Author pic: ArcheoNet Flanders Source: Flickr License: CC 2.0
Farida (30), a young Muslim woman from Ekeren near Antwerp, discovered an anonymous letter in the mailbox of the apartment she had previously rented. The author turns to the owner and asks him not to rent housing to “Muslims or others” because this might create a “ghetto”. “I try to be nice to everyone, especially in this ‘white’ neighborhood,” says the shocked woman at Het Laatste Nieuws
Farida Mouallal, her husband and their baby recently moved into a ground floor apartment in the Mariaburg district of Antwerp’s Ekeren municipality. Previously, the family lived in a rented apartment a few blocks away. This week Farida went to her old apartment, currently empty and free, to read the meters and empty the mailbox. In the box you young she discovered an anonymous letter, addressed to the owner where she was invited not to rent to Muslims
“For the good of the neighborhood. Please do not rent to Muslims or others. Eventually a ghetto might develop, which would lead to a depreciation of your property, with all the consequences that this entails (degradation of neighborhoods such as Borgerhout, Abdijstraat, Offerandestraat, Bredabaan)”. The anonymous sender concludes with: “Greetings, concerned neighbor.” reads on 7sur7.
Farida, originally from the Netherlands, thinks a former neighbor annoyed by her and her husband’s baby used racism to “get revenge”
The mayor of the municipality strongly condemns. “Frankly, I fell off my chair reading this letter. Ekeren is a welcoming municipality and that is not what it stands for [quella lettera]”, reacted Koen Palinckx (N-VA). “It reminds me of the anti-Jewish denunciation during the occupation. I find it hard to imagine that in 2023 anyone might still write such a thing. He’s cowardly, especially since he’s anonymous.
