Editing Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (section)

===21st century===
In some areas of Molenbeek, the ensuing poverty left its mark on the urban landscape and scarred the social life of the community, leading to rising crime rates and pervading cultural intolerance. Various local revitalisation programmes are currently under way, aiming at relieving the municipality's most impoverished districts.<ref name=":11" /> Currently, the local economy is renewing itself, but it is "dominated" by the administrative sector. Alongside large companies such as [[KBC Bank]] and the distribution company [[Delhaize Group|Delhaize]], there are administrations such as that of the Ministry of the [[French Community of Belgium|French Community]] and numerous businesses.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Projet Bonne - Mariemont.jpg|thumb|left|Project Bonne–Mariemont on the {{lang|fr|Quai de Mariemont|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Mariemontkaai|italic=no}}]]

Attempts at revitalising the municipality have, however, not always been successful. In June 2011, the multinational company [[BBDO]], citing over 150 attacks on their staff by locals, posted an open letter to then-mayor [[Philippe Moureaux]], announcing its withdrawal from the municipality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lacapitale.be/regions/bruxelles/2011-06-17/insecurite-a-molenbeek-la-lettre-de-bbdo-a-moureaux-881494.shtml|title=Insécurité à Molenbeek|date=17 June 2011|language=fr|trans-title=Insecurity in Molenbeek|work=La Capitale|access-date=18 November 2015}}</ref> As a result, serious questions were raised about governance, security and the administration of Moureaux.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20110617_133|title=BBDO zwaar ontgoocheld in Moureaux|date=17 June 2011|language=nl|trans-title=BBDO greatly disappointed by Moureaux|work=De Standaard|access-date=18 November 2015}}</ref> Following a general decrease in crime, the company finally decided to remain in Molenbeek.<ref>{{cite web|title=Reclamebureau BBDO: 'Geen incidenten meer'|url=https://www.bruzz.be/samenleving/reclamebureau-bbdo-geen-incidenten-meer-2011-12-14|access-date=2021-09-27|website=bruzz.be|language=nl}}</ref>

====Terrorism====
According to ''[[Le Monde]]'', the assassins who [[Ahmad Shah Massoud#Assassination|killed anti-Taliban commander Ahmed Shah Massoud]] both came from Molenbeek.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stroobants |first1=Jean Pierre |title=Molenbeek, la plaque tournante belge du terrorisme islamiste |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2015/11/16/molenbeek-la-plaque-tournante-belge-du-terrorisme-islamiste_4810617_3214.html |access-date=12 April 2016|work=Le Monde|date=16 November 2015 |language=fr |quote={{lang|fr|c’est de Molenbeek que sont partis les tueurs du commandant afghan Ahmed Shah Massoud, principal adversaire du régime des talibans, assassiné par deux faux journalistes.}} }}</ref> Hassan el-Haski, one of the [[2004 Madrid train bombings|2004 Madrid terror bombers]], came from Molenbeek.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bartunek |first1=Robert-Jan |last2=Lewis |first2=Barbara |title=Belgian connection: three held in Brussels over Paris attacks |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-belgium-probe-idUSKCN0T31AK20151115 |access-date=11 April 2016 |work=Reuters|date=15 November 2015 |quote=A prominent, Moroccan-born member of the group behind the 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 was from Molenbeek. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why did the bombers target Belgium?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/22/why-was-belgium-targeted-by-bombers |access-date=11 April 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 March 2016 |quote=Hassan el-Haski – Madrid and Casablanca bombings – A Spanish judge sentenced Haski to 14 years in jail for belonging to a terrorist organisation, in connection with the March 2004 attacks on Madrid. }}</ref> The perpetrator of the [[Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting]], Mehdi Nemmouche, lived in Molenbeek for a time.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Newton-Small |first1=Jay |title=The Belgian Suburb at the Heart of the Paris Attacks Probe |url=https://time.com/4114305/paris-attacks-molenbeek/|access-date=11 April 2016 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=16 November 2015 |quote=May 2014, three people were killed and one injured in a shooting at the Jewish Museum of Belgium by alleged terrorist Mehdi Nemmouche, who is awaiting trial and spent time in Molenbeek }}</ref> Ayoub El Khazzani, the perpetrator of the [[2015 Thalys train attack]], stayed with his sister in Molenbeek.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2423671 |title=&thinsp;'Suspect lived in Brussels before attempted Thalys attack'&thinsp; |first=Michaël |last=Torfs |work=[[De Redactie]] |date=25 August 2015 }}</ref> French police believe the weapons used in the [[Porte de Vincennes siege]] two days after the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting]] were sourced from Molenbeek.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Barbara |last2=Bartunek |first2=Robert-Jan |title=Belgian connection: three held in Brussels over Paris attacks |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-belgium-probe-idUSKCN0T31AK20151115 |work=Reuters|access-date=11 April 2016 |date=15 November 2015 |quote=Molenbeek. The area has been connected with two attacks in France this year. Security officials have said the Islamist who killed people at a Paris kosher grocery in January at the time of the attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo acquired weapons in the district.}}</ref> The bombers of the [[November 2015 Paris attacks]] were also traced to Molenbeek;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lynch |first1=Julia |title=Here's why so many of Europe's terrorist attacks come through this one Brussels neighborhood |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/05/heres-why-so-many-of-europes-terror-attacks-come-through-this-one-brussels-neighborhood/ |access-date=11 April 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=5 April 2016 |quote=Molenbeek had been linked to radical Islamist terrorism. One of 19 'communes' in the Brussels metro area, the neighborhood was home to one of the attackers in the 2004 commuter train bombings in Madrid and to the Frenchman who shot four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels in August 2014. The Moroccan shooter on the Brussels-Paris Thalys train in August 2015 stayed with his sister there. French police suspect that the weapons used in the Paris supermarket attack connected with the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015 were acquired in Molenbeek, and the attackers in the November 2015 Paris bombings were traced to Brussels by way of a parking ticket issued on a rental car in Molenbeek. }}</ref> during the Molenbeek capture of [[Salah Abdeslam]], an accomplice of the Paris bombers, protesters "threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest", stated the then-[[Minister of the Interior (Belgium)|Interior Minister of Belgium]], [[Jan Jambon]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Belgian minister says many Muslims 'danced' after attacks |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/belgian-minister-says-many-muslims-danced-attacks-181946174.html |access-date=26 May 2018 |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |date=16 April 2016 |quote=They threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. That is the real problem. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527023926/https://www.yahoo.com/news/belgian-minister-says-many-muslims-danced-attacks-181946174.html |archive-date=27 May 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Oussama Zariouh, the [[June 2017 Brussels attack|bomber of Brussels Central Station in June 2017]],<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40352351 | title=Brussels station suspect had 'nail bomb'| publisher=BBC News| date=2017-06-21}}</ref> lived in Molenbeek.<ref>{{cite news|title=L'auteur de l'attentat manqué de Bruxelles avait des "sympathies" pour l'État islamique|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2017/06/21/01003-20170621ARTFIG00181-l-auteur-de-l-attentat-manque-de-bruxelles-est-un-marocain-de-36-ans.php|access-date=21 June 2017|work=Le Figaro|language=fr|quote=L'homme abattu par les soldats à la gare centrale de Bruxelles était un Marocain de 36 ans. Il vivait à Molenbeek}}</ref>

