Rampaging Through Brussels

Muslim Turks face off security forces in Brussels, October 24

I left Brussels a week too soon.

Turks Set Cars Alight in Brussels

From the desk of Paul Belien on Wed, 2007-10-24 23:21

Tonight (Wednesday evening) heavy rioting erupted in Turkish quarters of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Several cars were torched and shops destroyed. Police forces were unable to restore law and order in the boroughs of Sint-Joost-ten-Node and Schaarbeek where since last Sunday the animosity among Turks is running high. Turkish flags are omnipresent. In some streets the Turkish crescent and star adorns almost every house.

The Turks’ anger was provoked by rising tension with Kurds along the Iraqi-Turkish border and by the debate in the American Congress about the Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915. On Sunday night Turkish youths in Sint-Joost destroyed the pub of Peter Petrossian, an ethnic Armenian who had to flee for his life. Apparently, some Turks think that by attacking the Armenians in Brussels they can convince the world that the Turks never committed a genocide of the Armenians.

Tonight the youths attacked Kurdish shops. They also set fire to several cars.

Belgium’s Muslim population consists mainly of Moroccans and Turks. In the past rioting Muslim youths were mostly Moroccans. The Turkish community is controlled by the Turkish embassy. The latter used to restrain the Turkish population so as not to upset the Belgian authorities and thwart Turkey’s chances of EU admission. This policy seems to have changed recently. In Antwerp, too, Turkish youths demonstrated tonight.

The events in Brussels indicate that in admitting large numbers of immigrants Belgium has also imported the ethnic quarrels of the Middle East.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, Moroccan youths have been burning cars for more than a week now. Today a 15-year old Amsterdam schoolboy was stabbed by youths. The boy survived the attack but is seriously wounded. On 11 October a 16-year old Amsterdam boy was stabbed to death in school. On 4 September a similar incident occurred in the Belgian city of Ghent where a 14-year old Belgian boy fought for his life after being stabbed in the throat by two immigrant youths from his school.

Go read it all. It's this or anarchy, I'm afraid.

Comments

[Timur]

Pamela, they are probably just pissed off that they didn't get the chance to see you and Robert when you were there!

[john jay]

dear friends:

controversy still swirls around the reporting of a conference in brussels, belgium held october 18 & 19, 2007.

as a preface to my remarks, i would remind each of you of benjamin franklin's admonition before the revolution, that its participants should all hang together or they would most assuredly all hang separately.

i believe the situation faced by western civilization's assault from the forces of resurgent islam no less grave to each of us, and that if we are to defend against this attack we must do so cohesively.

pamela geller of atlasshrugs attended that conference, as did many other luminous scholars, dignitaries, politicians and recognized authorities on islam and the jihad, no less than robert spencer and andrew bostom.

atlasshrugs reported exhaustively on the events, on the reports delivered to the conference, and on the situation in western europe as it not so successfully tries to defend against the political, demographic and religious violence brought to it by aggressive jihad. the reportage is outstanding, clear, lucid, persuasive, and also entertaining as it explores the views of the participants, and the opulent setting of the european union headquarters, where the conference took place. included in that reporting is a full transcription of an interview ms. geller had with dr. patrick sookhdeo, a film spanning all 45 minutes of robert spencer's keynote address, and a full description of attendees and participants including dr. andrew bostom, bat ye'or, paul belien of belgium, and the baron of the gates of vienna fame, among many other well known and respected notables. also in attendance were presenters who assessed the situations in their home countries, including germany, italy and norway. finally, dr. aryeh eldad, a respected surgeon specializing in burn treatments, a respected member of the israeli knesset, and candidate for prime minister of israel.

this conference has received little fanfare in the rest of the american blogosphere, and perhaps the reason is that conservative commentators may have followed the lead of charles at little green footballs. charles covered the conference as follows:

"a coalition of europeans and americans is organizing to resist islamization. [link to gates of vienna for press release.]

