Two of the Paris gunmen 'were from Brussels'

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: The Guardian

Two of the attackers involved in the Paris atrocity came from Brussels, reports Belgian public broadcaster RTBF.

A police source told RTBF that two of the attackers in Paris on Friday night were from Brussells and one of its districts, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, respectively.

Police have carried out raids in the Molenbeek district in connection to the Paris attacks, with seven people arrested so far.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/nov/15/paris-attacker-named-investigation-continues-live-updates#block-56489043e4b0ced428cb2a5f

[Renew Deal]

1. Doesn't France have open borders for Europeans and with other European countries?

This is going to be tough to swallow for France and those that support the EU/one Europe.

[SoCalNative]

2. France does

along with 25 other EU member countries, under the Schengen Treaty.

[SoCalNative]

4. Not just for Europeans

other nationalities as well.

[6chars]

3. and Belgians seem so polite

go figure

[DFW]

5. The Belgians had a misguided policy for decades

I'm there once a week for work, and I speak both French and Flemish.

For many years, they let Arabs (mostly Moroccans and other North Africans) in, gave them generous welfare packages, and said "vote for us" which the immigrants did (never bite the hand that feeds you, especially if you get an apartment, spending money and a cell phone in the bargain). What a great number of them did not do was assimilate. So, their kids, unable to function in Belgian society, got no work, no Belgian education, just money and time on their hands. They rode trams and beat up the conductors when they asked for tickets. No penalty at all. Just "tolerance for other cultures," a lot of anti-immigrant Belgians and a budding right-wing movement spawned and nurtured, ironically enough by the left that wanted to nip it in the bud. It was illegal (no longer the case now) to even write the ethnicity of an attacker in the newspaper if it was an Arab. The Belgians got so sick of this, they started saying that street attacks were carried out be "the Swedes." A Moroccan kid was smashing the window of a parked car in front of a police station near an office where I work a few years ago, and the cops stopped him, asking if he was crazy, thinking he could do this in front of a police station. The kid told them to fuck off, saying he'd be right back there two hours after they arrested him, so why did they even bother?

A LOT is going on in Belgium right now, and there is a lot of turmoil behind the politeness they present to badly needed tourists. Beri-beri and Romanian might as well be added to Belgium's official languages at this point. I'm not at all surprised that Belgian-based thugs were involved. Brussels is where the guy with the assault rifle boarded the train over the summer, intending to shoot everyone in his car, and only stopped because three American soldiers recognized what he was about to do. Freaked the crap outta me, since it's a train I take twice a week.

[starroute]

7. Beri-beri is a vitamin B1 deficiency, not a language

Was that really what you meant to say, or were you being sarcastic?

[TwilightGardener]

9. I'm guessing he meant Berber?

[DFW]

11. "Beri-Beri" is how some Berbers refer colloquially to the language.

I don't speak Arabic, but most Moroccans living in Europe know good-to-fluent French or Spanish.

[earthside]

8. This is very important for us to understand.

We can all appreciate diversity and respecting the cultural heritage of our fathers and mothers ... and of other people.

But when in Rome ...

I think most Americans don't understand the recent history of Muslims in Europe -- not just Arabs, but Turks, etc. -- the labor shortage after WWII is the reason for the large Muslim populations. Then, of course, as European colonies were dismantled, the inhabitants were often permitted to immigrate, eg., Algeria--France.

This current spate of immigration, i.e., as a result of the Syrian crisis is very dangerous, in my estimation. We can have empathy for the suffering that has caused it, but we all may be asking for even more horror and chaos if we aren't more realistic and practical about the longer term consequences.

But the big truth is that Muslims have not integrated well into European cultures ... perhaps it is because of proximity to the lands of origin. We don't seem to have this problem as much in the U.S. I have Muslim friends who are very much American and clearly they have modified their religion to better fit into our more democratic and secular way of life.

Liberals and progressives should not let themselves get caught in the kind of knee-jerk trap of all immigration is equal and benign -- it isn't.

[smirkymonkey]

12. +1000

[Igel]

6. I'll not hold my breath waiting to hear if they were Belgian French or Flemish.

The district is heavily Muslim, mostly Turkish and Moroccan, but not entirely.

[Laughing Mirror]

10. The two were French, living in Belgium

So we now know three of the seven were French. Police are also concentrating their inquiry into three French brothers who were involved in renting the vehicles, etc.

http://www.lejdd.fr/Societe/Faits-divers/Plusieurs-fusillades-ont-eclate-vendredi-soir-a-Paris-759571

[patsimp]

13. Young people everywhere seem to be capable of being radicalized.

this is a fact of life that any amount of wishful 'let's educate them' is not going to change.

[jamzrockz]

14. Who cares where they are from?

17 of the 19 hijackers who attacked us on 9/11 came from Saudi but we didn't attack Saudi. My fear is that the west would use this opportunity to start another war in Syria just like they did after 9/11 in Iraq. Hopefully, the Russians can talk the warmongering west out of another war.

We can only hope.