Murderer's Background and Alleged Responsibility of Vlaams Belang and Its Voters
Though the Antwerp public prosecutors said "on first investigation of his environment and family seems not to be brought up in a racialist or violent setting" and the family became described as "well-behaved" and as having an "impeccable Flemish-nationalist pedigree" — the fact that the gunman's aunt, Frieda Van Themsche, was a member of parliament for the large far right party with anti-immigrant rhetoric Vlaams Belang, immediately brought press attention to the murderer's family background. In World War II, the twin brothers Van Themsche voluntarily fought on the side of their country's occupier, Nazi Germany, in Waffen SS uniform against the Soviets on the Eastern Front, costing one brother's life and Hans' grandfather Karel a leg; in the sixties he joined the Volksunie, in 1978 following Karel Dillen into its hard right split-off Vlaams Blok. Also his children Frieda and Peter, who would about ten years later father Hans, were earliest day members and became militants.
On 12 April, Vlaams Belang MP Alexandra Colen's husband Paul Beliën, named a Vlaams Belang ideologist and a publicist, reportedly had called upon the Flemish people to get rid of people of Arab origin in a pamphlet titled 'Give us weapons'. That title referred to a 1963 –then obviously figurative– outcry refutedly ascribed to the later Prime Minister Martens that was related to disputes between Belgian speakers of Dutch and of French. Beliën withdrew his text upon an official complaint by the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Fight against Racism (CEOFR or CGKR).
Public debate targeted the Vlaams Belang party with claims that it was partly morally responsible for the murderous shooting at Antwerp. In addition to their decade-long calls for a tighter immigration policy – including in its previous incarnation as the Vlaams Blok, the removal of Belgian citizens of foreign ethnicity – this party is in favour of armed self defence; except for its principle public figure, Filip Dewinter, who has specifically distanced himself from this notion in the aftermath of this murder spree. One month before the latter on the other hand, he had published: "We've had enough of serving as autochthonous chased game. Instead of going through life as scaredy-hares, we should rather become foresters." The used Dutch term for a scaredy-cat refers to the often hunted animal, for a forester to a patrol officer often against poachers and then typically armed with a shotgun (and possibly the less easily perceived 9 mm semiautomatic handgun).
Carl Devos, a political scientist at Ghent University, reportedly stated: "It's intellectually unfair to blame the act of a lunatic on a political party, whatever his family ties to the Vlaams Belang, but the VB is responsible for creating an atmosphere and popularizing the theme of racial tension."
In a press release on 12 May, the Belgian Movement against Racism, Anti-Semitism, and Xenophobia (MRAX) stated: "This violence does not come from nowhere. It is the result of years of ambiguous or openly racist discourse, which aims to make 'foreigners' responsible for individual frustrations and social misery" and questioned Belgium's continued public financing of political parties such as Vlaams Belang, which, according to MRAX, encouraged the stigmatization of ethnic minorities in Belgium. Four days later the European Network Against Racism cited that press release and added "Europe must act to address the reality of racism in its societies".
Four days after the murder, Flanders' main commercial TV station VTM conducted a poll among 700 Flemings, concerning the political consequences of the murders:
- Is Vlaams Belang morally responsible for the murders? 24% yes, 46% no, 30% unsure
- Will Vlaams Belang suffer in the next election? 37% yes, 34% no, 28% unsure
- Should government funding to Vlaams Belang be cut? 30% yes, 50% no, 20% unsure
On 18 May, the political parties Socialist Party - Different, Spirit, Socialist Party, Reformist Movement and Humanist Democratic Centre filed a complaint against Vlaams Belang with the Belgian Council of State, attempting to decrease the party's state funding (dotation).
The family of Luna denounced a letter of sympathy from Vlaams Belang, and asked to be left in peace until after the funeral. The African nanny was buried in Mali, repatriated at the expense of the city of Antwerp. After Luna's funeral, her parents' advocate asked Vlaams Belang to withdraw a campaign banner that displays a little blond girl, reminding them too much of their daughter, "additionally because the child's killer comes precisely from that environment." A spokesman for Vlaams Belang responded that the party already at its Monday management meeting had decided to remove the banner.
A week after the killings, the polling site De Stemmenkampioen asked its panel: "Is there a connection between the murders committed by Hans Van Themsche and Vlaams Belang?", with response 36% yes, 59% no, 5% unsure.
On 19 May on Canvas TV, foreign minister Karel De Gucht held "not only the extreme right Vlaams Belang party" but "also the voters of this party" responsible "for the climate of racism" in which the murders took place.
Read more about this topic: Hans Van Themsche
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