Schelle Mosque Defaced Again With Islamophobic Graffiti
A mosque in the Belgian town of Schelle, in Antwerp province, has been defaced with anti-Islam graffiti for the second time in under two weeks, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. Vandals sprayed the words “Fuck Islam” across the door and windows of the building on the morning of Tuesday, 15 September 2026.
The attack targets the mosque and community centre of the non-profit vzw Tawfieq on Steenwinkelstraat. Muslim Rights Watch Belgium (MRWB) and the mosque board have filed complaints with the local police and are calling for camera surveillance, citing concerns for the safety of worshippers and visitors.
A Repeat Attack
According to HLN, the first defacement occurred roughly a week and a half earlier. Board members discovered the same slogan — smaller and painted rather than sprayed — on a window, alongside a swastika, with what was believed to be dog faeces scattered in front of the entrance.
As VRT NWS reported, the board photographed the vandalism and cleaned the building so that the weekly Friday prayer could go ahead that afternoon. “We were enormously shocked when we discovered the message, the swastikas and dog excrement at our centre,” the board said.
Mehdi Gabbany, a representative of MRWB, told HLN that the second incident is arguably worse than the first. “This time it is actually a bit worse, because they used graffiti instead of paint,” he said. “That makes it even harder to wash off.”
No Suspects, No Cameras
Police zone Rupel has opened an investigation but has made no breakthrough. “Last week several neighbourhood investigations were rolled out, but that has not yet led to a breakthrough,” spokesperson Joris Van Camp told HLN. No suspects have been identified, and no arrests have been reported.
The absence of security cameras at or immediately around the mosque is a significant obstacle, police said. MRWB and the mosque board are now pressing for extra camera surveillance in the area. “It is gradually becoming important to make that a priority,” Gabbany said.
Condemnation and a Warning
Karim Bachar, an Antwerp alderman for Youth, Community Building and Equal Opportunities, condemned the act and warned that such hatred is becoming more visible. “This is not an isolated incident. Hatred against Muslims and Islamophobia appear to be getting more and more space in our society,” he said, as quoted by HLN. “We must never consider this normal. Every form of hatred and intimidation must be condemned and tackled.”
The mosque board and MRWB also contacted Schelle mayor Rob Mennes (cd&v) over the incidents.
After the first attack, MRWB chairman Mohamed Amin Chaib described the vandalism as “Muslim hatred in its purest form.” “This is not an isolated case of vandalism or an act of ‘troublemaking’, but a disgusting and explicit expression of Muslim hatred,” he said, according to The Express Tribune. The organisation announced it would file its own complaint and urged policymakers to better protect mosques.
A Wider Pattern
The Schelle incidents appear to form part of a broader wave of mosque defacements and Islamophobic vandalism across Belgium and neighbouring countries in the same period. As VRT NWS reported, the historic El Mouahidine mosque in Laken, Brussels — founded in 1980 — was defaced with a swastika on its roller shutter on 13 September. Mosque chairman Mohammed Karroum said he was “deeply shocked,” noting the mosque had stood since 1980 “without problems with local residents.” Brussels mayor Philippe Close called the act “extremely serious.”
Similar incidents have been reported in the Netherlands, including the Noeroel Islam Mosque in The Hague, which was defaced in June with swastikas and slogans such as “heil Hitler” and “f*ck islam.” de Kanttekening noted that the mosque board called for calm and dialogue, and that the Islamic Foundation Netherlands has recorded nearly 300 incidents of mosque defacement, threatening letters and vandalism since 2015.
The outlet also observed a recurring criticism: compared with attacks on Jewish institutions, political and media reactions to anti-Muslim hatred tend to be fewer and quieter.
What’s Next
The second defacement in Schelle has renewed calls for concrete protective measures, including camera surveillance around the mosque. The Rupel police investigation remains open, and it is unclear whether the two attacks are the work of the same perpetrator or group.
For the Tawfieq community, the immediate concern is the safety of a place of worship that has now been targeted twice in a matter of days — and whether local authorities will move quickly enough to help protect it.