Belgium - Experience Expert Ilyas Mouani: "Done Apologizing for Rioting Minority"

Belgium - Experience Expert Ilyas Mouani: "Done Apologizing for Rioting Minority" Experience expert Ilyas Mouani, a Brussels parliamentarian raised in a disadvantaged neighborhood, refuses to apologize for the New Year's Eve rioters, a minority getting younger and more violent. Drawing from his frontline experience as former playground coordinator and Brussels Youth Council chair, he shifts focus from religion to root causes: poverty, machismo, and lack of safe spaces for migrant-background youth. 🧠 Lived Expertise Speaks "We’re all fed up apologizing for a minority," Mouani states, highlighting how socio-economic barriers leave boys idle on streets while peers party elsewhere. Unlike generalizations tying riots to Muslim identity, his insight pinpoints impulsivity, police resentment, and absent parental control in overburdened families, echoing his own upbringing. 🧠 Solutions from the Ground He pushes practical fixes: mandatory stints with police/fire services for accountability, school talks on fireworks dangers, and safe spaces per neighborhood. "Nothing justifies wrecking your own city," he aligns with theologian Khalid Benhaddou, proving experience experts like Mouani bridge debate with actionable empathy.