VRT journalist Louba Khalkhali and presenter Nora Gharib speak out about riots on New Year’s Eve: “Our community must speak out”

Mayor Els Van Doesburg after a night full of riots in Antwerp: “Children aged 10 and 11 among those running amok”

Princes

Khalkhali, who himself has Moroccan roots, says that it is not a coincidence that mainly boys are involved in the night-time riots in Hoboken, Antwerp, for example. “In our culture, girls are (often) raised more strictly from an early age: they have to be home earlier and are more likely to have boundaries imposed on them. Boys are (often) raised like princes and are often given the excuse of “boys will be boys”. But why should the same boundaries, that same sense of responsibility and that same care for others not also apply to boys? That would be better for everyone, wouldn’t it? For themselves, for their environment and for society.”

The wife of director Adil el Arbi says she is convinced that as long as boys and girls are not treated equally, the pattern of boys having difficulty with authority will continue to repeat itself. “And this behavior is also detrimental to the boys who do try their best. Today they are viewed askance, more likely to be spoken to, more likely to be suspected, simply because others ruin it for them.”

Take responsibility

Presenter Nora Gharib also spoke out about the riots online. She shared Louba Khalkhali’s post and added a message of her own. “This crappy behavior is the minority of our community but it blackens our name.” She calls on parents to take responsibility. Khalkhali also asks to break the silence. “The silence of our community cannot continue,” she wrote. “We are loud about injustice elsewhere, rightly so, but this is also violence.”

“They’re getting younger”: how (underage) teenagers target law enforcement and mar New Year’s Eve again