Discord between President Georges-Louis Bouchez and Raoul Hedebouw: The Debate on Hamas and the Charter of Democracy

2023-10-28 10:23:00

The object of the discord between the president of MR Georges-Louis Bouchez and Raoul Hedebouw (PTB)? The remarks that the latter made in the program Le Petit Théâtre de Vrebos (LN24) on Thursday, October 19, 2023. In his statements, Raoul Hedebouw declared that he might only qualify Hamas as terrorists “if we qualify the army as terrorist Israeli”. The PTB president added that he considered Israel “more terrorist than Hamas in the last ten years”.

Result ? The comments of the president of the PTB constitute a clear violation of the Charter of Democracy signed on May 8, 2022 by the democratic parties running for elections in the French-speaking area, according to Georges-Louis Bouchez. This charter was renewed following Georges-Louis Bouchez had been in debate with the president of Vlaams Belang, Tom Van Grieken. It had not been signed by the PTB.

”The Charter that we signed is clear: we made a commitment to never collaborate with a group or a movement proposing proposals justifying the use of violence, which constitutes a clear attack on the democratic principles which underpin our political system . Mr Hedebouw has crossed a red line. These statements are the expression, within the meaning of the Charter, of hate speech which, under the guise of anti-Zionism, reflects a certain form of anti-Semitism. These words in no way constitute opinions but rather offenses that must be denounced and condemned,” specifies the letter sent to the presidents of Ecolo, PS, Engagés and DéFI. A missive relayed by our colleagues from the DH this Saturday.

“Applying a sanitary cordon around the PTB means not allowing them to join an executive, whatever the level of power”, remind our colleagues.

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