Belgian city’s float to include Nazis holding Zyklon B canisters
Just when you think you’ve seen it all with the vile hatred coming out of Belgium there is this:
(JTA) — A float satirizing local politicians dressed as Nazis holding canisters of Zyklon B poison will be part of a carnival parade in the Belgian city of Aalst.
The float, which also features a railway wagon and a political leader dressed as Hitler, was featured on the Facebook page of a group called FTP. The people on the wagon, who are to be dressed as SS officers, are meant to portray Flemish nationalists deporting French speakers from Flanders, the Flemish VTM network reported.
The procession is scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Belgium is a federal entity made up of three regions populated by two ethnic groups, the Flemish and Waloons, who speak French. Over the past two decades, some Flemish political parties have called for secession.
The spectacle is meant as a protest against the perceived anti-Waloon policies of some nationalist Flemish politicians.
“This is our deportation wagon and we are going to deport anything French,” Jaques Jaquemin, one of the organizers, told VTM.
The float seeks to satirize leaders of the Flemish nationalist N-VA party, its leader Bart de Wever and Aalst Mayor Christoph D’Haese.
Doorbraak, a Flemish weekly, quotes Eli Ringer, honorary chairman of the Antwerp-based Forum of Jewish Organizations, as calling the float “disgusting.”
This was scheduled for last Sunday. I can’t find any updates reported on this story in English since then.
Update:
I found a story about the parade from Sunday in a Dutch paper. Translated:
A Nazi tank in a carnival of the province? Impossible
The last weekend, the popular Aalst carnival hit the headlines. A group led a tank called “chariot of the deportation of French” with Bart De Wever made up as Nazi officer and Elio Di Rupo in the role of a deportee wearing a t-shirt rainbow sky.
The mayor of Aalst, Christoph D’Haese and alderman Flemish Affairs Karim Overmeire (N-VA, former Vlaams Belang) were also caricatured by Nazi officers. Unsurprisingly, this representation is about. But such a tank is it possible in our carnival parades? We posed the question to several organizers. They all agree: “It is inconceivable.”
Recognized since 2010 as Intangible Heritage by UNESCO and cultural, the Aalst carnival is sometimes described by its critics as a party disguised vulgar. This year was no exception to the rule with the presence of a tank “SS-VA” where Bart De Wever was represented Nazi officer … An extreme caricature does not really shocked by Flanders but against different Carnival organizers in the province.
Here is a pic from parade:
All organizers of the province are unanimous in condemning this chariot “bad taste”.