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Level 1: I am running under the bridge, metro cars of the Maelbeek station above me. Acrid smoke. Helicopters, ambulances, mobile networks down. Fear for loved ones. Chaotic information – two explosions in Zaventem airport, one in Maelbeek metro.
Few people on the street, mainly parents running to schools and kindergartens to pick up kids. A dilemma how to get there – the metro has been shut down, car traffic diverted, trams and busses not running.
Cars stop to let pedestrians pass. Teachers well organized, take care of children and panicking parents. Calm each other down. Someone needs coins to buy juice from a vending machine, a stranger helps. Warmth, solidarity.
Level 2: Conversations:
– Its war
– They say there has been an explosion on another metro station
– There has been a shooting on the Sablon square
– I had a bad feeling already when they caught Salah Abdeslam
– It’s revenge
– Now imagine you have Arab features…
– Yeah, but they can only blame themselves!
– Muslims should issue a statement they condemn this.
– They are a strong religion.
– What does religion have to do with it? We can be strong as a lay state.
– What’s going to happen now?
Level 3: Naming: it’s the terrorists. Terrorists. We stick to this word. We, the citizens of Brussels from Poland, Morocco, Congo, Algeria, Germany, France, Catholics, Muslims and atheists – we talk to each other. We cannot shut up and start fearing each other. We talk and will continue talking.
Level 4: It is sunshine in Brussels. One cannot watch the news calmly. Family, relatives, friends, acquaintances send text messages from Poland, Britain, France, Sweden, Congo.
Brussels: 30 dead, more than 130 wounded, 17 in critical condition. Still counting all of us, citizens of Brussels of all religions and nationalities. We are at level 4 – the fourth level of terrorist threat. Fear of terrorists. And of new texts describing how multiculturalism has been a failure. We are together. We talk, no matter where we come from and what we believe in.
