Update:
Just one day after the first anniversary of the Brussels terror attacks on the Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station and one day after the London attack, Belgian police thwarted a similar attack as the one at London’s Westminster Bridge in the Belgian city of Antwerp as Belgian police arrested a man who drove at pedestrians walking along one of Antwerp’s most popular shopping streets.
Read more here
Original post:
March 22nd marked the first anniversary of the dastardly terrorist attack on the Brussels airport and the Maelbeek metro station that killed 32 people and injured more than 300 — the worst terror attack ever to take place on Belgian soil — a day the Belgian newspaper Le Soir referred to as a “day in March where we lost our innocence.”
Several commemorative ceremonies were held in Brussels and across Belgium.
Belgian King Philippe, Queen Mathilde and Prime Minister Charles Michel led a solemn ceremony at Brussels Zaventem airport to honor the 16 people who were killed there. The ceremony started with a minute of silence at 7:58 a.m., the exact time when the two suicide bombers detonated their deadly baggage. The King also read out the names of the 16 victims.
Before departing to the subway station Maelbeek where another suicide bomber killed and additional 16 people, the Belgian monarchs placed a wreath at a memorial plaque in the departure hall and the King listened as the names of the 16 victims of the airport bombings were read.
The royals traveled to Maelbeek by subway, an obvious sign of the Belgian people’s resolve and refusal to be intimidated.
At Maelbeek, the 16 people killed there were honored and remembered. King Philippe laid a wreath and once again at 9:11 a.m., the exact time of the second attack, a minute of silence was held.
Across Brussels and Belgium many other acts of honor and commemoration were held: “Schools and many other institutions across the country also commemorated the anniversary of the attack. Buses, trams and subways came to a stop at exactly 7:58 a.m.”
But in addition to the moments of solemn silence, Belgians also showed their resolve and tenacity and demonstrated that they will not be intimidated. In powerful gestures of defiance and solidarity, drivers honked their horns and a group of people clapped for a “minute of noise” at the very same Maelbeek subway platform where so many innocent died one year ago at the hands of Islamic extremists.
The Brussels transit authority, which promoted the “minute of noise,” described the expression as an affirmation of life, to show that “we have not forgotten, but remain standing against hate as well as terror.”
Please watch videos of the ceremony and the response of Belgians here and here.
A sculpture by Belgian sculptor Jean-Henri Compere perhaps best captures the resolve of the Belgian people. The 66-foot-long sculpture near the European Union headquarters consists of two stainless steel slabs, crushed and pocked but “raised skyward in an expression of hope”
This outpouring of Belgian resoluteness of course reminded me of another occasion when, in November 2015, Belgium was facing potential terrorist attacks in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks and the Belgian government imposed a security lockdown in Brussels that lasted for five days.
Prime Minister Michel asked the people of Brussels, while being “careful and vigilant,” not to succumb to panic. “We have to remain serene and keep our heads cool and stay calm,” he said.
Later, Belgian authorities requested that Belgians do not post messages on social media that might expose or interfere with security forces operations.
The people of Brussels refused to be intimidated, even showing their sense of humor by taking to the internet by the thousands and posting photos and images of what “will now be known as an internationally recognized symbol of solidarity: cat photos,” according to the New York Times.
The Times: “The cats appeared with machine guns, french fries and beer to comfort the citizens of Brussels, who need it…”
The Brussels police acknowledged the Belgian humor and responded with an image of their own captioned, “For cats who helped us last night … Help yourself!” (Below)
Below, some of the Brussels cats doing their thing, courtesy Twitter.
For more photos, click here.
Lead photo: Credit Vincent Brassinne/flickr.com
