Antwerp: Headscarf ban protests continue

Antwerp: Headscarf ban protests continue

Despite a ban by the municipality there were protests against the headscarf ban in front of the Hoboken Athenum on Monday morning. The police were out in force and nine demonstrators were arrested. Sunday the school was broken into.

During the first school week there were continued protests against the ban to wear headscarves inside the school. These demonstrations were permitted by the municipality, but starting from the second week, that is not the case anymore.

Despite that, a dozen people against showed up at about 8AM Monday morning in order to pass out pamphlets. This was a demonstration of Actief Linkse Scholieren (Active Leftist Students). Sometimes before 8:30 the police quickly intervened and transported away all the demonstrators.

A group of Muslim women then took up position in front of the school. They were also dealt with by the security services.

Sunday evening the buildings of the atheneum were broken into. The school entrance was painted over with slogans such as "no headscarf, no school", and damage was also done inside the buildings.

Windows were smashed, graffiti sprayed, the internet in the secretary's office was sabotaged, paper s and books were thrown about the corridors and classes and books where thrown out through a window.

Principal Chris Weyers strongly suspects that the vandalism is linked to the headscarf ban.

In the Antwerp Atheneum everything was calm. Principal Karin Heremans says that the police kept an eye on things but did not have to intervene, and she hopes that calm has now finally returned.


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Vlaams Belang thinks that the protests against the headscarf ban in Antwerp and Hoboken have gotten out of hand. The party doesn't want any more 'absurd' discussion, but rather asks for zero tolerance against the trouble makers and wants to prosecute them.

"About 200 Muslim protests meanwhile take position every day at the school gates, shout intimidating slogans such as 'All Flemings out', block the entrance and regularly express (death) threats. Parents are called up and named noted down of those who took off the headscarf. The last weekend the Hoboken Atheneum was even broken into," the party complains.

These incidents which are becoming more and more audacious are clearly a symptom of the proceeding Islamization of the cities, which takes on more and more aggressive forms. The evidence is now supplied daily that the headscarf ban was more than correct and that the social pressure on students who don't wear a headscarf is really a act," concludes Vlaams Belang.

Sources: GvA, HLN 1, 2 (Dutch)