Belgians’ reaction to terrorism is halfway between hysteria and resignation

The atmosphere in Brussels is funereal. The Christmas lights are up but the pretty Christmas market stalls are all shut tight. The streets are almost empty and even the police sirens of the past week are silent.

Half way between hysteria and resignation, the Belgians reacted with their trademark surrealism - with thousands and thousands of photographs of cats.

Asked by the police to maintain silence on their operations on social media, suddenly the space was filled with hilarious antics of cats - giving themselves up, jumping out of boxes, walking around menacingly, sporting guns and clubs, every size, every colour.

The police appreciated the humour and responded with their own contribution - a metal bowl piled high with cat food, their logo and ‘help yourselves ‘on the front.

But many of the Belgians were not amused at how their country was being portrayed. “If Belgium did not exist, nobody would invent it”, said one headline, noting they have five governments while Brussels has 19 mayors and six police forces.

They are feeling sensitive as those responsible for the Paris attacks either came from Belgium or spent time in the country, and now one of them, Salah Abdeslam, has evaded capture after crossing into the country from France hours after the attacks.

Nobody know how or when the current state of emergency will be called off - when Abdeslam is caught, or when the eyes of the world turn elsewhere.

Lots of people stayed at home when employers said they could work from home, others with children had little option but to stay to look after them since the excellent Belgian state-run creche and schools were closed.

The government decided that as the closure was beyond the control of employers, workers could claim compensation for being temporarily unemployed. A row followed on Twitter as some objected to the state largesse.

Two of the big supermarket chains opened up most of their stores - Carrefour and Delhaize, but most others kept their doors closed. Some restaurants and cafes opened for business but areas like Rue des Bouchers, where the waiters normally behave like predators pulling tourists into their restaurants, was fairly quiet.

People were still relatively calm but just how long their patience would last was unsure.

The education minister talked at length about how schools and creche could keep children safe, and then suggested that they would be open tomorrow from 8am to 5pm. But she quickly said this was “a communication error” and that no decision had yet been made.

Child psychiatrists were on hand to offer advice on how to explain what was happening to children.

“Avoiding the reality is not a good idea. It is very important they be told the truth,” said Peter Adriaenssens who works at the University Hospital in Leuven.

But, he told Der Standaard newspaper, the truth must be adapted according to the age of the child with younger ones needing to have things explained in terms of some people not being good, but the police being there to protect them.

Fairytales can be used to illustrate the situation, such as the little pigs and the wolf trying to blow their house down - in the end the pigs outwit the wicked wolf because together they draw up good plans, and the bad wolf is punished.

“So the day off school is not a holiday, but a kind of safety day”, he advised.