Hitler in the Living Room, Kalashnikovs in the Street
Today, like yesterday, the headlines of the Belgian press are dominated by a couple from Hoboken, a southern suburb of Antwerp, who have a photo of Adolf Hitler in their living room. Two days ago, an undercover journalist of the Belgian state television had been in the living room to take pictures of the Hitler photo on the wall. The woman of the couple is a babysitter who in the daytime minds babies and toddlers of other people in her house, including in the room with the photo.
Though most of the woman’s clients, including immigrants like her Moroccan neighbor Rachid Handaoui, admit that she does a great job and that she does not let her political views interfere with her work of feeding kids, changing nappies and playing with toddlers, the authorities have started a procedure to take away her license as a baby sitter. The license is needed if clients want to deduct their babysitting costs from their taxes. The Belgian government’s anti-racism organization has also opened an investigation against the couple and has announced that they will be taken to court. The government, meanwhile, has announced that the law will be changed to ensure that in future only people with a government license will be allowed to take care of other people’s kids.
Hoboken is a blue-collar neighborhood with many Muslim immigrants. Last week, a high school run by the city council was vandalized by youths protesting a ban on wearing Islamic headscarves in the classrooms.
The media attention for the Hitler photo in the Hoboken living room contrasts sharply with the lack of attention for the discovery of Kalashnikovs forty kilometers to the south, in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels. Like Hoboken, the Anderlecht borough of Kuregem, right next to Brussels’ main international train station (Brussels’ “Midi” or South Station) is a predominantly Muslim neighborhood.
For two consecutive nights, the Brussels police have been finding Kalashnikov (AK-47) assault guns in Kuregem’s streets.
Last Sunday night, following a shootout, the Brussels police found a Kalashnikov in Kuregem. While the officers waited for reinforcements, they were attacked by a group of 50 youths. The youths were able to retrieve the AK-47, while the police fled. This piece of information was only covered by a few papers, and not on the front page, but on pages 4 or 7.
The following night, last Monday, the Brussels police was again called to Kuregem by citizens who warned that youths were walking the streets with gasoline cans. A huge police force, assisted by firefighters, was able to confiscate one Kalashnikov (perhaps the same weapon as the night before?), one riot gun, one revolver and eight Molotov cocktails. The news can be found in just a few of today’s papers, hidden on pages 10 and 21. The Belgian press has its priorities: Hitler depicted in a living room is a far more serious matter than youths running around the streets with Kalashnikovs.
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