Due to the actions that took place Friday in Paris, France, there has been much of an uproar over foregin policy and refugees, claiming that many are a part of ISIS. There is very little that I can say to this that no one else has said, but I am going to make my best attempt, because in the face of disaster, your best attempt is the best you can do.
First, I want to begin by saying that the bombing/shooting in Paris was an absolute tragedy. Far over a hundred lives were lost, which is devistating. I also want to say that the attacks in Beirut, Lebanon were a tragedy, and that there should have been an equal uproar between the two events. If we care about the state of Paris, we should care about the state of their formerly occupied territories and those that are effected. I'm sure at some point you've worried about the French that you know, if you know any, and the people who are vaguely French in your circle that is sad because their 1/4th Frenchness is being threatened by ISIS. But if you are going to care about that, you must also care about your Lebanese neighbor, your Lebanese grocer, your vaguely Lebanese friend.
There is nothing that should be normalized about one countrie's suffering versus anothers. There is nothing okay with either attacks and people need to show that. When the Lebanon attacks happened, there were not Lebanese flag Facebook profile pictures. There were no "average Americans" mourning the death of Syrians as France began to bomb them after the attacks. What I'm saying is that in freedom and humanity, there can be no double standards.
Perhaps, when the same amount of people die in Palestine in the frequency that it does, people should care just as much and write lengthy facebook posts about their trips to Palestine that are sadly muddled with sad memories after
those tragedies.
I just want to say, that just as much as it is important to condemn ferocious actions against a familiar place, you should also condemn those actions elsewhere and support those victims and let people grieve instead of point fingers. Muslim lives were lost too. In Lebanon Muslim lives were taken and no one shook with anger, or wept on facebook to confront this, no one who did the same for Paris. There are Lebanese citizens suffering, there was an American's life taken in Lebanon, and no one grieved the same way, instead they point fingers at the same Muslims who are suffering.
Going off of that, Muslims are suffering and have been since 9/11, probably way before. They have already been suffering from backlash and misplaced anger from the world, and Muslims who have nothing to do with Daesh are taking the blame, being ripped of their lives because someone felt they needed to blame an entire religion for the actions of some twisted fools parading as though religion has anything to do with murder.
I'm saying this out of the contempt for the savagery reenacted against Muslims, mainly visibly Muslim women, that is misplaced due to a heinous act created by 7 brutish and maniachal deviants, who themselves are going against the principals of Islam.
These actions must be met with the same anger. We do not round up the white middle class and tell them to apologize for the stabbings of women in hijab, or the lynching of black men, women, and children by groups that thoroughly approve of these practices the same way we make Muslims apologize for their religion that doesn't preach murdering nonbelievers.
I just want to say, care for France, but also care about you Lebanese neighbor, your Palestinian priest, your local Syrian church members, for all American Muslims and American Arabs that will be facing the backlash and equal grief for actions that they are condemned for without reason.
