{"id":47571,"date":"2019-03-07T22:31:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T04:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=47571"},"modified":"2019-03-10T19:09:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T01:09:44","slug":"i-spoke-to-the-creators-of-belgiums-anti-semitic-carnival-float-theyre-not-sorry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/i-spoke-to-the-creators-of-belgiums-anti-semitic-carnival-float-theyre-not-sorry\/","title":{"rendered":"I spoke to the creators of Belgium\u2019s anti-Semitic carnival float. They\u2019re not sorry."},"content":{"rendered":"

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 I initially had some sympathy for the creators of an anti-Semitic carnival float in Belgium.
\nStudying their CVs and past creations for the annual carnival of Aalst, I saw that they were a group of some 20 upstanding citizens \u2014 a fireman, a technician, an Education Ministry official and a police department employee, to name a few. They had invested countless unpaid hours to produce something they thought was beautiful but ended up horrifying viewers all over the world.<\/p>\n

Their creation, which they unveiled Sunday at Belgium\u2019s most celebrated carnival, featured two huge puppets depicting pink-clad haredi Orthodox Jews. One of them leers while smoking a cigar, a rat perched on his shoulder. Against a synagogue facade, the puppets have money bags at their feet. A platform following the float carried revelers dressed like the puppets who danced to a song about \u201cbulging coffers\u201d and \u201cJews getting extra fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The float unleashed a storm of impassioned condemnations. The Simon Wiesenthal Center called the display \u201csickening.\u201d B\u2019nai B\u2019rith International termed it \u201cdisgusting.\u201d Both umbrella groups of Belgian Jews filed a federal complaint for incitement against the group, called Vismooil\u2019n, saying the float looked like Nazi propaganda.<\/p>\n

Even the European Commission slammed the display, with a spokesperson saying \u201cIt is unthinkable that such imagery is being paraded on European streets 70 years after the Holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I called up the lyricist behind the float\u2019s song, Pascal Soleme, to ask why the group chose to create such imagery and whether the members had anticipated how offensive it would be to Jews.<\/p>\n

I had hoped to introduce some nuance to what was condemned universally as crass racism. Were the creators aware that they were trafficking in anti-Semitic tropes? Did they get carried away in the aesthetics of the float without really considering the content? Was there a level of irony or parody an outsider couldn\u2019t understand?<\/p>\n

But rather than offering real explanations, or even expressing any regret for the fallout or trying to acknowledge where it came from, Soleme doubled down. The 52-year-old father of three, who works for the Aalst Police Department, said he thought the float was funny and cited the support of his mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Christoph D\u2019Haese totally has our backs, he told us we\u2019ve done nothing wrong,\u201d Soleme told me. D\u2019Haese even told the group that his office would cover any fine imposed by the authorities, Selome said.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Haese defended the Vismooil\u2019n group, saying on Tuesday that its float was not intended to offend and that \u201csuch things should be allowed at the Aalst Carnaval.\u201d The event was added in 2010 to UNESCO\u2019s list of events that contribute to the \u201cIntangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filip de Vidts, a technician and the secretary of Vismooil\u2019n, even referred me to D\u2019Haese for a reaction. Treasurer Johan de Plecker, who works for the Education Ministry, did not reply to my request for an interview.<\/p>\n

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