Belgian politicians have submitted a proposal to impeach or limit the influence of Muslim extremists in power. MPs fear that Muslim politicians do not shake hands with women and are creating an isolated community.
Alain Destexche, a liberal member of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, and Deputy Mayor of Koekelberg Philippe Pivin submitted the proposal in front of the Belgian Parliament to exclude extremist parties from a range of local functions. The proposal is currently open for signatures by other members of Parliament.
“The people of the Islamic party do not want to be mixed with others in public transport and other communal places,” local media quoted Alain Destexhe as saying. “They advocate getting married and wearing a veil at 12 years old, based on Islamic law.”
The two liberal politicians said that the European Court of Human Rights had explicitly stated that Sharia law is not compatible with the rights and freedoms written in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is why the power of Muslim extremists must be minimized.
The proposal argues that if elected, ultra-conservative Muslim beliefs are inconsistent with the ECHR’s laws against racism and xenophobia, as well as those aimed at punishing the denial or minimization of the Holocaust. Those who hold such views should be impeached, and prevented from presiding over local councils or managing communal bodies, the proposal said.
Destexhe referred specifically to the newly established Islam Party in Belgium, which won two seats in municipal elections in October 2012 and vowed to implement Islamic Sharia law in Belgium.
“The Islam-elected party has refused to shake hands with Molenbeek [municipality in Brussels-Capital Region] Mayor Francoise Schepmans [after being elected]. I feel that some people do not understand how similar this is to the behavior of the extreme right, and how they are creating their own isolated community,” Destexhe explained.
The two Muslim candidates, Lhoucine Aït Jeddig and Redouane Ahrouch, are both from Brussels’ two heavily Muslim municipalities, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean and Anderlecht, respectively.
