At the end of November, the controversial imam of the Grand Mosque of Brussels, Abdelhadi Sewif, won the first round of a legal battle over his right to remain in Belgium. The judgement was prompted by the decision of Secretary of State for Migration Theo Francken to withdraw the residence permit of the imam, whom he has described as "a follower of Salafism, radicalised, very conservative and dangerous to our society and our national security".
Adopted in October 2017, the report examines the overall Islamist phenomenon and acknowledges how the decades-long extremist ideology that has been allowed to spread in different forms across Belgium, has paved the way for radicalisation and violence. Against this backdrop, the inquiry stresses that ideologies do not need to be openly violent to pose a threat: there are fundamentalist discourses which plant the seeds of terrorism even without inciting it directly, as they inspire a sense of hatred against the liberal-democratic order and its values.
They promote an “us vs. them” narrative and urge Muslims to isolate from the rest of society. This propaganda causes ghetto-mentality and polarisation, fuelling feelings of marginalisation, resentment and frustration that, with the right trigger, have the potential to translate into violence. [Euronews] Read more
