Incomplete Portrayal of Belgium

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/opinion/incomplete-portrayal-of-belgium.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Troubling Rifts in Belgium” (April 21): The article on Brussels and its radicals was indeed a more balanced view of the city than the recent, often ill-informed reports in the international media. Brussels has been depicted as seething with discontented radicalized immigrants, and the article did explain the background to these communities.

Brussels is far from the “hellhole” depicted by Donald Trump. It actually has a high quality of life, a modestly priced housing stock, an excellent cultural life and access to the countryside even by public transportation. Like many cities, it has major social problems, especially among immigrants, a tiny percentage of whom are hell-bent on mayhem.

These problems are being addressed but not effectively enough. The Belgian authorities have been widely criticized since the March 22 attacks for their ineffective response to the terrorist threat. What has only occasionally been reported is that a substantial number of prominent radicals are in prison and that a year ago a radical cell was dismantled in Verviers in southeastern Belgium. As New York, London, Madrid and Paris have learned, there is no sure defense against terrorism, and mistakes were also made in those cities.

A study I led with Wayne State University in 2006, financed by the German Marshall Fund, compared Muslim communities in Brussels and Detroit. The broad conclusion was that the origins and educational levels of Muslims in the two communities was the determining factor in their integration into their host societies. In Brussels, Muslims largely came from poor regions of the Rif in Morocco as reported in your article. In Detroit, the immigrant educational level was higher from the outset. Much more needs to be done in Brussels to raise the educational level and employment opportunities for immigrants, but this can take several generations.

RICHARD LEWIS

Brussels