Simone Susskind is a Belgian politician, civil society administrator, and human rights activist. Born into a secular Jewish family in Brussels, she served from 1985 to 1995 as president of the Centre Communautaire Laïc Juif (CCLJ), a prominent secular Jewish organization in Belgium. She later entered electoral politics as a member of the Socialist Party (PS), serving in the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (2014–2019) and as a member of the Belgian Senate (2017–2019).
Susskind’s public work focuses on intercultural diplomacy, conflict resolution, and women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa. She founded the Brussels-based NGO “Actions in the Mediterranean” (AIM), which organizes dialogue initiatives, including delegations that bring together female Israeli and Palestinian parliamentarians, educators, and activists to European policy forums. European media commentary frequently referred to her mediation efforts through AIM as acting as a “midwife of peace” between Israeli and Palestinian civil society actors.
Throughout her tenure in Belgian politics, Susskind has used her parliamentary and civil platforms to challenge Israeli military operations and settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza. She argues that Israeli security cannot be achieved through the denial of Palestinian rights and political self-determination, advocating instead for international law and civic equality.
Susskind is one of the initiators and prominent signatories of the 2025 public statement, “Global Jewish Call on the UN and World Leaders to Sanction Israel,” which called on international institutions and world governments to implement political sanctions, arms embargoes, and legal measures to halt human rights violations in the Occupied Territories.