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Anti-Islamists denounce ban on mass protest
Anti-Islamist protesters are crying foul after the mayor of Brussels banned a demonstration due to attract some 20,000 protesters. Organisers denounced as 'anti-democratic' the arrest of dozens of demonstrators who went out to the streets in spite of the ban. Police also detained the leaders of Belgium's far-right Vlaams Belang party, Filip Dewinter and Frank Vanhecke.
Fewer than 200 protesters gathered in the city's EU quarter to rally against the 'Islamisation of Europe'. They were vastly outnumbered by over 1,000 police officers who promptly rounded up anyone brandishing a flag or a megaphone. Anders Gravers, the Danish co-organiser of the march commented:
"Of course we're disappointed by the turn-out but it's all the fault of the authorities. The Mayor had no right to stop us. And there were even terror threats against the march, so it's no wonder people stayed home. But we're here to remind everyone that six years ago today, on 9/11, Islam declared war on the Western world."
Chaos
Freddy Thielemans, Brussels' Socialist Mayor, declared the protest illegal last week, fearing it would lead to violent clashes with the city's 'substantial' foreign community.
"We were worried about chaos and security threats. As soon as you get a blanket movement like this that puts everyone under the same label, you risk triggering a backlash."
The protest was organised by Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), a newly-founded organisation which seeks to regroup all other similar movements in Europe.
Gerard Nash, one of SIOE'ds founders:
"The fact that the Mayor banned us just illustrates our point. If people are against us, they could have organised a peaceful protest to say so, that's how we do things in Europe."
Split
However, the Brussels ban has triggered a split in the group. Ulk Ulfkotte, a security expert and academic, helped promote the march originally but then stayed away because he said it would attract right-wing extremists. Mr Ulfkotte says he is seeking a more constructive dialogue on Islam in Europe.
"He's a traitor," shouted one demonstrator. "What's right-wing? Is it right-wing to stone a woman? We're here to take a stand against that."
A young woman in a headscarf looked on as police bundled up protesters. Nathalie Preudhomme remarked:
"I am happy that the police is out in force here, it's proof that we live in a democracy. The people here have no coherent argument, they're extremists who mix all their ideas and ideologies."
However, SIOE says it is undeterred by the failure of Tuesday's march and says it plans to organise legal protests in France and Great Britain shortly.
Defying a legal ban, an estimated 200 people took part in a short-lived demonstration in Brussels Tuesday against "the islamization of Europe." The gathering was disrupted when Belgian police intervened and detained scores of people, including several European lawmakers.
Among the more than 150 people arrested in the area of the city where many European Union institutions are located were several far-right politicians and members of the European Parliament (MEPs), local media reported. They were released hours later.
Organizers based in several European countries who used the Internet primarily to promote the event had earlier predicted that 20,000 people might take part. They blamed the poor turnout on the legal hurdles and warnings that violence could erupt.
"Of course we're disappointed by the turnout but it's all the fault of the authorities," Radio Netherlands quoted Anders Gravers, a Danish co-organizer, as saying.
"The mayor had no right to stop us. And there were even terror threats against the march, so it's no wonder people stayed home," Gravers said. "But we're here to remind everyone that six years ago today, on 9/11, Islam declared war on the Western world."
As Cybercast News Service reported earlierBrussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans last month refused permission for a rally to protest "islamization" -- including the push to introduce aspects of shari'a (Islamic law) in Europe -- and to mark the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Thielemans, a Socialist, cited concerns about threats to law and order, and painted the event organizers -- a loose association calling itself Stop the Islamization of Europe" (SIOE) -- as racists. Brussels has a sizeable immigration population, and an estimated 17-20 percent of the capital region's inhabitants are Muslims.
The organizers, who say their aim is to prevent Islam from becoming the dominant political force in Europe, then appealed the decision. The ban was upheld by a Brussels appeals court late last month, but SIOE continued to promote the event, while seeking to distance itself from neo-Nazi or other fringe groups.
Video footage showed police manhandling several demonstrators, handcuffing and shoving them into a police bus. They included Frank Vanhecke and Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), a party that promotes restricted immigration and independence for Belgium's Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.
Before he was taken away Vanhecke, an MEP, was quoted as saying that "the rise of Islam in Europe poses a risk to our values."
An Italian MEP, Mario Borghezio of the Northern League - also an anti-immigration party - was also arrested, Italian media reported. Borghezio earlier issued a strongly-worded statement criticizing the decision to ban the event.
Vlaams Belang said in a statement on its website, "Today the foreign media has again seen a fine image of how democracy works in Belgium." It also described the mayor of Brussels as an "islamosocialist."
The Council of Europe, a 46-nation grouping formed after World War II and focused on human rights, criticized the protest Tuesday.
"Europe and its values are indeed under threat, but the danger is not coming from Islam," Council of Europe secretary-general Terry Davis said in a statement. "Our common European values are undermined by bigots and radicals, both islamists and islamophobes, who exploit fears and prejudice for their own political objectives."
The protest organizers claimed earlier that the mayor's ban violated their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Davis said their reading of the convention was selective.
"It is very important to remember that the freedom of assembly and expression can be restricted to protect the rights and freedoms of others, including the freedom of thought, conscience and religion," he said.
