One of the steps that Belgium took in the wake of its recent terrorist attacks was to establish a national hotline.  Citizens could call who had terror concerns, and receive official help in resolving those concerns.  One of the callers was with a Jewish volunteer group that was moving wounded to Israel for treatment.  He called to get the necessary permits to move wounded citizens to Israel.  The only problem turned out to be that the government official who answered the call does not recognize the existence of Israel.  Oh, you can have your permits — but you have to ask for them in the name of “Palestine.”

The state authorities identified and fired the official, saying that it was a “deplorable but isolated incident” and no one should be worried about it.  Nevertheless, a recent survey showed that 57 percent of Belgian Muslims agreed that “Jews cannot be trusted,”compared to 8 percent of Christians.  That’s a significant difference, and one that suggests that the sentiment may not be all that isolated after all.

Another reason to believe it is not all that isolated:  Belgian police say that at least 50 supporters of ISIS work for the airport in Brussels.

The claim comes from an open letter where police officers say they flagged individuals to authorities on numerous occasions before the attack. ISIS supporters work as baggage handlers, cleaners and catering staff, according to the officers, which give them access to planes. Some employees were removed when it became known they had received training in Syria.  Individuals openly cheered after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, but they were allowed to keep their jobs.

These are people trusted behind the security perimeters. What happens when they are also the ones manning the security perimeters? Think that won’t happen? It is absolutely certain to happen, argues Mark Steyn, who is worth quoting at length on this point.

Brussels is currently about 25 per cent Muslim and they’re mostly young. Conversely (as I pointed out in America Alone), the Flemings and Walloons are getting a bit long in the tooth. In any society, who provides the policemen and soldiers and security guards? The fit and healthy – ie, the young, the ones who can pass the physical. So increasingly the chaps responsible for keeping an eye out for Muslim terrorists will themselves be Muslim. Via Laura Rosen Cohen, here’s a story from the Belgian papers from last June:

A Belgian municipal security officer is facing dismissal after saying he would kill “each and every Jew” during a debate on Facebook this past Friday.

That’s some “debate”.

“The word Jew itself is dirty. If I were in Israel, frankly, I would do to the Jews what they do with the Palestinians — slaughter each and every one of them,” wrote the officer, who was only referred to as Mohamed N. in Belgian media.

That’s Mohamed N standing next to the mayor of Molenbeek, Françoise Schepmans, in the picture at top right. A year before Mohamed N’s “debate”, four Jews were gunned down at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. This week the authorities told Brussels Jews to forget about Purim because they can’t guarantee security. That’s hardly surprising when “the authorities” include chaps like Mohamed N. How likely is a fellow who believes “the word Jew itself is dirty” to be alert to future threats against the Jewish Museum? Indeed, if you’re higher up the security chain, how do you tell the difference between the chatter of the “radicalized” “extremists” and the views of your own men?

What if, in fact, there turn out to be no important differences? If Steyn is right, such views may become increasingly common among Europe’s police simply because they will be increasingly common among the young people available for police recruitment. Then what?