IDF checkpoint in West Bank (archives)
Photo: Hadar Cohen
Brussels: Pro-Palestinian groups stage anti-Israel street play
Activists dressed as IDF soldiers 'kill' boy playing Palestinian; women cover 'body' with Palestinian flag as crowd chants 'boycott Israel.' Mayor: Freedom of expression
Members of dozens of pro-Palestinian organizations held an anti-Israel exhibit on Brussel's main pedestrian-only street a few days ago, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Friday.
During the street play, one activist dressed as an IDF soldier "kicked" a Palestinian, and in another a man dressed as an Israeli soldier "shoots" a Palestinian boy and "humiliates" a "pregnant Palestinian woman".
In a particularly harsh scene, an activist playing a Palestinian woman is "forcibly separated" from her "children".
The exhibit's organizers explained: "We decided to reenact scenes from the violent reality the Palestinians are subjected to at checkpoints by the racist Israeli regime."
As part of the exhibit, activists playing IDF soldiers "arrested" people waiting near a lifelike cardboard "checkpoint," which was specially erected for the event.
The "soldiers" also pointed their "rifles" and yelled at the "Palestinians."
In another unnerving scene, "IDF soldiers" chase down a "Palestinian boy" and "shoot him". An activist playing the boy's mother yells "Don't shoot" and lies on top of the boy to protect him, but she is too late. Her hands are covered in fake blood. A number of women approach the "body" and cover it with a Palestinian flag.
After the crowd chants, "Boycott Israel," the "Palestinians" waiting at the "checkpoint" kill the "IDF soldiers".
The exhibit was authorized by Freddy Thielemans, the mayor of the Belgian capital, despite Israeli Ambassador to Brussels Tamar Samash's request that he ban it. The ambassador warned the mayor that she would hold him responsible for any anti-Semitic acts the exhibit may produce.
The mayor rejected the request, citing freedom of expression.
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