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Itongadol.- The World Jewish Congress welcomed the arrest of the suspected gunman in the May 24 anti-Semitic terror attack at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels which killed three people and gravely injured another.
French police have arrested Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national, in Marseilles as he returned to France from Brussels via bus.
Nemmouche recently spent a year in Syria and is a radicalized Islamist, the chief prosecutor of Paris said at a news conference on Sunday.
"We welcome the arrest of a suspect in this heinous crime and praise the prompt work of the French and Belgian authorities," said WJC President Ronald S. Lauder.
"We have to ask, however, why such a murderous anti-Semitic attack can happen in broad daylight in a European capital, just two years after a similar attack in Toulouse, France. European governments must face the stark reality that jihadist warfare is a reality in their streets, and must train their efforts on preventing the spread of hate and apprehending terrorists before they act, rather than reacting after an incident occurs.
Governments need to engage in constructive dialogue with WJC on this and related issues," Lauder said who will take this message to the highest levels of the Belgian government when he meets several ministers Monday in Brussels.
The WJC President is in the Belgian capital at the head ofa ‘’solidarity mission’’ of 38 senior Jewish leaders from 16 communities. They will visit the Jewish Museum and attend a memorial ceremony Monday evening at the Great Synagogue of Brussels for the victims of the shooting.
During the ceremony, the Jewish Museum’s director, Philippe Blondin, will light memorial candles and address the attendees.