"According to police, the only toilet ... was in a terrible state."

Next time my toilet is clogged I'll call the police.

/irony off

Posted by: FreeSpeech at July 6, 2006 7:02 AM

Encouraging news, perhaps the spirit of Tintin still lives in Belguim.

Posted by: Ozi_bloke at July 6, 2006 7:10 AM

God Bless the police for doing the right thing, throwing the Muslims OUT. They stole the Christian church to begin with.

Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at July 6, 2006 7:46 AM

only foreigners without proper identification documents were being allowed to enter the church.

This is true occupation and religious persecution, happening in the heart of Europe….

So I take it that whole time during the occupation no Mass services took place. That's a crime! I am also assuming their are Christians left that go to Mass...

The operation took place on request from Mayor Jacques Simonet

How come the Mayor requested police and not the priest or local Bishop? I understand clergy are not in the business of throwing the poor to the streets. However they are not in the business of stopping the celebration of daily/weekly Mass and letting Churches become hotels.

Was the blessed Eucharist taken from the Church??? Were Holy Images desecrated??? Seems to me this was a true occupation by muslims and not administering to the poor by the Church.

This highlights two things, the beginning of religious persecution of Christians by muslims in Europe, and the cowardice and complete lack of religious faith of the Belgium people for not standing up and defending their Church. Why no public outcry or protesting of the occupation of a Holy Church??? Why allow a Church to be taken over in the first place????

Posted by: adobe at July 6, 2006 8:58 AM

Why weren't they squatting in a mosque?
Posted by: americaningermany

because they only squat over holes in the ground and a church to them is a hole in the ground.

Posted by: Holger Dansker at July 6, 2006 9:27 AM

I have many of the same questions as Adobe. It seems that Church officials were willing to put up with this mockery and that a combination of parishioners and people from the neighborhood were the force behind getting these Kurdish squatters removed. I wonder if that church would have allowed an group of illegals, for example, Serbian Christians from Kosovo, stay for so long? Did the local Muslim leaders protest this occupaton on the grounds that it was disrepectful to the Christian community? On the issue of the filthy toilet...with all of the Muslim rules on potty time--sprinkling cans, abolutions, etc. it seems strange that no one had the inclination to clean the facility. I guess they just kept waiting for some dumb dhimmi do-gooder to come by and get the job done.

Posted by: maryrose at July 6, 2006 9:32 AM

I hope that some JW reader from Belgium might be able to give more details about this story.

Posted by: maryrose at July 6, 2006 9:33 AM

The police also stated: They ran out of Bibles several months ago and have been without toilet paper since.

Posted by: JanuaryMan at July 6, 2006 10:44 AM

But cartoons of mo caues riots and touching a qur'an without gloves (at Gitmo) is reason to raise hell, but these dorks can ruin a church.
/makes my head hurt

Posted by: Carolyn2 at July 6, 2006 11:52 AM

FreeSpeech, good one :)

What is wrong with Europe? Letting these people (??) squat in a Church? Sheesh !! What were the people of that community doing all the while?

Posted by: SafteyFirst at July 6, 2006 12:41 PM

Good to see someone finally took out the trash. This was a travesty from the get go. Disrupting services,covering statues, "redecorating" the church; all the while, the powers that be granting exclusivity to the squatters. Sad to say, but many Catholic clergy still adhere to a doctrine of "liberation theology" which is nothing more than an attempt to undermine Western institutions and traditions.

Posted by: We need G.C. Scott at July 6, 2006 1:27 PM

"Among the protestors, police found two French nationals, who claimed they were staying in the church because hotel rooms in Brussels were too expensive."

WTF?????, I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere.

Posted by: Celsius at July 6, 2006 1:29 PM

The concept of sanctuary -taking refuge in a church- was based upon the understanding by all parties that the church was holy ground.

These individuals completely overturn that understanding by their behavior and excesses and I am happy to see that the police finally took action.

All too often in my own town, I see Moslems making themselves at home on the steps of this church or the other. While one may wonder what harm is done by somebody simply perching on some steps, one can't help but wonder what the underlying mindset is. Wouldn't these folks be more comfortable lounging in front of their mosque, just a few steps away? Or are they trying to send a message to the community?

Posted by: Chatillon at July 6, 2006 3:52 PM

The link between "Liberation Theology" and tolerance for the behavior of these disrespectful Muslims should be examined. The nexus between the leftist "anti-Imperialist" agenda and the Islamic agenda in the West is undeniable. Seen through the lens of Marxist "liberation" all actions by groups claiming victimhood at the hands of 'the West' are to be honored and respected without regard to their tactics, their demands, the veracity of their claims, or their methodologies to "achieve Liberation". Though I don't know the particulars, I suspect some aspect of this pathology clouded the judgment of the Church Officials and the civic authorities who let this dirty farce proceed for over a year.

The Muslims long ago learned the many ways they could attack us and subvert our society -- sometimes without overt violence -- These particular Muslims long ago achieved their objective -- and it wasn't one of "liberation", but rather one of humiliating the target audience, in this case, believing Christians in the West. This squatting action was a purely symbolic and cynical event.

