Stephanie Mizzi
It is Wednesday night in the city of Brussels. My young son has finally fallen asleep. Being indoors feels safe. This is the fifth day that Brussels is on its highest alert level 4, indicating a high possibility of a terrorist attack over the city. There is a mix of emotions as the city is slowly trying to fall back to normality. Police and soldiers feature everywhere, outside metro stations, schools, European institutions, embassies. There is a bitter coldness outside and in more ways than one.
I have been working at staying calm for my sake and that of my son's, ever since the terror attacks over Paris. I walked around the centre on Sunday, where armoured cars, police cars, policemen and soldiers were the main fixtures on the streets. A scene from a city on the brink of a war. This was a message from the terrorists, a message leading us to live in fear and insecurity. That is exactly what they want, and sadly they will continue to transmit this with more attacks anywhere around the world. They want us to hate, they want us to be afraid, to be suspicious of anyone around us. This is their plan, to control us psychologically and manipulate our lives. The moment we relax they will strike anywhere and the vicious circle starts over.
Schools have reopened in Brussels but I still feel unsure about sending my 8 year-old boy to school. Many ugly thoughts cross my mind. Is the bus safe? Is the school safe? What if this, what if that? I leave that to your imagination ... Bombs, suicide bombers come to mind. They will touch anyone, and children are no exception.
What are we going to do about it? What is the world going to do about this? I have been explaining all that is going on to my little boy although unsurprisingly he seems to be extremely aware of what is happening. Children pick up and process information at times faster than adults. They know what is going on, no matter how much you try to protect them from the ugliness of this world.
Although I appreciate all that the Belgian authorities have been doing I still feel that we are being left very much in the dark. What caused them to raise the alert level to its highest ? Is the threat still on? Is a possible attack over the city still on the cards ? What has happened since, aside from lots of police arresting every suspicious looking Tom, Dick and Harry they come across in the streets and chasing cars in true Starsky & Hutch fashion at any time of day and night? Not much. Many of them have since been released but the key suspect, now two of them, are still on the run. How is it possible that they cannot be found? This is my question. And even if so, how much information will they be able to squeeze out of them. We are all still trying to understand the situation here.
I have gone through endless posts on Twitter and Facebook of residents in Brussels playing this whole thing down. While psychologically I think that helps many a Brussels resident, there is still a lot of tension and fear lingering in the air.
Right now my priority is my son's safety. I know I cannot win this battle, the fight against terrorism alone. This is beyond my control. These people are evil, they play with our minds, they have no mercy, they will shoot and destroy anything that moves. Being a natural born fighter I do not want to give them the satisfaction of them taking over my life, making me live in fear, making me hate. Oh no. But I have a child and he comes above everything else and I will do all it takes to keep him safe.
This is a war and this evil species is all over the place. Not even modern technology can detect their locations, their plans a 100%. I doubt we will ever be able to obliterate them from the face of this earth. Until they continue to exist, there is no such thing as feeling safe. The world must continue to fight terrorism, we must stay strong, safe, cautious and most importantly unite together, stay calm and protect our loved ones as best we can. This is now a war, a war against terrorism.
Stephanie Mizzi took up residence in Brussels in 2010, and has been working as Parliamentary File Manager in the Directorate for Legislative Acts at the European Parliament since 2013. She has a passion for photography, writing as evidenced through her website www.stephaniemizzi.com . She is also a qualified Personal Trainer