The Municipal council of Lier, a city in the Antwerp province of Belgium, approved a ban on the wearing of religious symbols for counter personnel. The approval of the disputed proposal caused angry reactions by many immigrants who followed the meeting. After the Vlaams Belang party retracted the proposal for a total headscarf-ban for city…
Moroccan mothers established approximately 10% of new nurseries opened in Antwerp in 2007. There are a total of 13 nurseries in the city with a Moroccan babysitter – 9 of which opened last year. The town of Mechelen is also following a similar trend. According to Kind en Gexin, the Flemish agency for children and…
A man claiming to be part of al-Qaeda made several calls to report bombs at train stations in Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, and Leuven. The alerts disrupted traffic for hours, as authorities thoroughly searched the premises, though no explosives were found. Police in Leuven were able to track the anonymous calls to a 33-year old man…
An organization called Boss of Our Own Head (BEOH!) carried out a demonstration during a fashion show in the San Marco Vilge in Schelle. The organization’s members had separately organized a counter fashion show to bring to attention the importance of the headscarf for many Muslim women. The goal of the counter-show was to also…
A court in Antwerp has found Hans van Themsche guilty of a race-inspired shooting spree resulting in the death of two people, and wounding of one. The victims included a Malian nanny and her two year old, and an injured woman of Turkish descent. The gunman told police he hoped to kill at least five…
