The incidents in Paris over the past week have left me worried, depressed and confused. For our neighbors to have suffered such violent attacks is terrifying. And the aftermath is just as scary, but I worry it's just beginning.
Already on social media and in various news sources the reporting is suspect, biased and damaging. Not just to the Muslim community, but to the victims. The political cartoons created by the deceased are being blurred out, CNN is failing to report the attack on the kosher deli as anti-Semitic and everyone seems to be having an argument about who's responsible and who needs to apologize for these murders. My response to this is simple: the murderers.
This essay by Abdennour Bidar, published last October keeps popping up, and though it is thought-provoking and beautifully written, I keep seeing it being used as a precursor to some reports and opinions that to me, are starting to whiff of Islamophobia. If we use one Muslim's criticism of Islamic extremism as a way to criticize Islam ourselves, it is not so different to one Muslim's interpretation of the Qu'ran being the catalyst for all of this death.
I do not blame Islam for what has happened in Paris. Islam does not demand those who criticize the prophet to pay with their life. Yet these murderers shouted 'we have avenged the prophet' after committing their heinous crime at Charlie Hebdo. How exactly? By silencing these artists indefinitely, more and more artists have begun to fight with their pens and their wits. Should we be expecting more deaths as a result? Are we just poking an angry bear, here?
On top of the Charlie Hebdo artists, who lost their lives for their art and for freedom of expression, four brave and innocent souls lost their lives in a kosher deli in Paris for their religion the very next day. One of the gunman claimed he was 'avenging Palestine' by killing these Jews. These Jews who lived in Paris. These Jews who were just trying to buy groceries for the sabbath. The irony is not lost on me that Muslims do not want to be held accountable for the actions of these murderers, but that Jews internationally have to bear the responsibility for what happens in Israel every day. This is why I don't blame Islam for the actions of these men. Islam can no more be held accountable for these atrocities than I can for Israel's foreign policy.
The four men who perished in the kosher supermarket are to be buried in Israel. Reading the messages their loved ones have posted is devastating. What a waste of life. Seventeen people died in Paris this week as a result of terror attacks. Seventeen people with families, friends, plans for the future, and dreams. But what can I do? What can we all do?
The marches happening in Paris are inspirational, and the way the international community has rallied behind France is beautiful. But how do we rebuild? How can we feel safe again? For French Jews the solution is to leave Europe. With anti-Semitic attacks on the rise, record numbers head to Israel. French Jews would rather head to a veritable war-zone than to stay in Europe. Why? Because the Israeli government protects its people against terrorism and we have to start doing the same thing.
Terrorism, irrespective of the community that claims responsibility needs to be the target. Not the community itself. I can commit a crime saying I'm doing it in the name of Lees everywhere, that doesn't make it true or relevant. It just makes me an asshole. We must remember that the people who committed these acts are the assholes, not the community they claim to come from. If we don't we are no better than they are.
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