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[Manner of Speaking]

Thousands march in Brussels in memory of teen





April 23, 2006

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - More than 80,000 people marched in silence through Brussels on Sunday in memory of a teenager stabbed to death by two suspects of North African origin in Belgium's biggest protest in 10 years, police said. Joe Van Holsbeeck, 17, was stabbed five times in the chest during the evening rush hour on April 12 when he refused to hand over his MP3 player to the men in the central railway station.


On the request of Van Holsbeeck's parents, marchers did not carry any political banners but Van Holsbeeck's death triggered an uproar over crime and racial tension in Belgium. The federal prosecutor's office said on the basis of video footage from security cameras, two men of North African origin were suspected of carrying out the crime.


Leaders of the Muslim community in Brussels said they were disturbed by the stabbing and immams called at Friday prayers for people to turn in the suspects if they knew who they were. Representatives of North African communities in the capital took part in the silent protest, officials said.


Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said the teenager's death should not go unpunished to send a signal to society that such crimes would not be tolerated. Marchers queued up to lay a white rose or bunches of flowers as the march passed the Gare Centrale railway station. Police said it was the country's biggest demonstration since around 300,000 people took part in the so-called White March in 1996 to commemorate the victims of pedophile Marc Dutroux and to protest against the slow-moving Belgian judicial system.


http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/04/23/thousands_march_in_brussels_in_memory_of_teen/

[Tiger Beer]

[bigverne]

The glorious benefits of mass immigration from Muslim societies. Brussels was such a boring place before the Moroccans turned up. But now, it is 'vibrant, rich and multicultural'. Just like Marseille, Malmo and Rotterdam.

[Bulsajo]

When I lived in Brussels I went to an international college, and of my group of friends, one American got regularly harrassed by police wherever we went- can you guess what the colour of his skin was?

Don't pass off the problems of Belgium as simply one of Muslim immigration- that is complete and utter BS. The problem is much deeper than that, but I know you couldn't give a shit about that- you just want to use the snippets that fit your agenda.

But to have a teen stabbed to death in the middle of the country's busiest train station, at rush hour?
I'm not surprised that 80, 000 showed up for that, something is really wrong with that.