“When I walk around Molenbeek, I don’t feel like I’m in Belgium,” said Conner Rousseau in an interview for Humo magazine.
Later in the interview, he added: “In Brussels, because of the shortage of teachers, there are people who teach in Arabic, because they don’t speak French. This is unacceptable”.
Asked at the microphone of Radio 1, this Tuesday morning, Conner Rousseau maintained his position regarding his statements. This earned him a waltz of criticism, even in the ranks of the socialists.
Ahmed Laaouej, president of the Brussels Federation of the PS, reacted to these statements on Twitter. “Conner Rousseau’s remarks are intolerable. Stigmatizing and xenophobic. Brussels is a cosmopolitan region with neighborhoods experiencing a great diversity of population. They deserve better than a contempt worthy of a bistro discussion. Lamentable and unbearable”, a- he writes.
Gilles Vanden Burre, leader of the Ecolo group in the Federal Parliament, also went there with his criticism: “These remarks by Conner Rousseau are unbearable because they stigmatize, without nuance, all of Brussels and its rich diversity … while relaying the clichés of extremists A firm reaction from the socialist family is necessary,” he commented.
For Benjamin Dalle (Flemish Minister for Brussels and Youth), this is incorrect. “Not only underneath, it’s also obviously incorrect. Language courses and integration are free (!) in Brussels. And what about this teaching in Arabic in a school? definitely invite me to take me there…”
N-VA MP Theo Francken, meanwhile, was drinking whey. “Socialists have been voting against a tougher immigration policy for years. They won over Brussels, which was liberal, only thanks to the mass immigration that they defended so much and still defend. The socialist Moureaux family has ruled Molenbeek for decades. decades, let me laugh,” he tweeted.
But for the co-president of Ecolo Rajae Maouane, Conner Rousseau’s words are “intolerable”. “They reflect a great ignorance of Brussels. The people of Brussels deserve respect.”
The mayor of Molenbeek, Catherine Moureaux (PS), did not fail to react with “disgust and anger”. “Never been to Molenbeek, (Conner Rousseau) puts himself in a caricatural way in the wheel of the extreme right, thereby despising 100,000 Molenbeekois”, she tweeted, denouncing “bashing”. She announced that she would once again send an invitation to the person concerned to “come to meet reality next week”.
Rousseau criticized by members of his party
Alderman for education in Molenbeek and member of Vooruit, Jef Van Damme, criticized his party president on Twitter. “A very inappropriate remark from Conner Rousseau. Molenbeek is just as much Belgium as Saint-Nicolas. The next time he walks here, I will be happy to show him around Molenbeek”, he published.
Hilde Sabbe, elected independent on the onebrussels.sp.a list in the Parliament of Brussels-Capital, also dissociated herself from these remarks. “Thus completes my resolve never to criticize Conner Rousseau again. He is not and never will be my president. His statements about Brussels and the role of the Dutch are embarrassing and, above all, incorrect.”
This morning, Conner Rousseau returned to his controversial remarks and maintained his position on Radio 1.
“I have read and approved the interview. But we also know how it works. We never have a say in the title of the article. The interview is also mainly about the problem of language skills in Flanders , and what that means for opportunities for young people. I’m very worried about that,” he said.
Before continuing: “I plead for a good social mix. In some places, we only hear Arabic and we do not encourage speaking in the official language. And that worries me a lot. For the children themselves- You can’t excel in school and seize every opportunity if you don’t learn the local language.”
And to conclude: “I hope everyone will read the entire interview to see my opinion on investing in education and childcare. I wonder who could be against that”.