Healing Brussels – Donate and Help the Victims

pray for brussels healing

The March twin terror attacks on Brussels that devastated the Belgian capital have left the whole world reeling especially since Paris has also suffered suicide bombings in November last year. In response, many cities and organizations from everywhere in the world have organized ways to make it easier for people to extend their help to the victims.

Related Article: How to Help Victims of the Brussels Attacks

The Brussels Attacks were carried out by three suicide bombers. Two of them blew themselves up at the Brussels Airport. Then when the panic sent droves of people to flee via the Brussels Metro Station, the third bomber detonated himself there. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 200 others. ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombings and said the attacks were in retaliation for Belgium’s active involvement in the fight against ISIS in the Middle-East. In response, the Belgian government issued its highest level terror alert and put the Air Port and the Metro Station into lock down. The following are the ways you can help the victims of the carnage:

• GoFundMe – this is the most commonly used website for gathering donations where anyone in the world can contribute. Anyone can create a GoFundMe page but this time, it was crowdfunding platform itself that created a page for the victims of the Brussels attack and their families. The page aims to raise $100,000 and GoFundMe has already made an initial donation of $25,000. The GoFundMe community currently has 20 million users and the campaign is expected to raise several times the targeted amount. The proceeds will be transferred to an official charity organization.

• Belgian Red Cross – the Belgian Red Cross immediately deployed more than a 100 rescuers to the Airport and Metro Station after hearing about the tragedy. The organization says that it has ample manpower and blood but heavily needs funds to acquire the necessary equipment. It also needs fuel for the vans it is using to gather blood donations as well as distribute blood to hospitals and centers. Donating to the Belgian Red Cross will be like directly helping those injured in the terror attacks.

Related Article: Euro 2016: Belgian polce hunt for missing explosives amid fear of terrorist attack at tournament

• Twitter – people who want to help in ways other than donating money can use social networking platform Twitter. By using the hashtag # ikwilhelpen (Dutch for “I want to help”) you can let people know that you are ready and willing to offer your home or a part of your home to serve as temporary housing for the victims and other people who are stranded because of the bombings. You can also check out the Twitter account @BrusselsLift where you can list your car if you wish to take part in providing free rides to the stranded.

Your prayers will also be a great help in helping Brussels heal. Include the victims in your prayers each night.

Bar all Muslims from Entering the United States Says Donald Trump

brussels after terror attacks

Coordinated terror attacks have hit Brussels on March 22, 2016 in which two suicide bombers struck the Brussels Airport while another hit the Brussels Metro Station. The attacks resulted in a combined 18 killed and more than 270 injured. The attacks happened while Europe was still reeling from the November 2015 Paris attacks that have led to the deaths of 130 people. While people from all over the world expressed sympathy and support in various social media platforms, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has something completely different in mind.

ban all muslims trump

Ban All Muslims from Entering the United States

You might also like:

Holy Hypocrite: Trump Wants to Attend Muhammad Ali’s Funeral

Donald Trump seems to think all Muslims cannot be trusted since he wants the United States to stop letting Muslims inside its borders until a thorough and acceptable investigation of the recent terror attacks is completed. Many think such statement from the controversial candidate is not surprising since he had once promoted setting up CCTVs and other surveillance equipment inside all mosques in American soil. He also called for the establishment of a database for all Muslims in the US. Trump’s stance against Muslims in America solidified in the wake of terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California where 14 people were killed and 22 were injured.

Trump’s Statement is Unacceptable

Trump’s statement was praised by his supporters but denounced by everyone else. US President Barack Obama said that such statement is divisive and we should instead call for unity amidst these trying times. Others said that Trump is just giving terrorists what they want. Terrorists want us to hate each other and Trump is doing just that. Terrorists have never represented Islam. In fact, there are a lot of terrorist attacks that have targeted Muslims and Muslim establishments such as mosques. It is “us against terrorists” so let us not make it “us against Muslims”.

Trump clarified that the policy should not include Muslims that are already in the United States, just those who want to enter the nation in the future. He further states that he has a lot of Muslim friends so he knows there are many Muslims who can be trusted. He believes, however, the fact that we cannot be certain about what immigrants are planning should be enough reason to close our borders to more Muslims.

Related Article:

Donald Trump Says His Very Rich Muslim Friends Won’t Be Banned From The Country

Promote Unity Instead of Hate

Obama and most officials believe that as the representative of the Republican Party in the coming 2016 US Elections, Trump should not nurture hate and foster unity instead. Muslims are our brothers. Let as not make innocent Muslims suffer because of the acts of a few terrorists. Terrorists are the enemy. People of all race and faith should band together in standing up to terror.

Atif Fareed Thanks the Internet for Standing Up to Islamophobe After the Brussels Attack

One day after the Brussels terror attack that killed 34 people (the three suicide bombers included) and injured more than 300 people, some people most notably GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, were quick to blame all of the 1.6 billion Muslims throughout the world. Atif Fareed, president of the AMCC, believes such blame is irrational. The four men who carried out the attack do represent neither Islam nor the Muslims.

People who discriminate against Muslims and associate all Muslims to terror attacks are generally referred to as Islamophobes.

Related Article: Orlando, Florida: Billboards stress commonality of religions

Recently, one Islamophobe named Matthew P. Doyle (@MatthewDoyle31) made waves in the Twitterverse by twitting that he confronted a Muslim woman yesterday in Croydon and asked her to explain Brussels. He said that the Muslim woman simply answered, “Nothing to do with me.” Doyle described the woman’s answer as a mealy mouthed reply. Atif Fareed denounces this tweet as extremely racist and discriminatory. Why should Muslims explain things that terrorists did? Thankfully, Fareed was not alone. Twitter users quickly came to the defense of the said Muslim woman with the following tweets:

@TechnicallyRon, “I confronted a dog today & asked him about that time when I was 4 and a dog bit me. “woof” he said. A mealy mouthed reply.”

@mrdavidwhitley, “I confronted someone who was eating yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said “Hmmm-nng-mmgh”. A mealy mouthed reply.”

“Confronted a bloke with elbow patches in Croydon. Asked him to explain earthquakes. He said “Nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply.”

@LeeJasper, “I confronted a White woman yesterday in Croydon. Asked her to apologize for slavery. She said ‘Nothing to do with me’ A mealy mouthed reply.”

@garwboy, “Confronted a self-service machine in Tesco, Asked it to explain Brussels. It said “Please place items in bagging area”. Mealy mouthed reply.”

@robbiereviews, “I confronted a man who was eating a bowl of muesli yesterday in Croydon. He said “mmfflfffmufflrgh”. A mealy mouthed reply.”
@twlldun, “I confronted an Irish woman. I asked her to explain “Mrs Brown’s Boys: Da movie”. She said “nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply.”

@trabasack, “Confronted a bloke in a lab coat in Croydon. Asked him to explain cancer. He said “Nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply.”

@chinnyhill10, “I confronted a German about bombing my Grandad’s shed in WW2. “Nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply.”

@MikeRossP, “Confronted a plastic bag in Croydon. Asked him to explain the Pacific trash vortex. He said “Nothing to do with me”. A mealy mouthed reply.”

Atif Fareed believes that the responses to Mr. Doyle’s Islamophobic tweet just show that the most of the world believes that terrorists do not represent Islam.