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Showing posts with the label Theo van Gogh

Fears of an Islamic revolt in Europe begin to fade

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Five years ago bombings and riots fuelled anxiety that Europe's Muslims were on the verge of mass radicalisation. Those predictions have not been borne out. Jason Burke in Paris and Ian Traynor in Brussels  The Observer , Sunday 26 July 2009 Muslim women go shopping in Marseille. Photograph: Michel Gangne/AFP/Getty Images A district of derelict warehouses, red-brick terraces, and vibrant street life on the canals near the centre of Brussels, Molenbeek was once known as Belgium's "Little Manchester". These days it is better known as "Little Morocco" since the population is overwhelmingly Muslim and of North African origin. By day, the scene is one of children kicking balls on busy streets, of very fast, very small cars with very large sound systems. By night, the cafes and tea houses are no strangers to drug-dealers and mafia from the Maghreb. For the politically active extreme right, and the anti-Islam