Cops in Brussels seize Palestinian activist on the city's streets

Mohammed Khatib speaking at a previous protest in Brussels.

The arrest of the Palestinian activist Mohammed Khatib in Brussels fills me with fear.

It fills me with fear not only because I know and like Mohammed Khatib. For some time, I have been worried about the threats right-wing Belgian politicians have been making against him.

It fills me with fear because this could be the start of something bigger and far more abhorrent.

Khatib was seized by police after he had left a demonstration against Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza.

Think for a moment about what signal that sends out.

Cosmopolitan, liberal Brussels is a city where the cops can grab people with dissenting views as they walk along the streets.

Although Khatib was released early the following morning, we can be sure that the story does not end there. The newly formed Belgian government has made it clear that it wants to ban Samidoun, the group which Khatib represents.

Samidoun has long been in the crosshairs of the pro-Israel lobby, which falsely depicts the group as threatening to Jews based on their ethnicity or religion.

The only “evidence” adduced by the lobby is declarations of support that Samidoun has made for Palestinian armed resistance.

The UN General Assembly has recognized repeatedly that people living under an apartheid system and military occupation have a right to resistance, including armed struggle.

Upholding that right shouldn’t be a controversial matter in Brussels, a city which was placed under military occupation by Nazi Germany 85 years ago. In many parts of the city, it is impossible to go for a short stroll without encountering plaques honoring the Nazis’ victims.

The arrest of Mohammed Khatib illustrates that these plaques and the messages they convey are being ignored.

The Belgian authorities are not siding with Palestinians going through a 21st century holocaust in Gaza and their supporters around the world. They are siding with Israel – the state carrying out that holocaust – and its network of lobbyists.

Who is next?

If the Belgian authorities enjoy any success in muzzling Mohammed Khatib and Samidoun, then we have to ask: Who is next?

All Palestine solidarity campaigners are at risk.

And Palestine isn’t some kind of hermetically sealed issue. The struggle for justice and equality between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea cannot be separated from other struggles against oppression, impoverishment and environmental degradation.

In Brussels, protests in support of Palestinian rights have been diverse. Like in many other cities, they have brought together Muslims, Jews, Christians, non-believers, trade unionists, feminists and LGBTQ activists.

If the authorities ramp up their repression of activists for Palestinian rights, then the question must be asked: Who is next?

Belgium’s latest government is nicknamed Arizona as the colors of the parties in the ruling coalition resemble that state’s flag.

The connections are emblematic in another way.

Arizona is now synonymous with border militarization. Brussels hosts institutions which have made the militarization of the European Union’s borders a priority to which the political “mainstream” is now fully committed.

Israeli weapons and surveillance technology tested on Palestinians is being used in a militarization process both in Europe and along the US-Mexico border.

While Frontex – the EU’s border guard agency – is based in Warsaw, the policies it implements are made in Brussels. The agency’s real “value” will be underscored next week when it will be the most visible EU body at a weapons industry conference in Copenhagen.

One of the weapons Frontex uses to track refugees is an Israeli drone.

This is an example of Israeli versatility: tools of occupation and even genocide can be adapted for various purposes.

Mohammed Khatib has every right to live and be politically active in Belgium.

The way he has been arrested this week shows how little basic rights are being discarded.

It would be nice if Europeans could simply go for a beer or an ice cream and celebrate that we are better than America. The truth is that any such complacency would be foolish.

The detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a US green card holder, over his role in New York protests is frightening.

Nothing quite as extreme has happened in Europe so far this year. Repression is nonetheless rife.

In Germany, citizens of other European Union countries now face deportation for defending Palestinian rights. Germany regards standing by Israel at all times as a Staatsräson – a reason of state – and God help anyone who thinks otherwise.

Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen is the EU’s most powerful politician – or at least is behaving as such. Despite her dispute with Donald Trump over tariffs, her agenda bears strong similarities to that of the US president.

Trump and his team are gleefully kicking people out of the US and sending them to concentration camps in El Salvador.

Von der Leyen and her team are determined to kick as many people out of the EU as they can get away with. The list of countries they have just deemed as “safe” for expulsions includes Egypt, Morocco, India and Tunisia.

None of those countries can seriously be considered safe for people who challenge their governments.

Few places are safe now. And when cops feel they can simply grab people on the streets of Brussels, Europe is anything but safe.