The anti-Israel legal organization Hind Rajab Foundation has requested the arrest of two Israelis attending the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium on account of their IDF service.
HRF said the two individuals were waving the flags of the IDF’s Givati Brigade, which has been “involved in the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and in carrying out mass atrocities against the Palestinian population.”
Videos from several performances – including a set played by Israeli duo Vini Vici – showed hundreds of Israeli flags being waved, as well as the Givati ones.
HRF chairman Dyab Abou Jahjah said one of the individuals is a commanding officer.
“If Belgium allows him to leave, he will return to Gaza and once again lead his troops – in the same criminal manner as before,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
In collaboration with the legal group GLAN, HRF submitted urgent legal complaints to the Belgian Federal Prosecutor, calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution under Belgium’s universal jurisdiction laws.
HRF accused the men of the following crimes: “Indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, homes, and hospitals; the use of torture and human shields; mass arbitrary detention and forced displacement of civilians; and the deliberate infliction of conditions calculated to destroy the Palestinian population, consistent with genocide under Article 6 of the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.”
Abou Jahjah added that HRF doesn’t “just file a complaint against someone because he is a soldier in the IDF. Of the dozens of people who are in Boom [Antwerp], we are only filing a complaint against two specific war criminals.”
What does the law say?
Belgium is bound by international law to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of genocide and war crimes when they are on its territory, HRF stated.
These obligations are based on the 1948 Genocide Convention, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (of which Belgium is a member), and the Belgian Penal Code.
A state party is legally required to prosecute or extradite genocide suspects the moment they are found on its soil – regardless of nationality or rank.
While HRF did not reveal the identities of the two publicly (something it typically does), it said it has “clear, credible, and legally sound” evidence and that the Belgian state party is legally mandated to prosecute or extradite.
Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told the media, “If we were to ban one or two flags, it would open the door to arbitrariness, and that is not in line with the inclusive values and international character of Tomorrowland.
“Either we ban all flags, which is at odds with the DNA of the festival, or we have one clear and equal policy for everyone. We choose the latter.”