=====November 2015 Paris attacks=====
{{Main|November 2015 Paris attacks}}

At least four of the terrorists in the [[November 2015 Paris attacks]]—the brothers [[Brahim Abdeslam|Brahim]] and [[Salah Abdeslam]], alleged accomplice [[Mohamed Abrini]], and the alleged mastermind [[Abdelhamid Abaaoud]]—grew up and lived in Molenbeek. According to former French President [[François Hollande]], that was also where they organised the attacks.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/paris-attacks-mastermind-abaaoud-1.3320483 |title=Paris attacks: Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud identified as presumed mastermind |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=16 November 2015|access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref> On 18 March 2016, Salah Abdeslam, a suspected accomplice in those attacks, was captured in [[2016 Brussels police raids|two anti-terrorist raids in Molenbeek]] that killed another suspect and injured two others. At least one other suspect remains at large.<ref>{{cite news|date=15 March 2016|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/15/europe/brussels-paris-attacks-shots-fired/index.html|title=Shots in Brussels raid tied to Paris attacks|publisher=CNN|access-date=15 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=15 March 2016|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35809974|title=Gunfire in Brussels raid on 'Paris attacks suspects'|publisher=BBC News|access-date=15 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="BBC1">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35860157|title=Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'worth his weight in gold'|publisher=BBC News|date=21 March 2016|access-date=21 March 2016}}</ref> Ibrahim (born 9 October 1986 in Brussels) was involved in the attempted robbery of a [[bureau de change|currency exchange]] office in January 2010, where he shot at police with a [[Kalashnikov rifle]]. The then-mayor of Brussels, [[Freddy Thielemans]], and the then-mayor of Molenbeek, [[Philippe Moureaux]], described the shooting as a "''{{lang|fr|fait divers}}''" (a small daily news item) and "normal in a large city", causing controversy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Binnenland/article/detail/1061949/2010/02/02/Schietpartij-in-Anderlecht-was-fait-divers.dhtml |title=Schietpartij in Anderlecht was fait divers |date=2 February 2010 |access-date=23 March 2016 |newspaper=Het Laatste Nieuws}}</ref>

=====Police investigation=====
Since several of the attackers in the [[2016 Brussels bombings|Brussels]] and [[November 2015 Paris attacks|Paris]] terrorist attacks had connections to the area, Belgian police started door-to-door checks in which a quarter of Molenbeek's inhabitants were investigated, a total of 22,668. This operation resulted in that of the 1,600 organisations investigated, 102 were found to be involved with crime and a further 52 were involved with terrorism. 72 individuals were found to have a terrorist connection and were subject to future surveillance.<ref name="politico30mar2017">{{cite news|title=Belgium's Molenbeek home to 51 groups with terror links: report|url=http://www.politico.eu/article/belgiums-molenbeek-home-to-51-groups-with-terror-links-report/|access-date=28 March 2017|publisher=Politico|date=20 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="demorgen30mar2017">{{cite news|title=51 Molenbeekse vzw's verdacht van terreurbanden|url=http://www.demorgen.be/binnenland/51-molenbeekse-vzw-s-verdacht-van-terreurbanden-bab91786/|access-date=28 March 2017|publisher=De Morgen|date=20 March 2017}}</ref>