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They lit candles in silence for solidarity, and are still in disbelieve for the fact their neighborhood is on the center of attention of world media, mentioned as a “source of jihadists”.

Abderrachid Azdad, Molenbeek residents: “I think it will be difficult for the people to recover after what happened. Everyone raises questions, everyone is in fear for their families and friends. Everyone is under shock. The Molenbeek commune is not represented by some individuals who have committed terror acts in Paris or anywhere else, but of the population which is also victim of what happened in Paris.

Farida Aarrass, Molenbeek resident: We are shocked because we are going through a stigmatization phase. There are police checks before entering here, when we gathered for the opposite, to undo the wrong ideas for the people of this commune.

The daily life has changed. Children in schools had their teachers explain them why there are armored cars, emergency teams, huge presence of police, sudden controls of residences, blocked roads, etc.

Farida Aarrass: For them it is the same. If you speak Arab, you are Muslim. If you are Muslim, you are Arab. This are just words but Muslims are being seen as kamikaze that will suddenly explode. But there are such groups everywhere. We don’t have to put all communities on the same place. This commune used to be good, despite the common problems as everywhere else. But why Molenbeek? It is shameful and I expected the Head of the Comimune to react differently, not to open the door to Mr.Jambon, who is speaking about cleansing. She doesn’t seem certain about what there is in her commune. We were living normally so far. This is not normal.

Although the Head of the Molenbeek Commune, Françoise Schepmans, said that her commune has been unjustly stigmatized, the Belgian PM, Charles Michel, admitted the neighborhood has a huge problem. The Minister of Interior, Jan Jambon, promised to clean Molenbeek but no one knows how. The Moroccan and Algerian community has concentrated in one area of Molenbeek, and this has influenced the creation of some kind of “ghetto”, a society that is distinct from the rest of the Belgian capital.

People belonging to the radical political islam have started coming since the seventies, a politics that is unaccepted even in the countries they are coming from.

Almost every terror act in Europe in the past decade has had some kind of connection with Molenbeek. The French Police say the attack was executed by terrorists living in this neighborhood, just 10 minutes from the center of Brussels.

Ahmet Gjanaj, councilor of the Molenbeek Commune and MP of Brussels: “Same as Albanians have chosen Schaerbeek, Moroccans have chosen Molenbeek. Almost half of the 100.000 population here comes from Morocco, that’s why it is impossible for any Moroccan to not have any connection with Molenbeek. It is not like people don’t want to report, but they are scared with having their vehicles burned or anything else. We must know that unemployment for the youth here is 40%. More people from the terror cellule “Sharia4Belgium” have approached to this area and have recruited. There is a converted Belgian, Jean-Claude, which I have seen in this market here. He used to come here and try to convince youth that the system has failed, that there was no hope for them because they were Muslims, trying to recruit them and take them to Syria. This person is now in prison and he used to be very active.

Amet Gjana: One of these brothers works a the Molenbeek for years and has been heard for robbery or drug traffic, but never for Islam.

Belgium has the highest number of terrorist per population ration, and is seen by experts as the Achilles heel for the security of Europe. The local authorities have been criticized for allowing such a center in Molenbeek, that’s why they want to change their approach.

Prepared by: Arta TOZAJ

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