: any country, any citizen can become a target of these terrorists, and therefore, all countries must unite to defeat the terrorists and the ideology that inspires them. This is a fight of good against evil, and we must not shy away from it,” said Lauder.
