‘Anti-Semitic’ carnival float causes uproar

Brussels: A Belgian carnival float depicting puppets of hook-nosed orthodox Jews with rats sitting on money bags was condemned as anti-Semitic by Unesco, which lists the parade as part of the world’s heritage.

The float ran in a weekend carnival parade in the town of Aalst outside Brussels, causing an uproar from Jewish groups and the European Commission. But the town’s mayor defended the float and opposed what he called censorship.

The carnival attracts thousands over the three days leading to the Catholic holiday of Ash Wednesday and prides itself on its no-holds barred sense of humour.

Since 2010, it has been inscribed on the Unesco Intangible Heritage list, but the Paris-based UN agency said organisers had gone too far.

“Unesco condemns the racist and anti-Semitic representations” at the carnival on March 3, said Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, Unesco’s assistant director of culture.

“The satirical spirit of the Aalst carnival and freedom of expression cannot serve as a screen for such manifestations of hatred,” he said.

These caricatures “go against the values of respect and dignity embodied by Unesco”, he said.

Joel Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian League against Anti-Semitism, said the incident on Sunday was not the first instance of crude anti-Semitism at the parade.

“This old cliche of anti-Semitism was paraded in front of thousands of people. Children were confronted by this extremely violent myth of ‘the rich Jew, the powerful Jew’”, he said.