Jean-Pierre Martin and Laurence D’Hondt, who wrote a controversial book on the rising Islamism that is facing teachers in Belgium, presented their book on December 10 in the European Parliament.
Laurence D’Hondt highlighted how she and Martin have been professional journalists, working across the Islamic world, and now see how radical Islam is spreading, how Islamists “impose their views and way of life on everyone.”
She labelled this rising Islamism “a totalitarian project’ and said it was “worrisome” to see it grow so much.
A watershed moment for France came with two startling murders: the killings and decapitations of schoolteachers Samuel Paty in 2020 and Dominique Bernard in 2023 by radical Muslims.
But in Belgium, not much was generally known, and for that reason, D’hondt and Martin went out to speak with teachers in Belgium. They discovered the situation is bad as well, especially in Brussels.
“Schools in Belgium are a target of the Muslim Brotherhood,” D’hondt said.
Martin noted that since its inception in the 1920’s, the Muslim Brotherhood has targeted schools and educational institutions. For example in Turkey, when Kemal Ataturk created a secular state, Martin said the Muslim Brotherhood became experts in subversive ways.
He warned that in Europe, many have a blind spot for how they operate, leading to increasing problems.
“Now it’s a difficult situation in many schools.”
He said there was intensive proselytization in schools and that politics “didn’t take the necessary steps to safeguard secularism”.
Martin noted that the youngest generations never knew the power of faith in society and did not know the repercussions of Islamism on freedom or on the relationship between men and women.
Assita Kanko, a Belgian MEP who is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, hosted the event. She remarked that in Brussels political Islam was on the rise, pointing to the Belgian politician Fouad Ahidar, whose party emphasises Muslim issues. He made gains in the local elections in October. Radical Muslims also were present in cultural centres showing increasing political and intellectual power of radicals in the capital of Europe.
This, of course, is visible in Brussels schools, where the authors talked with teachers, who said they see a shift in atmosphere in class, where girls say they want to wear veils.
Some children appear to be captured by the radical ideology, but many moderate Muslim children appear to be forced to follow the most radical, feeling intimidation and experiencing social pressure.
Belgian teachers say they were no longer invited to certain parties, and some suffered from burnouts.
“There is separatism at schools in Brussels”, Laurence D’hondt said.
“If it happens in schools today, it will be in our streets tomorrow”.
Organisers of the initial presentation just a few weeks ago in November, pulled out after they received threats, apparently from young Muslims who were offended by people allegedly abusing the name of Allah.
Since 2016, there is a new Islamic radicalism, Martin said, less visible, more pernicious.
“Women play a prominent role, experimental even.” They were used to spread radical Islam, often in an educational role.
D’hondt pointed out they were often well-educated, wore make up, appear open, wear a veil, look modern and so on, but did have a radical political agenda.
Wearing a veil was said to be a telling sign, and it allegedly was not a coincidence a TV channel such as Al Jazeera showed young veiled children so often.
Kanko noted that European institutions often used advertising with veiled women and girls.
The authors said there is an inverse integration ongoing, where Europe is increasingly opting for halal food instead of the other way around.
D’hondt said radical Muslims often use the judicial route, and leaned on so-called anti-discrimination laws to get what they want at schools, including the right to wear a veil.
But the radicals did not limit themselves only to this. They also used the economic route, and promoted halal food for example, or the social and cultural route, promoting ritual slaughter, Ramadan and other Islamic customs.
“Discreetly, they are using our system and liberties to impose their customs.”
According to Kanko, all political parties were too supportive of this communautarism, but in particular, the Left supported this way too much.
The authors also noticed a rise in antisemitism, where young children talk about “filthy Jews” and where parents meddle in and determine what can or cannot be said at schools.
Making everything worse is that all this radicalism was pushed via systems often receiving heavy subsidies from Brussels, where radicals allegedly could hand out money with no checks or controls.
Both authors of the book Allah n’a rien à faire dans ma classe (Allah has nothing to do in my class) were invited to the EP by Assita Kanko, Belgian MEP for the European Conservatives and Reformists and François Bellamy, French MEP for the European People’s Party after an earlier presentation in Brussels was chancelled.
Bellamy could not attend the event due to the political situation in France.
Authors go to EP to warn of radical Islam in Belgian schools