A disturbing trend has been emerging in the last year: Belgium, a relatively small nation, has been linked to nearly every terrorist and terrorist plot in 2015 from Charlie Hebdo to the 11/13 massacre.
At least two of Friday’s attackers were born and raised in Brussels; a third, Abdelhamid Abaaoud who is a Belgian living in Syria has been identified as the likely mastermind of the Paris attacks and is still on the run.
Belgium is a very divided nation which went without a cohesive government for 541 days in 2010 and 2011. In this country, generations of immigrants find that they have no place for growth and the poor stay very poor.
Belgium’s ISIS ties may have quite a bit to do with the structure of the country itself as large areas in Belgium are considered no-go zones by police. In these areas, there is a complete lack of diversity and Sharia Law reigns supreme. It is possible that these isolated pockets of society help to breed the type of insurgency we are seeing in Syria.
“Out of Belgium’s Muslim population of about 640,000 individuals, there is roughly one per 1,260 who has been involved in jihad in Syria and Iraq. At this point Belgium is, per capita, by far the European nation contributing the most to the foreign element in the Syrian war.”
It is certainly time to take a closer look at Belgium, particularly the isolated areas which seems to breed these murderers.
For a comprehensive list of the recent ties between terrorism and Belgium, visit The Daily Beast “How Belgium Became a Terrorism Hotbed.”
