Ne L'Oublions Pas
Red, white and blue colors lit up the World Trade Center’s spire last weekend, not in representation of the United States, but rather for France, a city recently struck by disaster.
Last Friday, at least 128 people were killed in a terrorist attack that shocked the world as ISIS led coordinated attacks across Paris, using an arsenal of AK-47s and strapped bombs. They targeted a total of six locations—two restaurants, two streets, a concert hall and a soccer stadium. ISIS claims France will remain at the top of their hit list as the “capital of adultery and vice.”
Following a recent train of grim events that have popped the Exeter bubble, the one in France has so far been the deadliest and, arguably, the most tragic. Yet, there is one good thing about it. Unlike past issues such as race, gender and politics over which Exonians have divided, there seemed to be a clear “good side” in the Paris bombings and, as a community, we have come together to support that “good side.” Exonians changed their Facebook profile’s to the colors of the French flag and expressed their sorrows as they talked in places like dining hall and class. It is moving to see a large, bright community coming together in support of one shared cause. However, this seemed to be the extent of the movement: there were no big forums held about Paris, no flyers across campus and no large call for action for students to support the French.
Rather, the attention of Exonians was immediately drawn to another issue. Shortly after the shootings in Paris, our campus realized Europe wasn’t the only place being attacked. A twin suicide bombing took place in Lebanon the day before, with at least 43 killed and 20 injured. Another bombing took place at a funeral in Baghdad, with 26 killed and over 40 wounded. In Japan, A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the South East coast, with more than 18,000 dead and a potential tsunami triggered. This is only the start of the list. Our campus began to repeatedly ask: where has the media attention for the rest of these places been?
It was an important question to bring up. Sometimes we get caught up in issues so close to home that we become too close-minded, forgetting about the rest of the world, especially the less developed parts that are so much less familiar with safety. And even the developed nations like Japan, which suffered through a similar earthquake and tsunami just a few years ago, are still struggling right now and need our support.
But, as more and more attention was shifted to these other places, we lost our focus on the most important topic. If we want to enact change, we need to take things one at time, starting with the biggest issue at hand. Right now, that would be Paris. The attack on Paris showed the world that no one is safe from ISIS, not even the well-developed countries of the West. The attack on Paris showed how real terrorism is, and how fearful the world should still be of it. And the attack on Paris directly affects us all—France and the United States have historically been close allies and similar countries who recognize their duty to support one another. The recent attack on France was the biggest act violence in the country since World War II. And, for this reason, it received more media attention than the other places. It would be selfish to dismiss so quickly what happened in Paris because other countries are dealing with similar, frightening problems. Many of these places are continuously troubled, and distant from home, making it harder for us to constantly concentrate on them and provide support. Sometimes it’s necessary to shift our attention away from them for a little bit and focus on the unexpected disaster of another place, which deserves our attention as well.
I think it’s also important to consider the levity of each tragedy that took place this weekend. Why aren’t people more concerned about Lebanon or Japan, places that are very relevant to many of our lives? The difference between what happened in France and what happened in Japan and Mexico is the latter events were unavoidable. We can’t stop earthquakes. And while we can show our support and help rebuild the damaged communities, these are not problems that are new to us, but rather ones we have shown the capability of overcoming, many times without the media’s help. Terrorism, on the other hand, is something we can fight, and which he have failed to fight in the past. And for that reason, we need to address it. We can’t do much at Exeter about it, but it’s still important for us to acknowledge the issue and spend time discussing it so that when we get older, and the world is in the hands of our generation, we are prepared to make the right decisions.
Before I conclude, I’d like to say that I’m not trying to devalue the tragedies of other countries or point blame at students bringing attention to them. In fact, I was very glad to see the first posts reminding Exonians to stay globally aware. I hadn’t yet realized all the other deaths that took place that weekend and I was glad to see some people point it out, especially the ones who did it in a polite and passive manner. I hope we continue to talk about these places. But right now, we can’t let Paris fall second to these discussions. Our campus already seems to be forgetting about Paris, and even other recent issues such as Mizzou, both which are very relevant and still have much more room to be discussed and evaluated.
Let’s not just use Paris as a tool to highlight the other issues plaguing the world. Let’s also use it as a starting place—a platform on which we can begin to address issues such as terrorism and learn more about them so when disaster strikes next, whether in France, Beirut or in the United States, we are prepared to take on the challenge.