Molenbeek, Belgium. (1)
The case of ghettoisation, social isolation, social pariahship, and sowing the seeds for homegrown terrorism.
Belgium has been a country renowned for its localised Dutch influenced Flemish community, and in this instance, particularly within the Flanders region, which have, traditionally, been known for their outspokenly xenophobic sentiments. Organisations such as the Vlaams Blok (2), have long been known for sowing the seeds for anti-Multiculturalism hatred stemmed from the very active and prevalent Flemish right wing organisations which would include the Vlaams Blok. Vlaams Blok formulated in the late 1970s was particularly anti-centralist Europe and was acutely anti-Multiculturalism. The Flemish right wing organisation was borne out of the conservative right wing Flanders region of Belgium and have had a Dutch heritage which detest the European Union and the Multicultualist open door policies that came with this EU.
In Molenbeek a small densely populated almost dysfunctional outskirt municipality out of Brussels, would not be famous or infamous, if it weren't for a couple of notorious brothers who partook in the recent Paris attacks. Molenbeek, is a municipality, in the outskirts of Belgium, which was traditionally an industrial estate area, with working class Belgians. Until recently, an influx of Morrocan immigrants had established a multicultural population of mainly Muslim Arabs from the African continent.
The Muslim Morrocan population steadily increased to around forty population of Molenbeek’s 95,000 local inhabitants. With the rise of unemployment, social dislocation, racial profiling intermingled with a very strong xenophobic local population, the powder keg for racial hatred would undoubtedly flare up sooner rather than later.
The Enoch Powell (3), ominous foreboding of a River Tiber awash with the blood of racial hatred seems to have been inadvertently contrived by a xenophobic Flemish community, particularly supporters ad or members of the Vlaams Blok, from within the Flanders region, whom would long ago had already set the course for the present day crisis and flame the fire that would be the Jihadist weltgeist that has spread throughout the world today. We know this as the Global War on Terror. A euphemism for the vacuum created with the absence of a Communist Iron Curtain, and the Islamic Phantom to fill in this void.
Meanwhile, at grass roots level, the root causes of social disquiet is not some far off Oil rich Middle Eastern country whose exploited natural resources has caused the present social unrest in Molenbeek. Instead, an ever more present crisis has been the lack of equal opportunities to civil rights, employment, accesses to an qualitative improved lifestyle and opportunities which has led to frustrated marginalised people which just so happen to be Morrocan Arabs, some 40% of them living in Molenbeek.
The social anxieties of a localised social concern suddenly becomes part of a global Jihadist narrative. This is fueled no doubt by what the media and local community want to believe. Sensationalism and weltgeist trend setting makes for social media memes and a shared sense of tragedy which would encourage more acts of terrorism rather than deterring the phenomena from happening. People seem to be drawn to the tragedy and although it is shocking it stops the press and the world takes notice even if for a momentary headline.
Meanwhile, no names no hopers are suddenly thrust to the global limelight, and previously no hopers are suddenly infamous. Infamy, in fact, does have its appeal.
Meanwhile, people have overlook the obvious. What was the root cause of sowing the seeds of this social outrage. The obvious seems to be overlooked, without applying the Occums Razor in this counter terrorism analysis, people will overlook the trees within the woods, when it comes to preconceived prejudices.
Molenbeek, however, will now be forever known for two people and they have spoken out loud about their social anxieties and the media will obviously ignore the obvious and will focus on the present day weltgeist, Global Jihadism and a global Crusade for a Christian versus Muslim self-righteous conflict, to blur the obvious problems of social and community dysfunctionalism.
Who are these locals who arose from some welfare dependent Molenbeek projects? We now them not as local unemployed angry young no hopers who have reacted to the social disquiet which would create a conducive environmental powderkeg atmosphere in the form of two angry and passionate zealots of the likes of Brahim Abdeslam, and his brother Salah Abdeslam, and the many who will undoubtedly follow them perhaps from the same area. The racial profile seems predictable enough. Both were easily coaxed into becoming Actuals they were gullible and fragile enough to be activated, they were both of Morrocan descent, and, they were the post colonial products of former French and other European conquest into Africa. Unlike the present narrative which is politically popular amongst the Vlaams Blok xenophobic right wing elements throughout Europe and elsewhere, they were not displaced and landless Syrians.
The root cause of the present day European crisis is locals jumping on the Weltgeist bandwagon of a trend that fits in well for the right wing narratives against multiculturalism and internationalism and one that fits into the xenophobic and a siege mentality Europe and elsewhere for that matter.
The paradox seems befitting, in that, whilst the world becomes an ever decreasing global village, with the digital age, along with economic free trade agreements, the reactions to this digital age and liberalisation is the creation of Islamic Spectre larger than it really is so as to give the right wing and nationalism some relevance in a time when globalisation no longer recognises economic and geographic boundaries anymore save only language, cultural elements and people.
Tim Tufuga
23rd March, 2016.
Sources:
1. Molenbeek, Belgium, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
2. Vlaams Blok, Vlaams Blok, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlaams_Blok
3. Powell, E, Powell, Enoch, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech
