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| This is how Europe mourns its terror attacks | This is how Europe mourns its terror attacks |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| BRUSSELS — The Place de la Bourse is like so many other formerly grand European squares. Its 19th-century, largely Belle Époque facades are now interspersed with the fluorescent lights of global commerce. Across from Belgium’s historic stock exchange, for instance, there is now a Marriott. And at the bottom of this Marriott, there is a McDonald’s. | BRUSSELS — The Place de la Bourse is like so many other formerly grand European squares. Its 19th-century, largely Belle Époque facades are now interspersed with the fluorescent lights of global commerce. Across from Belgium’s historic stock exchange, for instance, there is now a Marriott. And at the bottom of this Marriott, there is a McDonald’s. |
| After Tuesday’s attacks on Brussels — in which suicide bombers killed 31 and injured hundreds more at the airport and a central metro station — it is largely to this square that the city has come. Throughout the gray, gloomy days that have followed the attacks, thousands have gathered to sing, weep and remember. | After Tuesday’s attacks on Brussels — in which suicide bombers killed 31 and injured hundreds more at the airport and a central metro station — it is largely to this square that the city has come. Throughout the gray, gloomy days that have followed the attacks, thousands have gathered to sing, weep and remember. |
| [Islamic State threat in Europe ‘more urgent’ than feared, official warns] | |
| Sites like this have become unfortunate fixtures of European capitals in recent years: the places where everybody goes following the terrorist attacks. | Sites like this have become unfortunate fixtures of European capitals in recent years: the places where everybody goes following the terrorist attacks. |
| After the shooting and bombing spree last November at a Paris stadium, theater, and string of restaurants, it was the Place de la République. After the February 2015 attacks on a Copenhagen synagogue and cafe, it was the city’s Osterbro neighborhood. And now, in Brussels, it is the Place de la Bourse. | After the shooting and bombing spree last November at a Paris stadium, theater, and string of restaurants, it was the Place de la République. After the February 2015 attacks on a Copenhagen synagogue and cafe, it was the city’s Osterbro neighborhood. And now, in Brussels, it is the Place de la Bourse. |
| People from the Belgian capital and from across the country have come to the square in recent days with offerings honoringthe dead — posters, bouquets of flowers, and, this being Belgium, un-opened cans of beer. Other mourners have come with flags — the black, yellow and red Belgian flag most of all, but also the flags of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. | People from the Belgian capital and from across the country have come to the square in recent days with offerings honoringthe dead — posters, bouquets of flowers, and, this being Belgium, un-opened cans of beer. Other mourners have come with flags — the black, yellow and red Belgian flag most of all, but also the flags of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. |
| When asked, many of these people have said they came to express “solidarity,” a term they defined differently. | When asked, many of these people have said they came to express “solidarity,” a term they defined differently. |
| Sophie van Buggenhout, 41, originally from the Dutch-speaking Belgian region of Flanders, quietly walked into the square with her two blond sons on Thursday night, careful to avoid the television crews at the edges and the crowd at the center. | Sophie van Buggenhout, 41, originally from the Dutch-speaking Belgian region of Flanders, quietly walked into the square with her two blond sons on Thursday night, careful to avoid the television crews at the edges and the crowd at the center. |
| [The many missing pieces in the Brussels attacks investigation] | |
| “I want to show my kids — and myself — that we don’t have to accept this violence, and that everyone thinks it’s very serious,” she said. “Brussels is so complicated — so many different people. Yet all the world is here.” | “I want to show my kids — and myself — that we don’t have to accept this violence, and that everyone thinks it’s very serious,” she said. “Brussels is so complicated — so many different people. Yet all the world is here.” |
| “Maybe this is more of a humanitarian identity than a Belgian identity,” said Michäel Sapart, 26, smoking in the middle of the square. He recounted watching his colleague’s face this week when he found out his daughter had been harmed in the terror attacks. | “Maybe this is more of a humanitarian identity than a Belgian identity,” said Michäel Sapart, 26, smoking in the middle of the square. He recounted watching his colleague’s face this week when he found out his daughter had been harmed in the terror attacks. |
| “We are all united on this earth — we are all cousins, in the end.” | “We are all united on this earth — we are all cousins, in the end.” |
| Many Muslims came to the square throughout the day on Thursday, especially for the moment of silence held in the afternoon. They held signs that insisted that terrorism was not an inherent component of their religion and that violence was supported by no God. | Many Muslims came to the square throughout the day on Thursday, especially for the moment of silence held in the afternoon. They held signs that insisted that terrorism was not an inherent component of their religion and that violence was supported by no God. |
| "It's important for us to be here, to show the Belgian people that we are with them, and that we understand what they are going through," said Gulistan Haftaro, 20, who moved here from Aleppo, Syria, with her family in 2005. | "It's important for us to be here, to show the Belgian people that we are with them, and that we understand what they are going through," said Gulistan Haftaro, 20, who moved here from Aleppo, Syria, with her family in 2005. |
| According to Ndiaye Mouhameth Galaye, an imam at Brussels' Islamic Center, the institutional leadership of the Belgian Muslim community agrees on the importance of public engagement: on Friday, for instance, there will be a blood drive held at the city's Grand Mosque to benefit the hundreds of victims still in the hospital. | According to Ndiaye Mouhameth Galaye, an imam at Brussels' Islamic Center, the institutional leadership of the Belgian Muslim community agrees on the importance of public engagement: on Friday, for instance, there will be a blood drive held at the city's Grand Mosque to benefit the hundreds of victims still in the hospital. |
| On Thursday night, in a square lit only by votive candles and the glow of iPhone screens, an impromptu chorus sang verses of old hymns and folks songs. Young girls tidied the display of flags and flowers in the center of the square. Pictures and sayings in chalk covered every last inch of pavement and stone, some of them names of victims. | On Thursday night, in a square lit only by votive candles and the glow of iPhone screens, an impromptu chorus sang verses of old hymns and folks songs. Young girls tidied the display of flags and flowers in the center of the square. Pictures and sayings in chalk covered every last inch of pavement and stone, some of them names of victims. |
| One inscription read, in French: “Continue to write, to smile, to speak, to laugh, TO LIVE.” | One inscription read, in French: “Continue to write, to smile, to speak, to laugh, TO LIVE.” |
| Read more: | |
| With Belgian terrorist attacks, the strains on Europe grow | With Belgian terrorist attacks, the strains on Europe grow |
| Bomb attacks show how Belgium became an incubator of terror | Bomb attacks show how Belgium became an incubator of terror |
| The desperate wait for news of loved ones missing after the Brussels attacks | The desperate wait for news of loved ones missing after the Brussels attacks |