and a U.K. rock concert. And that’s just the past few months.
The steady
stream of attacks on centers of daily life have drawn pledges from Europeans
not to let terrorists change how they live, but in ways large and small they
already have.
There is a
heightened awareness and quicker reactions, especially in the hardest-hit
countries of France, Britain and Belgium, that would have seemed unthinkable
just a few years ago.
In Brussels
on Tuesday, a 36-year-old Moroccan man shouting “Allahu akbar!” set off a bomb
among subway commuters. The bomb didn’t detonate in full and a soldier shot him
dead.
It was
another Muslim, Mohamed Charfih, who demanded that the subway’s doors be closed
before the attacker could enter.
“I heard
people on the platform shouting for help,” he told the news site DH. He looked
out and knew what he saw. “I screamed to close the doors immediately. I asked
to get out of there as fast as possible and that everyone get down on the
floor.”
That
reaction, blocking the door and fleeing, has become part of official
instructions on what to do in case of an attack in France. Signs have been
posted in public areas and even schools showing people running, ducking beneath
a window, or using heavy furniture as a barricade.
Tensions are
high enough in central Paris that on Thursday the quick-response police unit
reacted to a witness’ phone call about a man wearing a sidearm by tackling him
on the street, only to learn that he was a ranking member of the anti-terrorism
squad, according to French media.
In Britain,
decades of IRA attacks prompted the installation of country-wide TV
surveillance cameras — one of the most expansive systems in the world. Paris is
quickly ramping up its own camera system, to the point where authorities were
able this week to track the minute-by-minute path of the man who tried to
attack a Champs-Elysee gendarme patrol until the moment he rammed their
vehicle. The man died of burns and smoke inhalation — the only casualty of his
act — but left behind a substantial arsenal.
Both Britain
and France have installed barriers around airports, train stations and other
public buildings in recent years. Since the Westminster bridge attack in March,
however, talks are underway to install even more barriers on bridges and around
crowded places such as London’s Borough Market, where three attackers this
month went on a stabbing rampage after crashing their vehicle on a busy street
not far from London Bridge.
Echoing
France, London’s security authorities have issued advice to pubs and
restaurants since the attacks with the message of “Run, Tell and Hide.” The
advice includes establishing whether the threat is inside or outside and not
waiting for police to decide whether the venue should be locked down or
evacuated.
Few British
commuters have changed their habits. After suicide bombers in 2005 struck
trains and buses during a busy London morning rush-hour, scores of commuters
started riding bicycles to work. That method of transport has its own problems
in London — with the number of annual cyclist deaths a rising concern.
Three of the
four recent attacks, however, have involved the use of a vehicle as a weapon —
much like the deadly 2016 Nice attack in France that killed 87 people.
“I suppose I
could try taking a boat to work, but before long I’m sure they would attack
those too. So I’m just taking my chances,” said Rohan Chansity, a 34-year-old
finance worker in London.
Parents and
teachers are talking to children more about being observant — a skill often
lost on a gadget-obsessed generation.
A suicide
bomber blew himself up last month at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people,
mostly young concert-goers.
“We talk
about being observant, looking for exits, making sure you’re around a
responsible crowd - but in the end, it’s not like I’m going to keep her from
going to concerts,” said Moira Campbell, 45, who has a 15-year-old daughter.
Tourists,
too, say they are aware of potential dangers but have refused to be cowed.
Dave
Howland, who traveled from New Hampshire to London with his youngest son a few
days before the Borough Market attack, said he was conscious of the threat when
he went to Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, a round wooden venue in the Borough
Market area.
“I looked
around and didn’t see exit signs,” said the 47-year-old English teacher who
lives in Durham. “But then I looked around and saw this performance and that
people were celebrating life. So I thought, we’re going to enjoy the moment.
London is an incredible city, and life is too short not to enjoy everything you
can.”
The latest
would-be assailant on the Champs-Elysees had an arsenal of firearms in both his
car and at home, and France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said disaster was
averted only by sheer luck. It was the second attack in less than two months on
the famous avenue.
Still,
tourists and Parisians still flock to the Champs-Elysees, watched over by
camouflaged soldiers carrying automatic rifles. And in Brussels, the day after
the fizzled metro bombing, the headlines focused on how to cope with the recent
heat wave.
The weather,
it seems, is not going away — just like the jihadi threats.
___
*Associated
Press*
0 Comments