wouldn't hurt: What kind of idiot would name a child 'Jerusalem' anyway? And don't even start complaining about Antisemitism, it would be a so lame excuse for the parents stupidity.

i know from personal experience that jews are specifically discriminated against in europe when naming their children.

Is the name 'Jihad' on the list of names allocated for children born in the Belgium by any chance? And with its large Muslim community would the Belgium authorities tell a Muslim couple that 'Jihad' was not an acceptable name? Go on suprise me!

Ariel being one of them, so this couple can look into our literature and choose a significant alternative. Apart from that the Brussels registrar sounds prejudiced, probably something to do with the huge percentage of Muslims who infest Brussels.l

Agree with number 1 completely. Giving a child a name like that is totally ridiculous and irresponsible. How is this child going to cope in school? Will they call him/her "Jerry"? Parents can be so stupid sometimes - they should consider the child before their own pathetic excuses. So they miss Jerusalem. SO WHAT! Did I call my child "Liverpool"? Of course not.................

Since 2009, Mohamed is the most popular given name in Brussels and Antwerp.

You need a paper from a religious [ Jewish or other ] or embassy , to give a non listed name to a child . This to avoid ridiculous names . That's the rule , for everyone . At the city hall of Antwerp they hold all the certificates of Jewish names issued by the local Rabbanuts . So if someone wants to call his daughter Rifke , not listed , they have this name from a prededent birth , and allow it .

who don't know anything about this . mohammed is accepted , as is Moshe . Those are currently used names . Bethlehem was probably accepted after the father had a paper from his religious authorities . Those rules existed already before this governement was elected , probably since more than 100 years

actually thinking. When living abroad you have yo abide by their rules and laws, and as we see so many complain about moslems wanting their own. As the first name is Alma, leave it at that and register with Israel adding Jerusalem....personally I feel for the child! Sometimes we just dig for something to moan about where our religion is concerned....about time we got rid of the monster we feel is on our shoulder. Stop apologizing and get a life.

PARIS hilton, CHELSEA bush, BROOKLYN, AVIV geffen, ... and the chief rabbi of israel is even called RISHON LETSION !!!

named the child Jerusalem and other parents will follow why not!!!!

Amazing - The EU has an elected officials and little dictators that decide what names to give children - NOT AUTHORIZED - no wonder it is the home of so many crazy ideological extremes.

Rishon Lezion is a title , not his name . The other names you give are accepted in their country of origin

who are they to refuse a Jewish name given a Jewish child? Anti semitism at it's worse but, what do you expect from ignorant European anti semites? KEEP BUILDING !!! ESPECIALLY JERUSALEM!!!

Let anyone who wants to call their childeren how they want,

What business is it of yours or mine what parents name a child. Charles is correct in that Belgium does have such a law and it must be followed. But that is the concern of Belgium; it is none of ours...or shouldn’t be.

Here in the US a judge refused to allow a couple to name their child Messiah. They are appealing. So much for The Bill of Rights!!!!!

The solution is very simple. 1. Register her in Belgium as Alma 2. Get her Israeli Passport 3. Bring her to Israel 4. Go to Ministry of Interior 5. Officially change her name 6. Get Israeli Birth Certificate and Passport 7. Fly back to Belgium 8. Tell Belgian Authorities where to stick it. What could be easier than that.

Children are not their parent's property. I have read in the newspaper, that some crackpots in the US named their boy "Adolf Hitler". No thanks. The state has the duty to protect its citizen(')s (dignity), that's why you're not allowed to give your child stupid names. There are plenty of beautiful Jewish/Hebrew names to choose from; Jerusalem is not one of those, it's the name of Israel's capital, but it's not a human forename.

would you be happy if you were given a stupid name ? It's the reason for those rules .

And cheaper ? they can go to the Israeli Embassy as was suggested by this clerck .

Very possibly when the child grows up he/she will tell her parents where to stick that awful name too.

Portugal has so many restrictions to naming that people massively repeats the same most commons ones, just not to bother about. Here in Brazil embarassing names are repelled by courts, including 'Hitler', etc.

It's child services & the court's role to prevent parents from giving abusive & potentially damaging names to children. But to have a list of approved names is absurd & a bit scary.

Those twerps from Antwerp have been pushing our buttons for too long.

“We are both Jerusalemites; we grew up in Jerusalem; we met in Jerusalem and we very much miss the city" - Living, working and giving a birth in Brussels, Belgium ,... Go back if you miss it and can't live like the others adopt and respect the host country laws and rules. No one invited you there to start with, go home ,...