A dispute over a tennis match has led a Belgian player to voice his wish that all Jews had been murdered in the Holocaust.
A Belgian tennis player has been suspended by his club after making an angry anti-Semitic comment to his Jewish opponent during a dispute over a game, saying, “All of you [Jews] should have been gassed” in the Holocaust.
The Belgian Jewish monthly Joods Actueel, which confirmed the incident’s details through eyewitnesses, reported that the match was suspended and the anti-Semitic player was removed from the tournament.
The offended party, identified by the media only as Serge S., demanded that the man be completely banned from playing in association matches, and said he had filed charges with the police against him.
Joods Actueel editor Michael Freilich said the incident demonstrated the need to formulate a law which would call for the imposition of a fine for hate speech.
“Taking someone to court is a long and expensive procedure and not always worth it. But if someone would receive a fine, just as when speeding, and needs to pay €150 penalty, that will register better with them and with the rest of the populace.”
Belgian law prohibits any public expression of racism, religious intolerance, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, as well as outlawing the denial, trivialization, justification or approval of the Holocaust.