Brussels is Lost; The Rest of Europe Soon to Follow
A Belgian political party wanted to stage a protest on 9/11 calling on the government to push back against Muslim influence in Belgium. The mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans, decided that this protest would interfere with public order, and so forbade it. Some of the protestors showed up anyway:
Police arrested two leaders of a Belgian far-right party Tuesday for staging an illegal protest against the “Islamization of Europe,” six years to the day after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Police scuffled with some of the 200 people who converged on two squares in the EU district of Brussels to protest what they perceived as the rise of Islam as a significant political force across Europe. Officers handcuffed two leaders of the far-right Flemish Interest Party, which is very critical of Muslim immigrants, and took them away in police vans.
. . .
Only 200 or so protesters showed up Tuesday for a protest lasting only 30 minutes. The demonstrators faced more than 100 police, backed up by water cannons and helicopters, who closed off streets around the EU headquarters.
“We support the goals of the demonstration to protest against the lack of freedom of expression in this country,” said Frank Vanhecke, the head of the Flemish Interest Party, before he was bundled off to the police station. “And we also we fully agree that the rise of Islam in Europe poses a risk to our values.”
A hundred police, plus helicopters and water cannons, to handle 200 protestors? That’s nearly a compliment.
In what I’m sure is a completely unrelated story, Mark Steyn points to an interesting post at Gates of Vienna. The Brussels city council is currently ruled by the Socialist Party, the head of which is Freddy Thielemans—the guy who banned the anti-Islam protest. But he’s only one of 18 Socialist Party members. You might be interested to read the entire list:
1. Fatima Abid
2. Mustafa Amrani
3. Samira Attalbi
4. Mohammed Boukantar
5. Philippe Close
6. Jean Baptiste de Crée
7. Ahmed el Ktibi
8. Julie Fiszman
9. Faouzia Hariche
10. Karine Lalieux
11. Marie-Paule Mathias
12. Yvan Mayeur
13. Mounia Mejbar
14. Mohamed Ouria Ghli
15. Mahfoudh Romdhani
16. Sevket Temiz
17. Freddy Thielemans
18. Christian Van Der Linden
You wouldn’t want to draw any inferences from these names, of course. When Freddy sat down to discuss the proposed anti-Islam protest with Mahfoudh, Mohamed, Ahmed, Faouzia, Fatima, Mustafa, Samira, and the rest of the gang, I’m sure that they decided the matter based on a traditional understanding of Belgian law, as well as practical security considerations, and that their personal feelings about Islam played no role whatsoever in their decision to brutally silence dissent from the Right. Obviously, Europe has nothing to worry about with its massive and fast-growing Muslim population.
If you live in Brussels, then I’m sure that you will agree that shifting demographics will have no effect on your traditional rights and freedoms, and there’s nothing to fear from the rise of Islam. And you had better agree with that statement, or the Brussels police may visit you to demonstrate how easily a well-wielded baton can change your mind.
I live in Belgium. Your article seems to suggest there’s a huge conspiracy. I can guarantee you that is not the case you ignorant racist idiot. A name doesn’t make a person.
And no, my name is not mohammed. I am a “real” belgian living here for generations. Unlike you tho I don’t think everybody named mohammed is a terrorist, unlike you I think people can have another religion than islam even named mohammed, unlike you I am not a racist.
Comment by waldo — January 27, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
My article suggests that, on the flimsiest of pretexts, the Brussels police brutally suppressed a peaceful political protest. That sort of government action is not consistent with Europe’s history, except perhaps for the 1930s and early 1940s. But it is entirely consistent with Islam’s history.
It is a fact that freedom of speech is on the wane in Europe and Canada. I regard that fact with horror. Maybe it doesn’t trouble you, or maybe you welcome it. If so, it’s cowardly to hide behind insults rather than proudly stating your opposition or indifference to free speech.
Comment by BenBateman — January 29, 2008 @ 6:36 pm