Belgium’s schools have started a new academic year with “headscarf arrests”: Antwerp police arrested eight youngsters at the Royal Athenaeum in Hoboken a week after classes started. The arrested students violated a ban on demonstrations and worn Muslim headscarf’s which are a ligher version of well known  burkas or burqas.

While many believe the ban of Muslim headscarf in Belgium as well as other European countries is a demonstration of social prejudice and religious intolerance rather than an attempt to integrate Muslim women into the Belgian or European societies, some of the local authorities seem to be quite serious about the the Muslim headscarf ban.

BeNeLux certainly does have something to do with BeNefit and Luxury – the benefits of Luxembourgian banking and the luxury of Belgian chocolates and Dutch endless tulip fields of Keukenhof! The three neighboring countries share the common name and history for more than half-a-century now. And, before EURO currency came into circulation in 2002, Belgium and Luxembourg even shared the same FRANC currency…