"it's important to note that not all of the people who are hitching a ride on the anti-islamizatioin movement are doing it for honorable reasons. there are serious issues around the participation of filip dewinter (of the ultra nationalist vlaams belang party, successor to vlaam blok.) and lgf reader "dave of sweden" points out another problematic member: ... ."

and, no more.

apparently, for he has not chosen to reveal his reasons that i am aware of, charles decided to not report anything on a potentially vital meeting, simply because of his concern over "issues" surrounding mr. dewinter's attendance at this conference.

pamela geller took umbrage with this dismissive posture of the good work and effort of the conference attendees, and, i would not blame her one second if she were more than a little irritated at his failure to pay any credence or attention to the wonderful effort she put into reporting the conference.

the exchange has culminated in this last broadside from charles at lgf:

"what a disappointment. pamela: i hope you'll take a step back and and tune down the rhetoric, and see that the points i've raised are not unreasonable. .... if ou start attacking friends and ignoring the issue, the issue's not going to go away. but the friends will."

this seems a very thinly veiled threat to me, directed by charles to pamela, intending that she come into "line" with him on these matters. and, impliedly, on all matters upon which he wishes to determine by edict.

the articles at atlasshrugs were thorough, well crafted, and extremely informative about the conference, its subject matter, and its attendees. those articles were supported by numerous pictures, which showed the attendees interacting socially and at the dias during presentations. as mentioned, an interview from a man with lots to say was transcribed in its entirety. the complete keynote speech by robert spencer was filmed and availabe at atlasshrugs.

the work was simply good. hell, it was better than good, it was exemplary.

by contrast, charles dismissed the worth of the entire conference, and the hard work and effort of all of its participants and presenters, based upon unsubstantiated smears on the integrity of several attendees, which, had he investigated, would have proven groundless, which pamela geller has pointed out, to no avail: mr. paul belien, well known in these circles, partially through pamela's efforts, wrote her to confirm that the racist allegations hurled at the ulra nationalists are neither historically nor personally correct.

when pamela geller expressed frustration with charles, she also was at some pains to rightfully credited him with inspiration and help in her own blogging efforts, and further made no threats or castigations towards his friendship, and most certainly did not threaten to cast him out. by contrast, he has rather overtly threatened her with the loss of his friendship, and impliedly his patronage and support, because of her show of intellectual independence. he has quite openly said, if you do not follow my "line" you will be exiled from my circle. do you read his words to any other effect? they are before you. you decide.

what show of abasement will he demand to support her rehabilitation back into his little world of green footballs, back into his benificence?

no, pamela geller wrote well, she wrote passionately and she wrote accurately of this conference. charles, by contrast, made a slipshod observation, a dismissive refutation of the conference supported by a hearsay allegation of racism against certain of its participants which has been later well refuted by pamela geller, all without any acknowledgement by charles. he has, however, issued his threat.

this incident is the sort of thing that over time decides whether the blogs are to be a place of free interchange of views, of free spirited discussion, of an exchange of knowledge, of an investigation of the world and an attempt to portray it accurately at all costs, .... , or whether it becomes as it matures, simply another version of the mainstream media where views are imposed by edict, and enforced by orthodoxy. charles appears to have a tendency towards orthodoxy, at least insofar as he is able to force his own.

charles should not threaten pamela geller with the loss of his friendship simply because she worked longer, harder, and better than he did in reporting this conference, at considerable exposure of her time, effort and money, and used better judgment than he did.

he is wrong.

he should grow up, and he should apologize.

he should heal the wounds, and work so that we all defend against islam in a joint effort. he should not let his ego blind him to this reality. he simply stepped in it, and he should acknowledge that openly and frankly and fervently.

john

p.s. the situation with the euro nationalists requires a far more nuanced and sophisticated reaction than charles appears capable.

proof?

consider the democratic party of the united states in the 1960's. the party of the kennedy's, and hubert humphrey. of lyndon johnson. of lester maddox, and of george wallace, and many other southern members who remained openly and rebelliously segregationists. friends, do you remember that word, and the politics of those who openly described themselves as such.

the quite obvious question being, as applied to the matter under discussion, would charles have refused in the 1960's to have cooperated and enlisted the aid of the democratic party in advancing the cause of racial integration, because of the presence in the democratic party of messers maddox and wallace?

no, the situation here is far more nuanced that charles is willing to acknowledge, and, in these matters, he falls far short of rational appreciation for the importance of this conference, its attendees, and its agenda.

he has, in a phrase, failed to grasp the situation.

[john jay]

pamela:

the matters in europe are coming to a head.

the islamists will push this agenda of theirs as fast as they can, before the citizenry of europe can wake up and prevent their politicians from selling them down the river as quickly as possible.

we are about 10 years from this in this country, if that.

it does not take long for quisling and vichy politicians to betray a citizenry. not long at all.

and quislings seek to lead us.

john jay

[Kristopher]

Turkey .... the EU's islamic answer to Mexico.