Hyperactive, always in a hurry, Fouad Ahidar is fully aware that he is shaking up the political landscape in Brussels, “and in the north of the country too”, he hopes. In each municipality where Team Fouad Ahidar presents a list, it aims to rise to the majority. “I scare the traditional parties, that’s a fact. They keep attacking me, demonizing me. So much so that we no longer need to advertise” laughs -he shook a few hands. “No one expected us to have the regional elections. Today, everyone is panicking. So they accuse me of being an Islamist, an anti-Semite… especially in Flanders. In Brussels, the vision is starting to evolve. “I went from being an Islamist to trainer (of a Dutch-speaking majority, Editor’s note).”
“I think I am compatible with the MR on certain points”
Not in the head of the MR – whose party president Georges-Louis Bouchez said again the day before yesterday that it was out of the question to work with Fouad Ahidar. Slipping his fingers into his imposing suspenders, the Jettois sends the liberals back to their task. “But what are they getting involved in? For 35 years, they have never gotten involved in Dutch-speaking negotiations in Brussels. And there, because it’s Team Fouad Ahidar, they’re getting involved.” Is Fouad Ahidar MR compatible? “I think I am compatible with the MR on certain points such as security, cleanliness, the economy but I am not compatible with the questions of inclusiveness and religion. Even less their unilateral vision on the Israeli conflict -Palestinian. The MR must stop thinking that he has complete knowledge on this issue. I understand that he condemns certain events but he must also condemn when Israel does stupid things.
His slip on the attack of October 7, 2023 – which he described as a “little response”? “I apologized for this and resigned from my position as chairman of the board of the Flemish Community Commission of Brussels (VGC). I still condemn this terrorist attack. When I said this, I was angry. I still am. I said “the Jews” when I meant “of the Jews”. One death, regardless of the camp, is one death too many. has reaped what it has sown for years, namely 75 years of massacre of Palestine. No one can ever accept a death but it is no surprise that people become capable of everything, no longer give a damn (. sic) of everything when a country sows terror and desolation to this extent I have been to Palestine eight times (first time at 16, Editor’s note). died by my own hands. Here, they demonize me. But those are just words, whereas there are tens of thousands of deaths.”
“Show me a mosque where I campaigned and I resign tomorrow”
For him, only the recognition of a Palestinian state, with clear borders, could allow the war to end. “Without this, this conflict will never stop. I think that countries must have the courage to say ‘stop'” Including Belgium? “Belgium played an important role, in particular by prohibiting the importation of products from occupied territories, by freezing certain collaborations. But it can always do better.”
In his smartphone, Fouad Ahidar has 16,000 telephone numbers, wisely classified by WhatsApp groups of 256 contacts, maximum authorized. “I created this file during my career. It allows me to communicate very easily even if field work remains my priority.” This father of five gets up very early, “between 4 and 6 a.m.”, says his first of five prayers of the day, then leaves for work. This for 20 years – “it’s my ritual”. Since the campaign is in full swing, his nights are even shorter, “sometimes 3 or 4 hours”. “But I feel in great shape”, buoyed by the success of the month of June and, perhaps, a view of Brussels, more radical than that of the traditional parties.
“We keep saying that Brussels is the most cosmopolitan city in the world after Dubai. On the one hand, everyone is proud of that but when we look at reality, we see that this multiculturality is not respected . In the street yes but not in the job market, not in schools. Some communities are not respected by saying this. I am simply saying that the Muslim community is stigmatized in Brussels. also thinks that many parties make lots of promises that they do not respect once the elections are over. Remember the episode of the imam’s preaching in the Brussels Parliament. An event organized by the socialists who fled. as soon as they saw the controversy swell. Had they seen the Devil? What hypocrisy! As a reminder, the rules of the Brussels Parliament do not prohibit preaching within its walls. Diversity is very important to me. So yes, I don’t see the problem with a woman wearing the veil in an administration. This is done in Ghent – a city run by the liberals – and in Vilvoorde too. When Mathias De Clercq (mayor of Ghent, Open-VLD, Editor’s note) says it, no one sees a problem, when it’s me, everyone cries wolf.”
Fouad Ahidar dreams of himself as the kingmaker of these municipal elections
Is the passionate debate on the wearing of the veil a sign of a radicalization of Islam in Brussels? “On the contrary. Already, it is much more present in the population. It is also much more emancipated. We come across women who wear the veil, others who do not without this causing a problem. Before, our mothers did not go out from home except to see family or go shopping Today, the Moroccan woman or the Muslim woman is emancipated. I do not see any radicalization of Islam in Brussels. , they dress like the prophet, etc. But it is their choice They do not proselytize as long as they do not encroach on the freedom of others, I see no problem. When some people start to make extreme statements, to go beyond the limits – and this applies to any school of thought – we must take action and punish. In Brussels, people live together as long as everyone respects the rules of life. in the community, everyone is free to wear what they want. I have no problem seeing a woman in a niqab. Except that it’s prohibited in Brussels. So we respect the law. No women in niqabs in Brussels.”
Anderlecht is torn apart over the issue of wearing the veil in the administration: “a forced move”, “an unspeakable method”
Between two bites of a Pouly-Crock panini with Andalusian sauce, Fouad Ahidar clearly makes wearing the veil – “convictional signs in general” – in the administration a red line in his program. “Preventing it is discrimination. Why, in Brussels, the largest public employer – Stib – would not allow women who wear the veil to work? The same in education? Wearing a veil, a cross or a yarmulke has never been a factor of competence or incompetence.” Even if some women don’t wear it by choice? “It’s an argument that we hear, that the veil is a form of oppression. First of all, I don’t hear that on the ground. Then, it is possible that some women are forced to wear the veil in Brussels but I am convinced that it is a minority. What, we are going to ban the wearing of the veil because a minority is oppressed? That would mean banning marriage because women are beaten by their husbands? …It doesn’t make sense. I’m a devout religious person, I pray five times a day, but I have a basic principle: no coercion in religion. So, if a woman feels oppressed because she is forced to. wear the veil, she must file a complaint, she must leave her oppressor. She must activate the existing mechanisms to protect her.
According to him, the separation of Church and State is hypocrisy. “In fact, politics decides everything, even religious questions. The ban on wearing the veil in the administration, ritual slaughter, etc. are questions governed by politics. So I don’t see where the separation between Church and State My basic principle is that the State and politics must not interfere with religion. Everyone is free to live their faith as they wish as long as they remain within it. the framework of the law. The freedom of some ends where that of others begins.
Brussels? “An endless waiting room”
Le Jettois does not make religious matters a…state affair. “This issue is not major in our program. I am more concerned by the housing crisis, the economic situation in Brussels, security or cleanliness problems.” As such, he describes the Brussels region as an “endless waiting room”. “Alexia Bertrand (outgoing Budget Minister, NLDR) keeps telling the people of Brussels to wait. I think that the people of Brussels need more radical answers to their problems of purchasing power, of housing, of their feelings of insecurity.” Well… But how? “In particular by including commuters in the calculation of federal allocations. During the day, Brussels has more than 400,000 more inhabitants than in the evening. They do not contribute to the wealth of Brussels in the sense that they do not pay taxes there. ‘tax.”
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