“A Chilling Playbook”

Over many decades, broader communities or neighbourhoods, better known as “ghettos” have sprung up around industrial towns and cities in Europe. This was as a result of Europe wanting cheap labour to fuel the new industries, steel and coal. People flocked to these towns within cities from the colonies, language ethnicities and willing labour was the attraction.

by Victor Cherubim     

( March 27, 2016, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is one thing to be caught out by unknown threats but quite another, say experts, for a nation’s security surveillance, to miss a known danger quite so spectacularly.

The Paris and the Brussels Molenbeek tragedies had much in common, as well as being so different. Border security, surveillance capacity, coordination between national security services,  are some common aspects.

Not how, but why?

The most difficult question concerns not how, but why the attacks took place? There are a range of theories, some which could overlap, some mutually contradictory. We probably won’t know the answer for sure for some time.

In the case of Paris, most observers state that it was a retaliation of French bombing along with NATO of ISIS in Syria. In the case of Brussels it was, perhaps, tit-for-tat  for the Belgian security services honing in on ISIS network after the Paris attack in November 2015 and the immediate capture of 26 year old, Salah Abdeslam who was on the run. There could however be another slant to this episode. According to some, the opponents of the West, sought engagement with Syria and Iraq in order to drain their resources, to create chaos, but this was not forthcoming.

The background of violence 

Over many decades, broader communities or neighbourhoods, better known as “ghettos” have sprung up around industrial towns and cities in Europe. This was as a result of Europe wanting cheap labour to fuel the new industries, steel and coal. People flocked to these towns within cities from the colonies, language ethnicities and willing labour was the attraction.

It took time to settle in, time to root, and time to form communities. But all the time common language speaking nationalities from once colonies abroad congregated together for their safety, security and solace to form neighbourhoods.

In reality these neighbourhoods were replicate towns of original settlements abroad. Halima, a mother of four who has lived in Belgium all her life recently stated: “In the ‘80’s, Molenbeek was like Marrakech, Morocco. Now it is like Kabul. It is like a war here”.

We now see a shift recently, the space is growing between different communities in Brussels suburbs.

Is this a new normal? 

Absolutely not say some? For every violent action there is a simultaneous non-violent reaction.

In reality, migrants from Africa and Asia have grown up in these neighbourhoods for decades. First were the food shops, then were the language schools, then came the places of worship, the Mosques, Churches and Temples, then came the Masjid’s or religious education.

On the heels of this movement, a close community thrived for years. The first generation were docile migrants, who were satisfied to work long hours, hard labour, tolerating abuse and religious bigotry. With the hard earned cash they bought houses and residences which were generally small by comparison to the local natives.

As more migrants settled in a neighbourhood, the locals felt overwhelmed and usually moved out to adjoining richer non immigrant neighbourhoods and selective work patterns emerged.

Business and banks, traders and investors recruited young immigrant second generation ethnic minorities.

Migrant politicians sprung up and imported issues blighted neighbourhoods. Community cohesion figured prominently, until economic uncertainty made for unrest.

Sooner than later migrant communities become isolated 

Isolation and the effects of downturn in the economies of many European nations caused these migrant communities to turn themselves reluctantly in “Ghetto Suburbs.”

Very soon the isolated immigrant ethnic communities only met their opposite numbers on crowded public transport over distances getting to and from work.

This was and is the reality of contemporary life in Europe, particularly in industrial neighbourhoods.

Recruitment as jihardi’s 

Solitary actors, lone wolves, unemployed youth, under-employed and disenchanted second generation migrants came to share similar interests.

Their unused talents, blank minds meet polarisation in the wall of unwarlike original migrant communities. Here began the story which we all can see is unfolding before us.