
A Day in Brussels, A Fifty Yard View
Around 10:45, driving around the Luxembourg and Berlaymont areas in Brussels it became obvious the demonstration was en route to become “a whole lot ado ‘bout nothin’ ”. It’s hard to say whether there were 12 or 15 dozen demonstrators near the Europarliament Buildings, come noon, how many there were at the Luxemburg plaza or in between, I can’t say, but what was abundantly clear, was that these particular Brussels areas were under siege.However much the Belgian media portray the SIOE demo as an anti-islam ralley, I wanted to be there because I’ve started reading the Koran about three years ago. I challenge any or other rational opponent of the demonstration to do the same and not be concerned. I happened to be in Brussels, since it matters to me personally, apart from the fact that 9/11 left a profound impression, and to this day still does, that is...I wanted to see for myself how the authorities would react. Seeing is believing. As soon as I saw the might of the police and recognised the efforts the authorities had taken throughout the neighbouring communes, it was pretty clear most of those unorganised individuals who would have wanted to attend simply decided to do a 180 and got the hell out of Dodge. Police outnumbered demonstrators by some 300% (guesswork).Impressive it was, and although throughout the surrounding area police forces kept to themselves, acting as inconspicuous as pink elephants near the north-pole, the cordon policiaire that had been thrown in front of the demonstrators, (keeping to the stairs of the roundabout opposite the Berlaymont-building), the flashing policecars, the horses, the dogs, and the riot-police stood their ground; in the side-streets numerous riot-cars went to all lengths to be overtly and utterly visible. Police in combat gear stood within shouting distance....
To read more and watch the video go to:
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2440
As in the days of Noah...