‘’We will continue our work to guarantee better security for the Jewish communities of Europe,’’ said Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association (EJA) as he reacted to a reported statement by Rabbi Albert Guigui, Chief Rabbi of Brussels, that ‘’there is no future for Jews in Europe.’’

“I have the greatest of respect for Rabbi Guigui, both professionally and personally, and I believe that comments attributed to him and reported in the media may have been misquoted or wrongly interpreted,’’ Rabbi Margolin said.

Rabbi Guigui was quoted as saying in an interview with an Israeli radio station on the current situation in Brussels, capital of Belgium, which has been in a state of near lockdown since Saturday because of fear of terror attacks similar to what happened recently in Paris: “The synagogues (in Brussels) were closed, something which has not happened since WWII. The Belgians understand that they, too, are targets of terrorism. Jews now pray in their homes and some of them are planning on emigrating. People understand that there is no future for Jews in Europe.’’

‘’The European Jewish Association is determined to continue our work to ensure that the 3 million Jews who live on our continent can continue to command a safe home and to be able to freely and proudly identify themselves as Jews,’’ Rabbi Margolin said.

‘’We urge all European rabbis and community leaders to stand up in defense of the right of European Jews to remain in their historic homelands should they choose to, to support and encourage their pride in their European heritage and to similarly fight for their safety and security, as G-d forbid we should instill yet more fear in already very worrying times,’’ he added.

‘’We will continue to demand of all European leaders the adequate protection of all Jewish centres 24/7 across Europe and speak out in the strongest terms against any expression of anti-Semitism and terror. We know that the challenges facing us are indeed immense, but, just as we succeeded in defending the right to practice Jewish ritual slaughter and religious circumcision across numerous European territories, as well as in our appeal to appoint an EU coordinator to monitor antisemitism, we will also continue our work to guarantee better security for the Jewish communities of Europe.’’

Rabbi Margolin stressed that alongside the very real concern for the security situation, ‘’we have also witnessed tremendous developments of Jewish communities across Europe, as reflected in the opening of new synagogues, Jewish kindergartens and schools, and other community institutions.’’

Some 38,000 Jews live in Belgium, mainly in Brussels and Antwerp.