ANTWERP THE CITY OF DIVERSITY: TWO OBSERVERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000057

SIPDIS

STATE PASS EUR/WE, EUR/FO, AND EUR/PPD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2038
TAGS: PGOV KISL BE
SUBJECT: ANTWERP THE CITY OF DIVERSITY: TWO OBSERVERS
COMMENT ON THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY

Classified By: POL/ECON Counselor Richard Eason for reasons 1.4 (B) and
(D).


1. (C) Summary: Poloff met with two activists of Moroccan
descent in Antwerp January 14 to get their readout on how
local government engagement with the Muslim community and a
readout on the January 4 demonstrations against Israel which
became violent. The Antwerp police detained about 90 youth
between the ages of 11 and 20 for questioning after the
violence erupted. The two interlocutors were Hicham Al
Mzairh, a frequent op-ed contributor and member of the
Flemish Liberal Party (Open VLD) and Anissa Akhandaf,
Director of the Antwerp City Social Cohesion Office. Al
Mzairh explained that the two largest Muslim nationalities in
Antwerp, Moroccans and Turks, rarely interact with each
other, and in his view, Muslims are only one component of a
diverse society that includes 160 different nationalities.
Akhandaf described her offices' effort to engage individuals,
organizations, and neighborhoods of all minority groups and
sectors of society including Muslims. In the case of the
rioting youth, she posited that the majority were disaffected
teenagers born in Belgium to Moroccan immigrants, who have
turned to radical Moroccan leaders that can provide them with
an identity, pride, and self esteem. End Summary.


2. (C) Hicham Al Mzairh is a well-known writer of opinion
pieces critical of Muslim extremism in Belgian papers. Most
recently, he condemned the violence during the January 4
anti-Israel protests, and shook hands with leaders of the
Jewish community who felt threatened. "They call me a
traitor," he said, when mentioning how he is often condemned
by Belgium's Muslim leaders. Al Mzairh immigrated to Belgium
ten years ago from Morocco and has learned to speak both
Flemish and English fluently. His main source of income is
the salary he receives as an Antwerp City bus driver. He is
an activist in the local Liberal Trade Union, and a member of
the Flemish Liberal Party (Open VLD). He is often quoted or
featured in the media as the Open VLD point person on Muslim
issues in Belgium. Al Mzairh emphasized that Antwerp is a
large diverse community with 160 different nationalities,
rivaling the mix of New York and London. Though he often
involves himself in Muslim-society dialogue, he believes the
larger community is more important and more valid to him
personally than the Moroccan Community. He noted that the
largest ethnically Muslim communities, Moroccans and Turks,
have little interaction with each other. He estimated there
were only two officially recognized mosques in Antwerp that
receive some government support out of about 36 total. The
remainder he said were either Turkish mosques receiving
funding from Ankara, or mosques that were too radical to
receive government support and therefore maintained by tithes
and donations. He chose to speak out against the violence
during the demonstrations to admonish those disrupting peace
and cohesion in Antwerp; he reached out to Jewish leaders to
show solidarity with an important part of a diverse city like
Antwerp.


3. (C) Anissa Akhandaf, a second generation Belgian of
Moroccan descent is the Director of the Social Cohesion
Office in the Antwerp City Department of Living Together in
Diversity. The Department was created by the city council in
2007 to promote integration within the city and its diverse
communities. She has a large staff, which includes four
teams dedicated to: community participation and mediation;
focus group organizations; individual citizen projects; and
neighborhood square activities. The community participation
and mediation team works with grass roots groups and ethnic
communities to smooth problems between various groups. This
team is often deployed in the city and provides a large
amount of intelligence at the street level on the local mood
and opinion. If they determine a particular issue could
cause violence, they communicate with the police and city
authorities as necessary. Anissa is a member of a large and
important family in Antwerp's Moroccan community. She said
her office is well aware of the situation that led to the
violence in the January 4 demonstrations. She was
disheartened to point out it was mostly young boys between 11
and 20 who were detained by the police for questioning. She
added that the large majorities of Moroccans in Antwerp are
second or even third generation. A clear problem with many
children of Moroccan descent is their feelings of
disenchantment and loneliness within the wider society, which
is easily exploited by outspoken and sometimes radical
leaders who claim to provide them with a "Moroccan" or
"Muslim" identity and self esteem. A part-time teacher of
Arabic, Anissa said that few children of Moroccan descent can
speak Arabic in Antwerp. Her office is working hard on
outreach to these disaffected youth, trying to engage them
and their parents. She opined that very few parents even

knew their children attended the demonstration. They have
also increased their contact with Moroccan leaders and some
mosques. Her office was warned to limit interaction with
radical or extremist leaders, and she requested objective
bureaucratic criteria to define what specific indicators they
should use to define overly radical. She is concerned that
if their contact with some of these leaders ends, they will
lose the opportunity to engage and reach their youthful
followers.


4. (C) Comment: Hicham Al Mzairh and Anissa Akhandaf are
examples of moderate Muslims who have fully integrated into
modern society. As activists, they set examples for others
in Antwerp and Belgium. Al Mzairh's individualist and often
critical discourse might earn the ire of Muslim leaders, but
his focus on the wider community might help othe Morocan
immigrants expand their views outside teir ethnic community.
Akhandaf, as a public ervant promoting diversity, is in a
particulaly good position for outreach to Muslim communiies
in Antwerp. She acknowledged the need tofocus on
disaffected teenage youth after the recent anti-Israeli
violence, and she has the kind of personality and drive that
lead to success. These two Belgians, of Moroccan descent
clearly believe and are willing to work to ensure that
Muslims have a place in a diverse Belgian society.
.