Belgium: Molenbeek 'youths' threatened Jews and drove Jewish shops out of business

The worst mass killing perpetrated in France since the Second World War by Islamists on Friday has led investigators and journalists to the  Brussels borough of Molenbeek, notorious for jihadi recruitment.  The Belgian government has recognised that the situation is so bad that it doesn't have a grip. An impressive number of articles describe the situation in Molenbeek: "a terrorist den", "a hotbel of terrorism", "Europe's jihadi central",  "a police no-go area", "a magnet for jihadists, gangs, drugs and lawlessness", "terrorist breeding ground", "it enjoys a reputation for hardline clandestine Salafist cells which the Belgian security services claim to know a lot about but never seem able to deal with". etc. And it's not only terrorism and jihad.  You can shop for weapons (you can find a Kalashnikov in 30 minutes) and drugs as well.

Lifted from Philosémitisme blog (2008):

"The Jews are our worst enemies"

What all articles fail to mention is that there used to be a thriving Jewish commumnity in Molenbeek.  There is now a huge Muslim population.  

In 2008, the Flemish magazine Dag Allemaal reported the 'youths' in Molenbeek shouted in the streets "The Jews are our worst enemies".  Jews owned shops for many years along the Prado Street and Chaussée de Gand.  But, with the exception of a furniture store, by 2008, they had all  vanished.  And nobody cared.

The author of the article was turned down when he tried to interview the former Molenbeek Jewish merchants. They feared reprisals. One, René (not his real name) agreed to speak on condition that no pictures were taken and that he could not be identified. 

In 2008, René closed his hair salon at Chaussée de Gand. There were a string of violent incidents. It started with "dirty kike" and other anti-Semitic graffiti on the facade. The worst are the 'youths' between 12 and 20 years. They shout in the streets that Jews are their worst enemies.  

The campaign of hatred and intimidation waged against René culminated in a raid. Six 'youths' stormed into the salon shouting "dirty kike", breaking his equipment and punching him on the face. 

After they left, René called the police. An hour later the 'youths' came back to "punish" him and smashed all the mirrors. In 35 years of hard work René had build up a loyal client base, but understandably customers were frightened by the violence and stopped coming.  René had no choice but to wind down the business.

To add insult to injury former Molenbeek mayor, Philippe Moureaux (Socialist francophone), complained in 2009, that Belgian Jews "deny Muslims right to diversity".(Note: "Diversity" in this sense means "multiculturalism".)

We know that the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.