I can't believe they hate us so

Belgian soccer fans chant "Hamas, Hamas, gas all the Jews"

Good ol' AFP /Yahoo News, via that DANEgerous blog:

BRUSSELS (AFP) - A Belgian minister expressed outrage at anti-Semitic chants made by fans at a recent Belgium-Israel football match, and backed calls for legal action.

The fans were heard chanting "Hamas, Hamas, gas all the Jews" and "Cut the Jews' throats" at the indoor soccer match last Wednesday in the eastern Belgian town of Hasselt.

I guess I still have a naive bone left in my body: I find this shocking. What was that Saul Singer said (below) about "naivete and false sense of security"? Ah yes, "It is these, not our love of life, that must be overcome."


According to Haaretz, charges have been brought by the city of Hasselt and a Jewish organization:

About a dozen troublemakers seated some rows behind the Belgian players bench started the chants which were also documented on regional television station TV Limburg on Wednesday.

According to the Jewish organization, the insults included such chants as "Jews to the gas chamber!" "Death to Jews!" "Strangle the Jews!"

Belgian soccer player Mustapha Toukouki, who was not brought into action for the game, was said to have encouraged the chanters, reports in several newspapers say. Toukouki rejected the allegations. He has been suspended for the rest of the tournament.

A "dozen troublemakers" -- no big deal. Right?