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Itamar Shachar interviewed in the Gazet van Antwerpen

On Saturday, January 3rd, we said goodbye to Jan Bernheim at the Cierk on the eastern bank of Ostend, near the iconic “Lange Nelle” lighthouse. At least 300 people from Belgium and abroad were there in the heart of the fishing port to pay their final respects. Despite the large crowd, the gathering ended as Jan, his wife Saartje, and their children had wished: peaceful, tenderhearted, with a family atmosphere.

Jan L. Bernheim (Uccle, August 25, 1941 – Ostend, December 28, 2025) was a Belgian physician, oncologist, professor, and researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, emeritus since 2006. He was a champion in Belgium for the recognition of palliative care and for the possibility of euthanasia, long before the euthanasia law came into effect. His obituary, next to his academic degrees, states: “member of Another Jewish Voice.”

Jan Bernheim developed an impressive academic career and remained deeply socially engaged throughout his life. He was also a loving partner, father, and grandfather.

It is certainly worth mentioning that he developed Anamnesis Comparative Self-Assessment, a method for measuring quality of life that is transculturally suitable. He founded the European Study Group for Quality of Life, a scientific association in this field of research. At the end of the 1970s, he established the first palliative care unit on the European mainland. As early as 1990, he published on integrated palliative care, which encompasses the entire spectrum of care for quality of life, including, if desired, euthanasia. He is internationally regarded as the designer of the Belgian model of integrated end-of-life care. He was a senior researcher at the End-of-Life Care research group at the VUB and Ghent University. In the last years of his life, he collaborated with the Evolution, Cognition and Complexity research group at the Leo Apostel Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Happiness and Progress.

He called himself a bit Jewish and unequivocally sympathized with Another Jewish Voice. He was unsparing in his criticism of the genocidal and imperialist policies of the current Israeli government. He spent the summer of 1961 on an Israeli kibbutz near Gaza, and even then he noticed the dehumanization that so characterizes the conflict in the region today, as he once wrote in an opinion piece.

In his final months in Ostend, he expressed his solidarity with the Palestinian people and participated in silent vigils.

Jan will be missed by his family and friends… He was a Man with a capital “H.”

We grieve the lives lost in Boondi and mourn all those harmed by this horrific violence. Jewish tradition teaches us: “For anybody who destroys a single life it is counted as if he destroyed an entire world, and for anybody who preserves a single life it is counted as if he preserved an entire world.” Every life taken is an entire world extinguished, and every act to protect life matters profoundly. We honour Ahmed Al Ahmed, Sofia & Boris Gurman, who risked their own lives to save others, embodying the true meaning of this teaching — a value shared by Jewish and Muslim traditions alike.

This attack came during Chanukah, a time when Jews gather, light candles, and commit to bringing more light into the world during darkness. A moment meant for togetherness, hope, and renewal, was violently disrupted.

As Jews committed to justice and liberation, we also reject the exploitation of our grief and trauma. In the wake of this attack, Israel and some Zionist organisations have already sought to exploit violence against Jews to support its genocidal agenda. They use the very real fear many of us live with to incite racism, justify collective punishment, and legitimise further violence against others, particularly Palestinians and other racialised communities. This misuse of Jewish suffering deepens cycles of harm, fuels hatred, and makes us all less safe.

We unequivocally condemn victim-blaming, antisemitic conspiracies and islamophobia that have emerged in the wake of this attack. Antisemitism and islamophobia are real, dangerous, and must be confronted wherever they appear. We insist that all lives are equally valuable and all lives should be valued and equally grievable — in Australia, in Palestine, in Belgium, and everywhere. We stand against racism in all its forms, and against the misuse of Jewish pain and trauma to justify further violence, oppression, and dehumanisation. This week we will continue to light our Chanukah candles and commit to working towards a world grounded in mutual care and shared safety, where every life is treated as sacred.

Fenya Fischler and Amir Haberkorn interviewed in De Morgen

More, in Dutch, at De Wereld Morgen

Ilana Sumka interviewed in De Morgen.

This short documentary by Sterre Volders, screened at De Studio Antwerpen, includes interviews with Fenya Fischler and Eitan Bronstein.

Een Andere Joodse Stem members, together with Anti-Zionist Jewish Alliance in Belgium and the coalition European Jews for Palestine, joined other solidarity groups and NGOs on Monday, June 23, in demanding the suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, until Israel complies with international law. The protest was held in front of the gathering of all EU foreign ministers in Brussels. We support the words of the Spanish foreign minister Albares:

On June 15, along with more than 100,000 people, EAJS was on the streets of Brussels to say no to genocide, no to apartheid and occupation. We called for sanctions and an end to the EU Association Agreement with Israel.