(English translation below)
Journée de deuil national
aux Pays-Bas, la deuxième seulement depuis la seconde guerre mondiale. Presque deux
cent morts dans notre petit pays pacifiste. Quelle tristesse. La mort nous
rejoindra tous, mais ce n’est pas la mort dont nous portons le deuil aujourd’hui.
Lorsque la mort frappe à cause d’une maladie, on est porté par la famille et
les soignants, on est soutenu par l’amour, et cet amour est la même force qui
soutient notre culture et est retransmise par delà les générations. Lorsque la fin approche, on bénit
les plus jeunes en leur souhaitant beaucoup de bonheur et en espérant que notre vie
a rendu le monde un tout petit peu meilleur.
Mais lorsque la
mort vient de nos cousins humains, donc la colère, la bêtise et la violence mènent
à la destruction aveugle, on ne comprends plus. Alors que les maladies détruisent beaucoup plus de vies que les guerres et les crimes, faire
le deuil lorsque la mort vient de la violence humaine est beaucoup plus
difficile à faire, car c'est l'échec d'une communauté entière à aimer ses habitants et à les protèger. Nous nous sentons tous un peu coupable de cet échec: "Qui est responsable?" "Pouvait-on l'éviter?" C’est pourquoi les proches des victimes ont besoin de notre soutien entier et inconditionel.
Toutes mes pensées vont aux proches des victimes. Je ne connaissais personne personellement dans cet avion, mais je porte le deuil avec vous, avec tout le pays.
***
National
day of mourning in the Netherlands ,
only the second since the Second World War. Almost two
hundred dead in our so small
and so pacifist country. How sad.
Death reaches us
all ultimately, but it is not death
we mourn today.
When death strikes because of a disease, is
carried by family and caregivers,
it is supported by love, and love is the same
force that supports our culture
and is transmitted across generations. When it’s our turn to go, we can bless the
youngest, wish them great happiness and hope that our short life has made the world a little bit of a better place.
But when death comes from our human cousins, whose anger, stupidity and violence lead to indiscriminate destruction, we do not understand. While diseases destroy many more lives than wars and crimes, to grieve when death comes to human violence is much more difficult to do because this is somehow the mark that an entire community has felt to protect and love his inhabitants. And this make us all feel guilty: Who is to blame? Who could have prevented it? ... This is a failure which is more difficult to accept. This is why the victims' families need our full and unconditional support.
All my thoughts are with the relatives of the victims. I did not personally know any of the victims who lost their life in this plane, but I mourn with you.
But when death comes from our human cousins, whose anger, stupidity and violence lead to indiscriminate destruction, we do not understand. While diseases destroy many more lives than wars and crimes, to grieve when death comes to human violence is much more difficult to do because this is somehow the mark that an entire community has felt to protect and love his inhabitants. And this make us all feel guilty: Who is to blame? Who could have prevented it? ... This is a failure which is more difficult to accept. This is why the victims' families need our full and unconditional support.
All my thoughts are with the relatives of the victims. I did not personally know any of the victims who lost their life in this plane, but I mourn with you.