The last few days have brought shock and sorrow to people all
over the world. From Beirut to Paris to Baghdad, the wound is the same. These
horrendous acts are not only attacks on these respective cities, but on
humankind as a whole.
As I am writing these words, my heart aches. My heart aches
for the victims and their families. My heart also aches for the sense of
humanity that has been lost by some. The way certain communities are choosing
to deal with the issue at stake by pointing fingers at the most vulnerable, at
people who do not relate in any way to these barbaric terrorist acts and
condemn them strongly, is not the solution nor will it bring our beloved ones
back.
During this critical time, when they are using the strategy
of “divide and conquer” we must not let them fragment our sense of brotherhood
and common humanity. While some are busy blaming a religion and its 1.6 billion
adherents, or even the citizens of Middle Eastern countries, we should not
substitute our values of tolerance and compassion with the ones of hatred and
prejudice.
The world is mourning, but we should not mourn selectively;
the loss of life in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Kenya should outrage us the same
way the one in Paris did. We need to avoid hierarchizing lives over others, and
be aware of the dangerous implications it could have. Victims of these heinous
attacks, wherever they are from, had families that waited for the day they
would open the door and come back, aspirations and dreams that never saw the
light.
Seeing
how universities in France mourn the victims with a collective minute of
silence confirms one thing: we are expecting others to mourn Beirut while we
didn't even make the effort of remembering our victims with a simple collective
stance in universities. Keep nagging on social media about how the attacks in
Beirut went unnoticed, but you know what? Our spoiled youth are to blame for
this, their double standards are to blame. We always choose to point fingers at
the international community and victimize ourselves on purpose. Get rid of your
inferiority complex: when you start respecting the victims and remembering
them, then you can ask others to do so, not the other way around.
Today,
let us not be Lebanese, French or Iraqis, let us be human. Let us pray for the
people who have lost their lives, but act as well. Act in the name of humanity,
act in the name of justice, act to prevent these terrorists from striking
again.
Let
us rise above the culture of intolerance and discrimination. Let us acknowledge
that these acts are not representative of the religion of Islam, this religion
of peace and love of the other. “United we stand, divided we fall” is the only
sentence that accurately describes the stance we should adopt. Together, we can
and we will stop them.