It recalls the Palestinian seige of the Church of the Nativity, which left this important Church reeking of urine and feces -- it's central alter covered with dirty dishes, cooking stoves, and the niche where Jesus was supposedly born used as their bed room.... When Muslims to "take refuge" in these Churches
when they treat them like toilets, and hold such places in utter contempt, they should be met with instant force and eviction. Waffling and hand wringing for more than a year sends the altogether wrong message.

They should never be allowed to show such acidic Muslim contempt for Western Religious edifice, while at the same time being 'allowed' to rely on the tolerance of that edifice for their supposed "salvation". They exploited the sanctuary of the Church purely to undermine the sanctuary of the Church.

In the exact same manner, Muslims exploit our Freedom of Speech to subvert our Freedom of Speech.

Recently it has come to light that C.A.I.R. (Council on American Islamic Relations) agitated for the firing of a U.S. Academic because he had the affrontery to challenge the orthodoxy about Islam as a "peaceful religion". And their bellyaching was rewarded. The case about Catholic DePaul's firing of Catholic Professor Thomas Klocek can be followed here:

http://marathonpundit.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_marathonpundit_archive.html#115207607446679510

and here:

http://www.spme.net/cgi-bin/display_petitions.cgi?ID=3

and here:

http://jeffweintraub.blogspot.com/2006/06/academic-freedom-alert-petition.html

More examples of Muslims exploiting our privileges and gifts to ourselves and them to subvert us and further Islam's reach in our domain. To the extent that ANY organization in the West, whether it's the Press, Academia, or craven Politicians seeking votes, such institutions and individuals must be repudiated.

They are abetting our demise through Muslim Jihad.

Posted by: jsla at July 6, 2006 3:53 PM

Among the protestors, police found two French nationals, who claimed they were staying in the church because hotel rooms in Brussels were too expensive. Both of them were immediately released.
...........

I realize that it's hardly the main point of this story, but what the heck was up with these guys? Where they actually French Muslims squatting in "solidarity", or were they really just backpackers looking for a free place to stay?

It seems hard to believe that they would prefer staying in these squalid and probably dangerous conditions to crashing on an aquaintance's couch, staying at a homeless shelter, or even sleeping in the park.

Posted by: gravenimage at July 6, 2006 5:30 PM

Do piranas attack crocodiles?

Or do they select the "soft touch" victims?

The Belgians waited 364 days too long.

Tear-gas (perhaps scented with a little frankincense, since it was a church) and truncheons and police vans and deportation on the second day of this infiltration would have sent the right message.

Instead, it tells future invaders:

-we're suckers... pick our pockets... we're too slow to stop you...come on in...

Posted by: profitsbeard at July 6, 2006 5:46 PM

Now watch them argue that the Church should be converted to a mosque to honor the memory of the "immigrants" and their "struggle".

Posted by: Bohemond_1069 at July 6, 2006 6:10 PM

@Ozi_bloke

"Encouraging news, perhaps the spirit of Tintin still lives in Belguim."

Yes, it still does, actually.

Posted by: Al Saheed Al Kuffar at July 6, 2006 10:14 PM

Posted by: bigcatgirl13106

"God Bless the police for doing the right thing, throwing the Muslims OUT. They stole the Christian church to begin with."

What actually happens in Brussels (and Belgium in general) is that the churches are running empty of believers, and they (the church responsables) are inviting just anyone to populate their churches. Even if they are illegal (and often criminals).

That way they (we call them the "Left Church") can show how tolerant they are and how they are able to spread the word of christianity (slap my left face and don't forget to splinter my skull too).

We, here in Belgium are fed off of all these religionist fanatics since centuries, And now the catholics are doing anything to punish the "unbelievers", just to the point of inviting terrorist scum.

I hope one day these collaborators will be meeting their judge and I hope the rope will do it's work just as it did during the Nuremberg trials.

Posted by: Al Saheed Al Kuffar at July 6, 2006 10:22 PM

I visited a small mosque in Geneva several years ago - during Friday evening prayers.

While waiting at the back for the prayers to finish (so I could speak with one of the participants) and needing to relieve myself, I visited the toilet.

It was filthy and smelly, much like the toilets at the rugby clubs back home.

Is it just a guy thing, given there were no females in or around that particular mosque?

MBR

Posted by: MBR at July 7, 2006 4:46 AM

Filthy cult pretending to be a religion, filthy toilets. Of course islam didn't invent flushable toilets and toilet paper, so what can you expect? The technology is beyond their capability.

Posted by: Bohemond_1069 at July 8, 2006 10:26 AM

Do you know why the toilet was in a filthy state? I shall tell you.

A Muslim is not allowed to use a toilet if it is not facing away from Mecca.

Instead they have to do their business in plastic bags or stand over the toilet and do target practise. That is a fact.

In Oldham when the Muslims moved in, there were bags of excrement everywhere, under benches, behind walls etc, because most of the toilets in the houses faced the "wrong way" toward or side-on to Mecca, it was a health hazard.

The council had to pay millions pounds worth of taxpayers money to "re-align" the toilets of their houses.

Posted by: IceDragon at July 8, 2006 4:51 PM