Chaos at the Brussels Christmas Market
Opening night of the Brussels Christmas market is supposed to feel like a scene from a postcard—lights, music, warmth, and families sipping hot chocolate together.
This year, it looked very different.
Videos shared on social media show a large group of masked protesters waving Palestinian flags, setting off smoke devices, and surging through the crowded market area. Thick smoke drifted between stalls as families grabbed their children and fled. One eyewitness simply called it “chaos.”
“The Christmas market in Brussels looked like absolute chaos this year and was completely ruined. Pro-Palestinian rioters stormed the place with smoke bombs in the middle of families and children, who fled in panic.”
For many in Europe, especially Jews and Christians, the images hit a nerve. Christmas markets have already lived under the shadow of terror since the 2016 truck attack in Berlin. Now, even the symbols of joy and peace are becoming stages for intimidation and ideological battles.
A Christmas Market Turned Upside Down
According to reports and eyewitness clips, the smoke devices forced crowds to scatter and cut the market’s opening celebration short. Parents who came to enjoy Christmas lights instead found themselves choking on smoke, trying to keep track of their children in the confusion.
Bringing smoke devices into a packed family event crosses a clear line. What is being communicated in moments like is terror. Not “Come, let us reason together,” but “We can disrupt your most cherished spaces whenever we choose.”
Brussels has seen repeated large pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the last two years. Most are legal and non-violent. But when tactics shift from marching in the streets to invading family spaces with fear, the moral ground changes.
From Protest to Intimidation
For Christian Women For Israel, what happened in Brussels is part of a larger pattern we are watching with grief and concern:
Jewish communities in Europe feel increasingly unsafe in streets, schools, and synagogues.
Christian holidays and public symbols are treated as fair targets for disruption.
Rhetoric about Israel is increasingly laced with open antisemitism, not just policy criticism.
Christmas markets are supposed to be places where people of all backgrounds can gather under the banner of “peace on earth.” When those spaces are deliberately filled with smoke and shouting, the message to Jewish and Christian families is clear: your joy is not safe, and your traditions are not respected.
Yet Scripture calls us to something very different:
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
— Romans 12:18 (NIV)
Peaceful protest seeks change without harming the innocent. Intimidation in the middle of families and children does the opposite.
A Call to Pray and Stay Awake
As modern-day Esthers, we are not called to panic, but we are called to pay attention.
We can:
Pray for protection over Jewish and Christian communities in Brussels, across Europe, and in Israel.
Refuse to grow numb to scenes of intimidation that are framed as “activism.”
Teach our children that true justice never targets the innocent.
Continue to stand with Israel and the Jewish people in a world where hostility is being normalized.
Some locals responded by saying, “Make Christmas Christmas again.” For us, that means more than decorations. It means reclaiming spaces of light, kindness, and worship from those who would rather fill them with fear.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
— John 1:5 (NIV)
Even in Brussels. Even now.
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