Days later, a 43-year-old Jewish man was beaten unconscious.Jewish groups have said there has been a rising tide of anti-Semitic crimes in Europe since 2000, when tensions between Israelis and Palestinians worsened in the Middle East. The investigation is following other avenues, although robbery is considered unlikely.”There had already been increased security since June, when a 16-year-old Jewish student nearly died after being stabbed outside his school. Dominique Reyniers, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp Public Prosecutor, said: “I would like to stress there is no evidence of a racially motivated crime. Senator Bousakla’s parents emigrated to Belgium from Morocco and she has criticised some aspects of Islam including forced marriages.With a Jewish community of up to 20,000, and about 50,000 immigrants of North African origin, many believe the city will try its hardest to down play any racial element, for fear of exacerbating tensions.Asked if he had confidence in the Belgian investigators, Mr Brand replied: “Personally, no.”Nevertheless, the type of attack did not suggest any link to previous attacks, to specific far-right groups or to Islamic terrorism.

Mimount Bousakla, a Belgian Senator, went into hiding after receiving threatening phone calls. That sparked attacks there on mosques and a school, and a mosque was attacked in eastern Belgium last week in an apparently related incident.Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian Justice Minister, said yesterday she and other politicians had received death threats. We are not involved in politics and we respect all other cultures and all other people. I cannot imagine any reason why this should happen.”Tensions have been heightened across the region since the murder in neighbouring Netherlands of Theo van Gogh, who had made a film critical of the treatment of women in Muslim society. Mr Naeh was shot in the head as he unloaded his car in front of his home.Two passers-by, who found Mr Naeh at 2.20am, initially believed him to be the victim of a car accident He died 14 hours later in the city’s St.Vincentius Hospital. Police have all but ruled out robbery as a motive, since Mr Naeh’s wallet and watch were not taken.The Belgian authorities refused to confirm that Mr Naeh had been carrying a large sum of funds from the synagogue, money which was not taken The victim’s friends denied that claim yesterday.

A British orthodox Jew and aide to a local rabbi was shot dead in Antwerp yesterday, heightening racial tensions in Belgium’s second city after recent turbulence in neighbouring Netherlands.
The Belgian authorities said it was too early to tell whether the murder of Moshe Naeh, 24, who had four children, was linked to an upsurge of anti-Semitic acts in Belgium, adding that there was no evidence of a racial or extremist motivation.Nevertheless the attack has shocked the sizeable Jewish community in a city with a combustible ethnic mix, and which is a stronghold of Belgium’s far-right, anti-immigration Flemish nationalist party, the Vlaams Bloc. Mr Barroso, who was one of Mr Bush’s few active European supporters over the Iraq war, said the re-elected President will probably visit Brussels early in his second term.. If he decides against sacking them he will appear before MEPs to explain his reasoning. But they will not have the automatic right to get rid of a commissioner, a step considered anathema by many national capitals.Mr Barroso said his first priority was to revitalise the EU’s stagnant economic growth by helping drive through structural reforms to Europe’s economy while preserving Europe’s welfare system.He also promised to improve relations with Washington and said he had spoken with US President George Bush by phone to discuss trans-Atlantic ties. “We want a new partnership between our two institutions based on mutual respect.”In another small victory for the parliament, Mr Barroso agreed that, if an individual commissioner loses their confidence, he would consider asking them to quit. She was replacing by Andris Piebalgs, who became energy commissioner, and Italy’s Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, filled Mr Buttiglione’s justice and home affairs job.Hungary’s nominee, Laszlo Kovacs, was moved from the energy to the taxation portfolio by Mr Barroso after a parliamentary hearing cast doubt on his competence for the job.”Whatever our disagreements may have been, I think we can be happy,” European Parliament President Josep Borrell said.