Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Ramadan is upon us once again

You know that the "holy" month of Ramadan has arrived when the smoke from burning cars hangs over European cites and the sounds of mob violence can be heard in the air. Paul Belien reports in The Brussels Journal:

Last Sunday the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began. It lasts until 23 October. Many will remember last year’s ramadan riots, which set France and, to a lesser extent, parts of Belgium and Denmark, alight. Rioting went on for three weeks. Each night thousands of cars were set alight by immigrant youths, until the French and Belgian governments ordered the police to no longer divulge any information about the disturbances, after which the media stopped reporting, the youths lost interest and the number of nightly “carbecues” in France dropped to the “normal” level of about 50.

It looks like some Brussels immigrant youths want to make “ramadan rioting” an
annual event. Last Saturday morning, between 1 and 4 am, ten
cars were set on fire in the Brussels borough of Schaarbeek. Last night several car and shop windows were smashed and one shop and five cars were set alight in the Brussels Marollen quarter.

Well, how else would you celebrate a sacred religous holiday?