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| Europe |
| Belgium’s Arab Nationalist Touches Nerve |
| 2003-05-16 |
| EFL A Lebanese refugee running for parliament is giving a confrontational twist to elections in this Belgian city, a center of anti-immigrant feelings in Europe. Dyab Abou Jahjah's demands for immigrant empowerment, his brief jailing on charges of incitement to riot and his portrayal as an enemy of democracy and integration have caught the eye of the nation, even though the publicity is unlikely to be reflected in success at the polls. I wouldn't be to sure about that. Your average islamic population tends to vote as a block. The 31-year-old Abou Jahjah dreams of an upset and a parliamentary seat. "The impact of that one seat will be so jarring that a lot of things will change," he said. His Antwerp-based Arab-European League has just 2,000 members in Belgium, but is expanding internationally. It has 1,000 supporters in the Netherlands, and 300 members in France. I'm thinking there are more that you haven't counted. In a country of hundreds of thousands of Arab and Turkish immigrants, several politicians with immigrant backgrounds are running for parliament representing traditional parties. Abou Jahjah, who fled Lebanon and the continued violence at 19 to seek a new life in Europe, denounces them as sellouts. Playing the islamic "Uncle Tom" card. Abou Jahjah sought political asylum in 1991 but gained Belgian nationality through a brief marriage. His group opposes assimilation and demands that Muslims be educated in separate schools. Regular Belgium schools don't offer classes in explosives He also wants Arabic to be given greater recognition in Belgium alongside the official languages of Dutch, French and German. Dressed in blue jeans and a casual black jacket amid a throng of young admirers at a recent rally, Abou Jahjah accused Belgium's political mainstream of trying to force Muslims to adopt Belgian culture. Instead, the prime minister should come to the immigrant neighborhoods of Antwerp and speak Arabic, he said. "We are not submissive," Abou Jahjah told the meeting. "But everyone else must submit to me or else!" Abou Jahjah said his resistance authority was ingrained during his youth in Sidon, Lebanon, when Israel invaded the country in 1982. Since fleeing Lebanon, he has gained Belgian citizenship and studied international politics. In 1993, he founded the Arab-European League to promote the rights of Arab immigrants in a city that was quickly becoming a racial powderkeg. He hit national headlines early last year when a march in Antwerp to support the Palestinian cause turned into a riot. Jewish businesses in the city's diamond district were attacked. You knew there had to be Jews involved Abou Jahjah, who often stood face-to-face with police, was accused of inciting the riots. He was jailed until it was decided there were insufficient grounds to prosecute. Suddenly, he became a hero to many immigrant youths in this city of 400,000 people. "It made me even more combative," Abou Jahjah told The Associated Press. "When you're in jail and you realize you're innocent, you increasingly realize how politics work and you know your cause is a just one." "Cuz when we're in charge, I can do what I like without being arrested." |
| Posted by:Steve |
#6 His group opposes assimilation and demands that Muslims be educated in separate schools. That kind of bulls**t is the reason we're where we are today. He hit national headlines early last year when a march in Antwerp to support the Palestinian cause turned into a riot. Jewish businesses in the city's diamond district were attacked. How many more of these racist freaks are we supposed to stomach? If Western countries were smart, they would end immigration from Muslim nations. But we won't. We'll have to have a few of these backward political terrorists in Congress before anyone makes a sensible move. I just hope it's not too late. |
| Posted by: Celissa 2003-05-16 12:29:41 |
| #5 Prediction: We will see a resurgence of Nationalist European parties like the National Front. Reverse colonialsim is obvious trend here, France, Germany and elsewhere. But these colonialists are there to stay. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-16 11:33:19 |
| #4 "It made me even more combative," Abou Jahjah told The Associated Press. "When you're in jail and you realize you're innocent, you increasingly realize how politics work and you know your cause is a just one." ...Sounds like someone's been reading Mein Kampf , yeah? Time in a European jail will get ya every time... |
| Posted by: Dripping sarcasm 2003-05-16 10:36:08 |
| #3 Belgium's Arab Nationalist Touches Nerve Wouldn't this be considered inappropriate touching? |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-05-16 10:21:59 |
| #2 hmmm...I don't know how Belgian politics works, but could it be that his purpose is to draw votes away from another candidate? |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-05-16 08:49:13 |
| #1 Is "Abou" his real name, or is it "Abou" as in "fighter's pseudonym"? Just wondering. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-05-16 08:40:59 |