Israeli politicians have in part blamed Belgium’s “liberal” attitude to security for the Islamic terrorist atrocities which yesterday rocked Brussels, and have called on the country to end Muslim immigration “immediately” if it is to protect its own citizens.
“If in Belgium they continue eating chocolate and enjoying life, and continue to appear as great democrats and liberals, and not decide that some Muslims in their country are organising terror, they won’t be able to fight them,” Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz told Israel Radio this morning, the Jerusalem Post has reported.
His comments followed those of Zionist Union Knesset Member (KM) Kesenia Svetlova, who said the Brussels attacks demonstrate that “European multi-culturalism has failed as a result of continued neglecting and ignoring of the challenges it poses.”
She said that Europe had ignored the need to integrate Muslims, or tackle the radicalisation of young Muslims born in the country. Several of the attackers who carried out yesterday’s atrocity were born within Belgium.
“Europe must come up with a continent-wide plan for a war on extreme and destructive ideology and a holistic approach to deal with all of the negatives entering the continent in the name of extremist Islamic ideology, such as female circumcision, preventing education, racism, forced marriage, polygamy and other issues,” Svetlova said.
Somewhat ironically, just days before the bombers struck Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon told CNN that the majority of Belgian Muslim youths were well integrated, but said more needed to be done by the government to help young Muslims feel “at home” in Belgian society.
It took an Imam to explain that, to the contrary, it was Muslims who had to integrate.
“There is no reason why you shouldn’t feel Belgian — this is the country you were raised in. This is the country where you have been fed, where you went to school, where you had your friends, where you practiced your sports. So why all of a sudden you don’t feel Belgian?” asked Sheikh Sulayman Van Ael
Nonetheless, Jambon’s comments were seized upon by Likud KM Nava Boker, who in part blamed Europe’s “policy of appeasement” for yesterday’s attacks, in which more than 30 people died and hundreds more were injured.
“Rather than point to radical Islam as the number one cause of global terror today, Belgian Interior Minister Jambon chooses to claim that more must be done to make young Muslims ‘feel at home,'” she said.
“Belgium must close its borders immediately, eject from itself the inciters and stop Muslim immigration into the country,” she advised.
In a swipe against EU plans to label goods made in Israeli settlements, Boker added that Belgium would be better off worrying about its own terror threat that than “dealing with product-labeling initiatives against Israel.”
Belgian politicians, meanwhile, are calling for Jambon’s resignation following his failure to “clean up” Molenbeek as promised.
Vlaams Belang MP Jan Penris tweeted: “Jan Jambon, friend, comrade. In your place I would now resign”.
He added: “Jan is a friend of mine. But he has failed. He announced that he would clean up Molenbeek door to door, and that hasn’t happened.”