why visit Molenbeek, the forgotten new language divide in Belgium in Europe

Submitted by myth (Germany), Dec 5, 2015 at 12:34

Hi Anon, I read all of Voeten's article. Thanks for that valuable link.

There's one thing that can get you to Molenbeek eventually. For me the fastest route to Paris or London is to make the two-hour-drive to Brussel and catch the high-speed-rail-train at Brussel's southern station (Midi). If I drive away from the station just a little direction Molenbeek I can actually park my car for free while I am away. That's how I entered Molenbeek and got out alive. In a way Brussel-South is not only the fastest way to get to Paris and London, but to Morocco (Molenbeek) as well.

What Voeten forgot to mention is the new language divide in Brussel. From his name I assume Voeten speaks flemish-Dutch. Brussel used to be Flanders, everybody used to speak Dutch. Today the city center speaks French. The new EU administrative bunch chose French as their language. However, the second reason is much more numerous. All those North-African immigrants speak French in addition to Arabic and no Dutch. That's how the city center of Brussel (I use the Dutch spelling deliberaly) came to speak French for every practical purpose.

This redrew a new border of a new language divide inside Belgium. In Brussel the suburbs speak Dutch, the city center French. The language divide's connection with the immigrant population ultimately links it to every conflict in Belgian politics imaginable. In Belgium the so called populist right is based in Dutch-speaking Flanders and advocating independence. The Left resides in French-speaking Wallonie embracing their immigrant population as new allies-in-language and as intended beneficiaries of their policies.

To me language divides are significant. French-Arabic speaking Belgium is European jihad at work. Move to the north of Belgium and enter the Dutch-Arabic combination, it becomes somewhat better. Move to a Dutch-Turkish neighborhood in Antwerpen and feel a little better still. Go east into Germany and enter the German-Turkish zone and things will be just fine. Sometimes I do the actual trip on a single day going to Brussel, Antwerpen, Cologne.

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