"This applies to everyone in Europe including the millions of Europeans of Islamic faith, who were the main target of today's shameful display of bigotry and intolerance."
Fewer than 200 protesters gathered in the city's EU quarter to rally against the 'Islamisation of Europe'. They were vastly outnumbered by over 1,000 police officers who promptly rounded up anyone brandishing a flag or a megaphone. Anders Gravers, the Danish co-organiser of the march commented:
"Of course we're disappointed by the turn-out but it's all the fault of the authorities. The Mayor had no right to stop us. And there were even terror threats against the march, so it's no wonder people stayed home. But we're here to remind everyone that six years ago today, on 9/11, Islam declared war on the Western world."
Chaos
Freddy Thielemans, Brussels' Socialist Mayor, declared the protest illegal last week, fearing it would lead to violent clashes with the city's 'substantial' foreign community.
"We were worried about chaos and security threats. As soon as you get a blanket movement like this that puts everyone under the same label, you risk triggering a backlash."
The protest was organised by Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), a newly-founded organisation which seeks to regroup all other similar movements in Europe.
Gerard Nash, one of SIOE'ds founders:
"The fact that the Mayor banned us just illustrates our point. If people are against us, they could have organised a peaceful protest to say so, that's how we do things in Europe."
Split
However, the Brussels ban has triggered a split in the group. Ulk Ulfkotte, a security expert and academic, helped promote the march originally but then stayed away because he said it would attract right-wing extremists. Mr Ulfkotte says he is seeking a more constructive dialogue on Islam in Europe.
"He's a traitor," shouted one demonstrator. "What's right-wing? Is it right-wing to stone a woman? We're here to take a stand against that."
A young woman in a headscarf looked on as police bundled up protesters. Nathalie Preudhomme remarked:
"I am happy that the police is out in force here, it's proof that we live in a democracy. The people here have no coherent argument, they're extremists who mix all their ideas and ideologies."
However, SIOE says it is undeterred by the failure of Tuesday's march and says it plans to organise legal protests in France and Great Britain shortly.
Defying a legal ban, an estimated 200 people took part in a short-lived demonstration in Brussels Tuesday against "the islamization of Europe." The gathering was disrupted when Belgian police intervened and detained scores of people, including several European lawmakers.
Among the more than 150 people arrested in the area of the city where many European Union institutions are located were several far-right politicians and members of the European Parliament (MEPs), local media reported. They were released hours later.
Organizers based in several European countries who used the Internet primarily to promote the event had earlier predicted that 20,000 people might take part. They blamed the poor turnout on the legal hurdles and warnings that violence could erupt.
"Of course we're disappointed by the turnout but it's all the fault of the authorities," Radio Netherlands quoted Anders Gravers, a Danish co-organizer, as saying.
"The mayor had no right to stop us. And there were even terror threats against the march, so it's no wonder people stayed home," Gravers said. "But we're here to remind everyone that six years ago today, on 9/11, Islam declared war on the Western world."
As Cybercast News Service reported earlierBrussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans last month refused permission for a rally to protest "islamization" -- including the push to introduce aspects of shari'a (Islamic law) in Europe -- and to mark the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Thielemans, a Socialist, cited concerns about threats to law and order, and painted the event organizers -- a loose association calling itself Stop the Islamization of Europe" (SIOE) -- as racists. Brussels has a sizeable immigration population, and an estimated 17-20 percent of the capital region's inhabitants are Muslims.
The organizers, who say their aim is to prevent Islam from becoming the dominant political force in Europe, then appealed the decision. The ban was upheld by a Brussels appeals court late last month, but SIOE continued to promote the event, while seeking to distance itself from neo-Nazi or other fringe groups.
Video footage showed police manhandling several demonstrators, handcuffing and shoving them into a police bus. They included Frank Vanhecke and Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), a party that promotes restricted immigration and independence for Belgium's Dutch-speaking region of Flanders.
Before he was taken away Vanhecke, an MEP, was quoted as saying that "the rise of Islam in Europe poses a risk to our values."
An Italian MEP, Mario Borghezio of the Northern League - also an anti-immigration party - was also arrested, Italian media reported. Borghezio earlier issued a strongly-worded statement criticizing the decision to ban the event.
Vlaams Belang said in a statement on its website, "Today the foreign media has again seen a fine image of how democracy works in Belgium." It also described the mayor of Brussels as an "islamosocialist."
The Council of Europe, a 46-nation grouping formed after World War II and focused on human rights, criticized the protest Tuesday.
"Europe and its values are indeed under threat, but the danger is not coming from Islam," Council of Europe secretary-general Terry Davis said in a statement. "Our common European values are undermined by bigots and radicals, both islamists and islamophobes, who exploit fears and prejudice for their own political objectives."
The protest organizers claimed earlier that the mayor's ban violated their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Davis said their reading of the convention was selective.
"It is very important to remember that the freedom of assembly and expression can be restricted to protect the rights and freedoms of others, including the freedom of thought, conscience and religion," he said.
"This applies to everyone in Europe including the millions of Europeans of Islamic faith, who were the main target of today's shameful display of bigotry and intolerance."