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Belgium summons U.S. ambassador over tweet accusing kingdom of antisemitism

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium summoned the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday over a social media post where he accused the country of antisemitic prosecution of Jewish Belgians, the kingdom’s foreign minister said.

“Labeling Belgium as antisemitic is not just wrong, it’s dangerous disinformation that undermines the real fight against hatred,” said Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prévot in a post on X on Monday. The summons is a rare move between staunch allies.

“An ambassador accredited to Belgium has a responsibility to respect our institutions, our elected representatives, and the independence of our judicial system,” Prévot said. “Personal attacks against a Belgian minister and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms.”

National broadcaster VRT said Belgian authorities are investigating whether three men in Antwerp were performing circumcisions without certified medical training.

U.S. Ambassador Bill White said on a post on X that this investigation was “unacceptable harassment of the Jewish community here in Antwerp and in Belgium.

He said he would visit the three accused men in Antwerp and asked Belgium’s minister of health to join him.

“You must make a legal provision to allow Jewish religious MOHELS to perform their duties here in Belgium,” he said, using a Hebrew term for a Jewish officiant trained in circumcision, a central tenet of the faith.

Without it, a Jewish person typically can’t have a bar mitzvah, a Jewish wedding or be buried in a Jewish cemetery.

Prévot, the foreign minister, said that “Belgian law permits ritual circumcision when performed by a qualified physician under strict health and safety standards” and that he would not comment on an ongoing investigation.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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