It is one of the municipalities composing Brussels, and the recruitment centre for jihadists
by Emanuele Bonini
They call it «the jihadist hamlet», it is considered as an «hub of terrorism and arms trafficking», it has been nominated «capital city of Belgistan», i.e. the Islamic Brussels. It is simply known by everybody as Molenbeek-Saint Jean, one of the nineteen municipalities composing the city of Brussels. Molenbeek is the historical cradle of immigration, with foreigners who started coming in the XIX century, when Belgium wasn't yet the actual Belgium and the European Union wasn't even a fantasy. Pubs, restaurants, shops, schools and mosques (two). Children playing together, veiled and unveiled women, signboard written in Flemish, in French, in Arabian. Other signboard read names of some Iberian destinations. Molenbeek is a neighborhood with a huge multicultural spirit and strong contrasts. The museum of industry and work sounds ironic in a place where more than 30% of the local population is out of work. Nearly one third of the 96.000 inhabitants here is unemployed. Most of them live thanks to «chômage», the unemployment benefits, all the others finish to join criminality.
It's the Moroccan, Tunisian and Pakistani communities that makes Molenbeek the Belgistan, a land developed around Armenian, Portuguese and Spanish, too.
Despite all Molenbeek remains a crossroad. Italians know well, present as they always are when artists from their country come in tour at VK, well-known concert venue located along the streets of the jihadist compound. Another, smaller, different Bataclan where people all over Europe come to play and listen to music. It's here, behind this veil of a living and pulsing multicultural district, that the laboratory for radicalism works.
Data from public authorities state that since 2013 fifteen people left the country to join jihadists in Syria. And is in Molenbeek that the 2004 Madrid train bombings were plotted. Mimoun Belhadj e Hassan El Haski, «the heads» of those bombings came from this corner of Belgium, not far from Brussels city centre. Again, Molenbeek was the residence of Abdessatar Dahmane, one of the member of the command responsible for the assassination of «commander Massoud», Peace Nobel price and chief of the anti-Taliban Afghani alliance.
Belgium is aware of this situation, a situation made more complicated for its scale: there is a small number of extremists living amongst the large majority of the population conducting a normal life. The Mosque on one side, the «brassérie de la Senne» brewery on the other side: that's the image of cohabitation. Or, maybe, the image of contrast. In the city Council of Brussels seat two counsellors elected in the ISLAM party lists. A great victory for Belgian Schiites (in a country where the majority of Muslims is Sunni). One out this two counsellor, Lhoucine Aït Jeddig, comes from Molenbeek. He gained the elections promising to use the Koran as guide for the political mandate. No surprise, he's from Belgistan.
They call it «the jihadist hamlet», it is considered as an «hub of terrorism and arms trafficking», it has been nominated «capital city of Belgistan», i.e. the Islamic Brussels. It is simply known by everybody as Molenbeek-Saint Jean, one of the nineteen municipalities composing the city of Brussels. Molenbeek is the historical cradle of immigration, with foreigners who started coming in the XIX century, when Belgium wasn't yet the actual Belgium and the European Union wasn't even a fantasy. Pubs, restaurants, shops, schools and mosques (two). Children playing together, veiled and unveiled women, signboard written in Flemish, in French, in Arabian. Other signboard read names of some Iberian destinations. Molenbeek is a neighborhood with a huge multicultural spirit and strong contrasts. The museum of industry and work sounds ironic in a place where more than 30% of the local population is out of work. Nearly one third of the 96.000 inhabitants here is unemployed. Most of them live thanks to «chômage», the unemployment benefits, all the others finish to join criminality.
It's the Moroccan, Tunisian and Pakistani communities that makes Molenbeek the Belgistan, a land developed around Armenian, Portuguese and Spanish, too.
Despite all Molenbeek remains a crossroad. Italians know well, present as they always are when artists from their country come in tour at VK, well-known concert venue located along the streets of the jihadist compound. Another, smaller, different Bataclan where people all over Europe come to play and listen to music. It's here, behind this veil of a living and pulsing multicultural district, that the laboratory for radicalism works.
Data from public authorities state that since 2013 fifteen people left the country to join jihadists in Syria. And is in Molenbeek that the 2004 Madrid train bombings were plotted. Mimoun Belhadj e Hassan El Haski, «the heads» of those bombings came from this corner of Belgium, not far from Brussels city centre. Again, Molenbeek was the residence of Abdessatar Dahmane, one of the member of the command responsible for the assassination of «commander Massoud», Peace Nobel price and chief of the anti-Taliban Afghani alliance.
Belgium is aware of this situation, a situation made more complicated for its scale: there is a small number of extremists living amongst the large majority of the population conducting a normal life. The Mosque on one side, the «brassérie de la Senne» brewery on the other side: that's the image of cohabitation. Or, maybe, the image of contrast. In the city Council of Brussels seat two counsellors elected in the ISLAM party lists. A great victory for Belgian Schiites (in a country where the majority of Muslims is Sunni). One out this two counsellor, Lhoucine Aït Jeddig, comes from Molenbeek. He gained the elections promising to use the Koran as guide for the political mandate. No surprise, he's from Belgistan.
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