Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Hateful stickers with racist messages appeared in Molenbeek, Brussels, near RWDM’s stadium. Resident Ahmed El Khannouss raised concerns. RWDM condemned the acts. Police investigated but haven’t caught anyone.
In a part of Brussels called Molenbeek, people are worried because lampposts keep getting covered in stickers with hateful messages. One sticker says “No Islam in Europe,” which is against Muslims. Another sticker has the words “White Boys” and a symbol that some groups who hate other people use.
Officials mentioned that this sticker seems to be about the local football team, Racing White Daring Molenbeek (RWDM). A man named Ahmed El Khannouss, who lives in the area, has said that he’s seen fans of the football team act in a racist way before. He’s frustrated because the stickers keep appearing, which makes him think that someone is trying to spread these hateful messages on purpose.
But someone is systematically sticking new stickers,
Ahmed El Khannouss said.
Who is behind the hateful stickers in Molenbeek near RWDM?
Someone put up hateful stickers, and the RWDM team thinks they’re bad because they make hate speech seem normal. They’re worried that this could lead to violence later on. The team is trying to find out who put up the stickers and will punish them. They say it was just one person and not a big problem. The team says their fans don’t have hateful beliefs and are not far-right.
According to RWDM’s spokesperson, there’s no racism, sexism, or discrimination at their games. He says fans might have personal beliefs, but they don’t share them at the stadium. He says the team has a rule against political stuff at games. Some people are saying that racist stickers found near the stadium, and past incidents with RWDM fans, show that there might be a problem with discrimination.
The police have been watching this situation because it happened before in April and May of last year. They have a special team that looks for problems at football games, and they have seen these stickers around the RWDM stadium and other places. But they haven’t caught anyone putting up the stickers.
The police have written a report about what they found and sent it to the prosecutor, who will decide what to do next. Officials mentioned that the police know about the problem, but they need to find out who is doing this and stop it from happening again.
We didn’t catch anyone red-handed, but a report was drawn up and forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office,
the police zone said.
It is now up to the prosecutor to decide on further steps.
The football team RWDM has had problems with some of its fans acting in a racist way. In 2022, fans from another team called Beerschot VA yelled racist things at RWDM fans during a game. Even some RWDM fans have threatened their players, saying they need to show more respect for their neighbourhood.
In 2016, the government stopped a group called Génération Identitaire from having a march in Molenbeek. And in 2022, some politicians who hate other people were told they couldn’t visit the area to avoid causing problems.
