The Islamicization of Antwerp

Paul Belien of the Brussels Journal has written an editorial for the Washington times. In it, he reveals how the Belgian left is betraying its old electorate and replacing it with a new, Islamist-controlled electorate. They might be in power for now, but this is by no means a permanent contract from the Islamist point of view. The Belgian left must be one of the most disgusting political blocs in European politics. They import their electorate from North Africa and the Middle East, all in an effort to halt the growth of the Vlaams Belang, the Flemish nationalist party, which it accuses of being “anti-democratic”. This anti-democratic party is the largest party in Flanders, but it will never enter government because of the cordon sanitaire formed by the other parties. Also, Vlaams Belang acknowledges, that with the way things are going, the party is unlikely to sustain its growth for much longer. Their voters (the Flemish) will cease to form the majority at some point.

Here is an excerpt from the Nicosia Speech, also by Paul Belien:

“The party does realize, however, that its ability to keep winning elections depends on demographics. Its electoral potential will decline when the number of indigenous voters goes down. The Vlaams Belang was the only party in last October’s local elections that did not put forward Muslim candidates.

In Antwerp, Flanders’ largest city, it won 33.5% of the vote, compared to 33.0% in 2000. This may look like a small gain, but it is significant since the demographic makeup of Belgium’s cities is rapidly and dramatically changing. The municipality of Antwerp has half a million inhabitants. Every year on average 4,000 indigenous Flemings move out of Antwerp, while 5,000 immigrants settle there. Most immigrants are Muslims. These people do not vote for a party that has no Muslims on its list, that opposes multiculturalism and demands that immigrants assimilate and respect the values of their host country.

According to the marxist sociologist Jan Hertogen “The immigrants saved democracy in Belgium” (Gazet van Antwerpen, 9 Oct. 2006). Hertogen calculated that if the franchise had not been extended to immigrants the Vlaams Belang would have polled 40.4% in Antwerp instead of 33.5%.”

The Vlaams Belang might be fighting a losing battle, but its a battle that must be fought. The future looks inevitably grim.

Here is the editorial from the Washington Times:

Islamicization of Antwerp

TODAY’S COLUMNIST
By Paul Belien
March 14, 2007
The decisive battle against Islamic extremists will not be fought in Iraq, but in Europe. It is not in Baghdad but in cities like Antwerp, Belgium, where the future of the West will be decided.
I recently met Marij Uijt den Bogaard, a 49-year-old woman who deserves America’s support at least as much as Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Ms. Uijt den Bogaard was an Antwerp civil servant in the 1990s, who spent many years working in the immigrant neighborhoods of Antwerp. There she noticed how radical Islamists began to take over. “They work according to a well-defined plan,” she says.
One of the things Ms. Uijt den Bogaard used to do for the immigrants was to assist them with their administrative paperwork. Quite a few of them came to trust her.
About three years ago, young men dressed in black moved into the neighborhoods. They had been trained in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and adhere to Salafism, a radical version of Islam. They set up youth organizations, which gradually took over the local mosques. “The Salafists know how to debate and they know the Qur’an by heart, while the elderly running the mosques do not,” she said They also have money. “One of them told me that he gets Saudi funds.” Because they are eloquent, the radicals soon became the official spokesmen of the Muslim community, also in dealing with the city authorities. Ms. Uijt den Bogaard witnessed how the latter gave in to Salafist demands, such as the demand for separate swimming hours for Muslim women in the municipal pools.
Worried immigrants told Ms. Uijt den Bogaard what was happening. On the basis of their accounts and her own experiences she wrote (confidential) reports for the city authorities about the growing radicalization. This brought her into conflict, both with the Islamists and her bosses in the city.
The city warned her that her reports were unacceptable, that they read like “Vlaams Belang tracts” (the Vlaams Belang is Antwerp’s anti-immigrant party) and that she had to “change her attitude.” The Islamists sensed that she disapproved of them. They might also have been informed, because there are Muslims working in the city administration. One day, when she was accompanied by her superior, she was attacked by a Muslim youth. Her superior refused to interfere. When she questioned him afterward he said that all the animosity toward her was her own fault.
In the end she was fired. She is unemployed at the moment and gets turned away whenever she applies for another job as a civil servant. Last week, she learned that city authorities have given the job of integration officer, whose task it is to supervise 25 Antwerp mosques, to one of the radical Salafists. Meanwhile, the latter have threatened her with reprisals if she continues to speak out.
After her dismissal Ms. Uijt den Bogaard went to see Monica Deconinck, a Socialist politician who is the head of the Antwerp social department, to tell her about the plight of the Muslim women. Ms. Deconinck said, “You have taken your job too seriously and tried to do it too well,” adding that she cannot help, although she sympathizes. Ms. Uijt den Bogaard also went to see Christian Democrat and Liberal politicians. They also refused to help her because they are governing the city in a coalition with the Socialists. The only opposition party in town is the Vlaams Belang.
According to Ms. Uijt den Bogaard, the reason why the Socialists, who run the city, allow the Islamists to do as they please is because they want to get the Muslim vote, which is controlled increasingly by the Salafists who are in the process of taking over the mosques.
In a letter to city authorities she wrote: “You employ workers to improve social cohesion in the city’s neighborhoods. But if you do not want to know what is damaging social cohesion, then you need not bother sending those workers!… Employees who are confronted with this problem [of Muslim radicalization] and investigate are silently removed, losing their income and their reputation. That is censorship in the fashion of political dictatorships. As a former member of your services I am shocked to find myself in this position and to discover after years of service that you have no policy whatever, either political or with regard to your personnel.”
Sadly, what is happening in Antwerp is not unique. The Salafists employ the same strategy in other European cities. They boasted to Ms. Uijt den Bogaard about their international network and their successes in neighboring countries. While the Americans fight to secure Iraq, Western Europe is becoming a hotbed of Salafism.

Paul Belien is editor of the Brussels Journal and an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute.