A fire at a synagogue near Brussels was the result of arson, a Belgian watchdog said.
Three people were treated for smoke-inhalation Sept. 16 at the synagogue on de la Clinique Street in Anderlecht, one of the municipalities that make up the Brussels region, the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism said in a statement. Unknown individuals deliberately set fire to four places so it would catch, according to the report.
League President Joel Rubinfeld said Belgian police confirmed they believe the fire was the result of criminal activity.
The synagogue fire followed an anti-Semitic incident Sept. 14 at the National Memorial Site for Jewish Victims of the Holocaust in Belgium, also in Anderlecht.
Hours earlier, Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo in an address at the reopening of the Jewish Museum of Belgium in central Brussels had vowed to punish perpetrators of anti-Semitic crimes. The museum had been closed since a May 24 shooting there killed four people. — jta