A short video clip from the Molenbeek municipal council meeting has gone viral worldwide on X, especially after Elon Musk, the world's richest man, highlighted a post by the far-right RadioGenoa. In the video, it appears that alderwoman Saliha Raiss (Flemish socialist Vooruit) is calling on all Belgians to get lost if they have a problem with headscarves. However, the context in which that particular sentence was uttered was completely ignored.
The controversial debate during the municipal council meeting on 27 August actually revolved around a Facebook post by the French-speaking liberal party MR, concerning animal welfare in Molenbeek. Underneath that post – in the comments – there were numerous reactions many deem racist and Islamophobic.
One Facebook comment stated, among other things, that alderwoman Saliha Raiss – acting mayor at the time – ‘wears a curtain on her head’.
During the municipal council meeting, Raiss complained about the lack of moderation on the MR's social media (led by George-Louis Bouchez) and accused councillor Didier Milis (MR) of trivialising racism. She then jokingly remarked that people who find her “curtains” offensive should just leave.
Viral without context
On social media that last statement is reduced to a 25-second video clip suggesting that a councillor wearing a headscarf is calling on all Belgians to get lost.
The eccentric tech billionaire Elon Musk retweeted a post from the account of far-right media outlet RadioGenoa and that caused everything to snowball. The story was picked up by foreign media and went viral on social media worldwide.
In a written response alderwoman Saliha Raiss says that she is now ‘working hard to make Molenbeek safer, better and more liveable’. ‘ Hundreds of racist messages will not stop me,’ says Raiss. ‘And I will not hold back in responding to the MR.’