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"This is the beginning of the war!" a French Muslim boy called out in the middle of the riots in Le Blanc Mesnil, just north of Paris. But is it? Or was the war really going on already? Few Americans have heard of him, but in Europe, more and more are becoming familiar with the name – and the ideas – of Dyab Abou Jahjah, founder of the now-international Arab European League (AEL) and the Muslim Democratic Party. Handsome, charismatic, well-educated, and multilingual, he has the perfect makings of a political leader, or perhaps better said, a man poised to...

        ~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~Modern Times: Top 10 All Time Favorite Movies     Welcome to the FReeper Canteen! It's great to have you with all of us!! We're going to start a new feature on Tuesdays. We're not sure if we'll run this every Tuesday or every other Tuesday. However, we'd like to open the floor to hot topics of the day. None of which are political. Unless something is absolutely appalling or in need of your reaction!!           You're Opinions Please     Main Topic: My top 10...

'Belgian Malcolm X' seeks office Even as Europe's Islamic population rises, many Muslims feel marginalized and uncertain of their place in European society. To his supporters, Dyab Abou Jahjah is a hero, a champion of Europe's Muslim immigrant underclass. ABOU JAHJAH: 'I am not going to be docile.' But to many Belgians, the young, Lebanese-born activist embodies the Continent's growing fear of extremism within its Muslim population. Now, the man sometimes called the "Belgian Malcolm X" is trying to make the leap from activism to political office: He is running for a parliamentary seat in a heated election Sunday in...

ANTWERP, Belgium - A Lebanese refugee running for parliament is giving a confrontational twist to elections in this Belgian city, a center of anti-immigrant feelings in Europe. Dyab Abou Jahjah's demands for immigrant empowerment, his brief jailing on charges of incitement to riot and his portrayal as an enemy of democracy and integration have caught the eye of the nation, even though the publicity is unlikely to be reflected in success at the polls. The prime minister calls Dyab Abou Jahjah a threat who thrives on "confrontation and provocation." The interior minister wants to create a law just to keep...