AVENOIR
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Paris Attacks : W he n the W O R L D t u r n ed a b li n d e y e to the east by Holly Le e Around 9.30 in the evening on Friday, November 13th, 2015, a series
lit up with the blue, white, and red of the French flag in a display
Thailand’s history. The day before the attacks on Paris, two suicide
of terrorist attacks hit the city of Paris killing 130 people and injuring
of solidarity. The Sydney Opera House, Canada’s CN Tower, Burj
bombers that killed 43 people and wounded 240 struck Beirut as an
368. The two main targets of the attacks were the Bataclan theatre,
al-Khalifa in Dubai, the London Eye Ferris Wheel, Sydney Town Hall,
act of terrorism. With barely any news coverage, no lit up landmarks,
where the rock band Eagles of Death Metal were performing a
and Parliament House in London, are among the extensive list of
no trending hashtags, the stubborn ignorance of the Western world
concert, and the Stade de France, a sports stadium where a soccer
cultural land marks lit in sympathies.
to acknowledge these atrocities is frighteningly blatant. This has created a divide like a brick wall between the Western and Eastern
game between the French and German team were being held. French President François Hollande was attending the game. There
Social media was flooded with messages of love and hope, as
worlds, which is built too tall for us to see past it. While Paris is
were three suicide bombers that sparked the following horrific
people used the attacks to repost pictures of their last trip to the
being romanticised and pedestalled in Western society, “refugees”
string of events, including more suicide bombings, mass shootings,
city of love as an expression of unity and sympathy. #PrayforParis
are slapped with the label to dehumanise and categorise them into
and holding hostages throughout the two main targets, several
became the next trending hashtag, and even Facebook brought out
something more manageable.
restaurants and cafés.
a new temporary filter much like the rainbow filter after President Barack Obama legalised same-gender marriage across the United
Hollywood glamorises the French capital, with films such as
Radio presenter and witness at the Bataclan theatre told the press,
States, but this one was of a transparent French flag. All over my
Midnight in Paris, Julie and Julia and even Disney’s Ratatouille
“I clearly heard them [the terrorists] say, ‘It’s the fault of Hollande,
Facebook newsfeed I saw smiling face after smiling face, covered
featured Parisians with American accents. It’s become such a
it’s the fault of your president, he should not have intervened in
in this flag, writing messages of love, sorrow, hate, and most of all,
fantastical place that they have their own extreme form of culture
Syria.’” It appears that the attacks were an act of revenge against
relief that they weren’t there. The western world stopped, because
shock called “Paris syndrome” which affects mostly Japanese
Opération Chammal, a French military operation that aims to
this romantic honeymoon destination had been tainted by the
tourists. This is the forefront of Paris that we see in the Western
halt the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, where
terrorist hatred that our world safely ignores.
world. We forget about its largely multicultural population and that they’re not just white people with ascots. We forget about the anti-
massacre shootings and other atrocities to these populations take place. The operation is limited to airstrikes only, as Hollande
The Syrian President Basher al-Assad came out regarding the
Islamic laws set in place to oppress this multiculturalism, because
is unwilling to allow members of the military to touch the ground.
attacks in France and was quoted saying, “France has known
tourism relies on France’s whiteness.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks of terrorism, and clarified
what we have been living in Syria over the past five years”. While
the reasoning within a statement which says: “…eight brothers
al-Assad has been a major contributor to the violence and chaos
Is this why we cared so much about the bombings in Paris? Is
equipped with explosive belts and assault rifles attacked precisely
that is the Syrian Civil War, he is not wrong. Bombings, air strikes,
it because we are only shown the Middle East as a place of war
chosen targets in the center of the capital of France”, and “the
massacres, and all kinds of horrific destruction have killed over
and desert and nothing else? Is it because, maybe, the Parisians
scent of death will not leave their nostrils as long as they partake in
220,000 people, with most of the victims being civilians, over the
affected by the bombings look like the average Anglo-Celtic
the crusader campaign, as long as they dare to curse our Prophet
past five years. In the month of October of 2015 alone 4,215 people
Australian? Each bombing, each death, each life saved, each
(blessings and peace be upon him), and as long as they boast about
were killed as a result of the war. It is estimated that at least 12
and every person is important, and the level of importance and
their war against Islam in France and their strikes against Muslims
million Syrians have fled their home country, and about half of that
compassion should not be determined by skin colour and location.
in the lands of the Caliphate with their jets”.`
population are children. Many barely go further than the border, with about 4 million taking refuge in neighbouring countries such as
Many residents nearby the attacks were offering their homes as
Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.
refuge, and taxi services were evacuating people from the city free of charge. The city itself shut down for three days of mourning. Yet,
Thailand was devastated in August of 2015 by a bombing in
it was not just the city that ached with grief; this event shook the
Bangkok outside of a Hindu temple that killed 19 people and
world. Landmarks from all different countries around the globe were
injured over 120, and is said to be one of the worst terror attacks in