🌐☪️ It’s almost desperate: the fear of the far right appears greater than concern over the Islamization that has been ongoing in Belgian schools for decades.‼️
French-speaking teachers in Belgium seem to be coming to terms with jihadism in classrooms, but are quick to stress that “the issue should not be left to the far right.” It’s disheartening that even when alarm bells are rung, the priority remains avoiding association with the “wrong camp.”
Sam van Rooy writes on X: “Allah has no place in the classroom.” In their new book, two journalists address the Islamization of education. While this could break the silence on the issue, they preface their discussion by declaring they have “no problem with Islam.” They even perpetuate the fallacy of distinguishing between Islam and “foreign extremist Islamism.” This is nonsense. As Arabic scholar Anne-Marie Delcambre stated, “Islamism is a Western invention to avoid facing the uncomfortable truths about Islam.” And as Hamid Zanaz put it, “Political Islam is a glaring pleonasm because Islam is, first and foremost, politics.”
“Finally, intellectual jihadism in our schools is being acknowledged. But the authors’ proposals remain weak and superficial. Call it what it is, they say, yet they themselves shy away from truly doing so, insisting that Islam itself is not the problem. They advocate for legal measures to protect teachers and make schools neutral spaces—such as banning headscarves. However, they fail to address the real issues: the teachings of Islam and the massive migration from Islamic countries. Without tackling these, the Islamization of our education system will continue,” van Rooy writes.
The testimonies in the book are chilling. Teachers fearing for their students. Teachers remaining anonymous for their own safety. Muslim teachers being threatened as “traitors.” This starts in primary schools, where halal lunchboxes must be segregated because some children refuse to go near ham sandwiches. This is the current state of affairs, and it’s beyond disheartening.
Ironically, the fear of the far right seems greater than the fear of Islamism. As if the far right is to blame for teachers living in fear or for students adopting increasingly radical views. But it is Islam that infiltrates classrooms, Islam that pressures freedom of speech and education. Yet, the greatest horror for these journalists and teachers appears to be the possibility of being associated with the “far right,” writes Sam van Rooy, Belgian MP for Vlaams Belang.
Translated and edited by L. Earth
