For Hassan Rahali and Hassan Beqqada, it's the looks they get on the street or subway.
Both men are councilors in Muslim neighborhoods of Brussels - and both are feeling the effects of the March bombing of the airport and a metro station in the Belgian capital, carried out by home-grown jihadists. Men with Arab roots like them are glanced at with suspicion and some mosques now limit opening times to prayers because of concerns about revenge attacks, they said.
"People look at you as if you're the same" as the terrorists, said Beqqada, 49, sipping Moroccan tea at a cafe across from the apartment in the Schaerbeek district that was used as a weapons cache.
The danger is that the mutual mistrust now festering in areas of some European cities will fuel the kind of violence and radicalization that governments and security forces are struggling to contain. The districts in Brussels provide a lesson for other capitals as the next generation of migrants from the Arab world arrive.
Rahali, 49, is a member of the council of Molenbeek, home to some of the March bombers who killed 32 people and the attackers who left 130 dead in Paris in November. "If there's any separation between the communities in Belgium, Da'esh will win," he said using the Arabic acronym of the Islamic State group. "That's what they want."
The risk is that people withdraw into their own narrow community, meaning divisions within cities become more entrenched.
Some in the Muslim community are trying to prevent that. Rahali organized cultural evenings at a local café, marched in an anti-terror protest and is helping plan a concert of classical Arabic songs that he hopes will attract Belgians from different backgrounds.
Ibrahim Abdou, a Palestinian who moved to Brussels five years ago, has made videos in Arabic urging Muslims to integrate and lashing out at extremist clerics, with one showing him visiting a church with the Quran, Islam's holy book. The 37-year-old, who works with Syrian refugees at Catholic charity Caritas, urges the newcomers to assimilate instead of focusing on whether the food they're eating is halal or whether the men should shake hands with Belgian women.
"I tell them: 'If you cannot co-exist and will live in an atmosphere of halal or haram or such matters, then leave. Go back home,'" Abdou said.
Those interviewed in the Brussels districts said they were stunned the attackers came from their community. But they also couldn't comprehend why Muslims should be blamed for what many said were criminal actions by a few.
High-school teacher Najib Almessbahi, 55, teaches Moroccan-Belgian children Arabic and Islamic studies on weekends. "It took us years to make the few gains that we now have and then these things happen and shake the whole structure," he said in a make-shift classroom at a municipality building in Schaerbeek.
Belgium-born Karim Bazah, whose father came to the country 55 years ago, opened Le Palais de Balkis organic restaurant in Molenbeek in August to bring all communities together. He didn't put a halal sticker on the window, but he also doesn't serve alcohol in his modern, sleek restaurant.
Today, Bazah, 37, is upset that the focus is not on those in his community who have done well for themselves and the country but on the "criminals" and on issues like whether Muslims can integrate into European societies.
"Integration for me is the Kalashnikov of modern times," said Bazah at his restaurant, which serves cold cuts, salads and soups. "What does integration mean? I am Belgian. I was born here, so why should it be an issue?"
The Washington Post
Sat May 21 2016
![Suspicious eyes and shut mosques show anger at Brussels Muslims Suspicious eyes and shut mosques show anger at Brussels Muslims](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2016-05/81463809666_BrusselMuslim.jpg)
Muslim cleric Mouhameth Galaye speaks ahead of Friday Prayers at the Grand Mosque in Brussels on Match 25, 2016. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN
![Golongan belia pemacu penting bentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia - FMM Golongan belia pemacu penting bentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia - FMM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-05/41715247870_SohThianLaijpg.jpg)
Golongan belia pemacu penting bentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia - FMM
Pemimpin perniagaan dan usahawan daripada golongan belia merupakan pemacu penting yang akan membentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia, kata Presiden Persekutuan Pekilang-Pekilang Malaysia.
AWANI Tonight: 16 July 2024
#AWANITonight with @Hafiz_Marzukhi
1. Govt mulls amending Penal Code to deal with cyberbullying
2. England's Southgate resigns after Euro 2024 Final defeat
#AWANIEnglish #AWANINews
1. Govt mulls amending Penal Code to deal with cyberbullying
2. England's Southgate resigns after Euro 2024 Final defeat
#AWANIEnglish #AWANINews
![Empat individu termasuk pasangan pempengaruh bebas tahanan reman Empat individu termasuk pasangan pempengaruh bebas tahanan reman](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-05/41716613114_TBsprm.jpg)
Empat individu termasuk pasangan pempengaruh bebas tahanan reman
Kesemua individu juga perlu hadir ke pejabat Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) sebulan sekali untuk melaporkan diri.
![KPT alu-alukan syor PAC guna garis panduan pelaburan universiti awam untuk anak syarikat KPT alu-alukan syor PAC guna garis panduan pelaburan universiti awam untuk anak syarikat](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81719822088_ZambryAbdKadir.jpg)
KPT alu-alukan syor PAC guna garis panduan pelaburan universiti awam untuk anak syarikat
KPT mengalu-alukan cadangan PAC berhubung pelaksanaan dan pemakaian Garis Panduan Pelaburan dan Pembiayaan oleh Universiti Awam 2024, kepada anak-anak syarikat di bawah seliaan kementerian itu.
![SUKMA 2024: Sepak takraw wanita mungkin digugurkan SUKMA 2024: Sepak takraw wanita mungkin digugurkan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61720679430_AbdulKarimRahman.jpg)
SUKMA 2024: Sepak takraw wanita mungkin digugurkan
Sepak takraw wanita berpasukan berkemungkinan akan digugurkan daripada senarai acara temasya Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) 2024 berikutan jumlah penyertaan kurang daripada jumlah minimum yang ditetapkan.
10 Berita Pilihan - (16 Julai 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
![Enam rakyat Vietnam ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok Enam rakyat Vietnam ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-12/41702437730_maut.jpg)
Enam rakyat Vietnam ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok
Enam orang ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok, Thailand pada Selasa laporan media tempatan yang memetik polis Bangkok.
AWANI 7:45 [16/07/2024] - Suspek dibawa ke lokasi | Selamat tinggal rakyat Malaysia | Harimau Malaya hilang taring?
- Polis sahkan suspek bunuh Kartini anggota polis.
- Pan-Gon enggan dedah punca letak jawatan.
- Faisal Halim sedih mentor Pan-Gon undur diri.
- Pakai reben putih di Parlimen, tak salah.
- Pan-Gon enggan dedah punca letak jawatan.
- Faisal Halim sedih mentor Pan-Gon undur diri.
- Pakai reben putih di Parlimen, tak salah.
![Isteri calon gandingan Trump letak jawatan di firma guaman Isteri calon gandingan Trump letak jawatan di firma guaman](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/41721139141_TBJDUSHA.jpg)
Isteri calon gandingan Trump letak jawatan di firma guaman
Usha Vance, isteri kepada Senator J.D. Vance yang dipilih sebagai calon gandingan bekas presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS) Donald Trump awal minggu ini, telah meletakkan jawatannya di sebuah firma guaman,
![Najib fail permohonan di mahkamah rayuan cabar Titah Adendum Najib fail permohonan di mahkamah rayuan cabar Titah Adendum](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-05/71683779541_TBNAJIBRAZAK.jpg)
Najib fail permohonan di mahkamah rayuan cabar Titah Adendum
Berdasarkan sistem e-filing mahkamah, rayuan itu telah ditetapkan untuk pengurusan kes pada 7 Oktober ini.