Last Friday night, my choir rehearsal was cancelled at the last minute. It had been an exhausting day, and I just felt like introverting all night - watching some TV shows, scrolling through Tumblr... then, my mum alerted me for the fact that there was a terrorist attack going on in Paris.
I logged onto Facebook and my feed was full of videos of the moment when the explosions were heard during the France-Germany friendly match. I read that the French president had been removed from there.
Minutes there, I heard on TV that there had been shootings at restaurants - where people like me and my family and friends were having dinner. And I heard that people who were watching a rock concert, merely having a good time, had been taken hostage at the Bataclan and were being executed in an awfully cruel and inhumane manner.
I found a website where I could read the latest news about the Paris attacks. It was terrifying to me. Places I have been twice - like the Louvre and the Pompidou centre - were under attack, not that far away from me. I am perfectly aware that this is a very selfish way of thinking, and that, in Syria, this is everyday life. But it's kind of a human nature thing to feel things more deeply when they hit close to home.
The following day, I turned on my laptop and started scrolling social media. I was very pleasantly surprised with all the manifestations of solidarity and affection, like the #PorteOuverte movement (where people from Paris shared their addresses online to give shelter to anyone who was on the streets), #prayforParis, the French flag thing... However, something that made me very angry were those people who were saying that those displays of affection and humanity were "lame" and "inappropriate". Well, excuse me?
I was also shocked with what the media did not say. I didn't previously know that there had also been a terrorist attack in Beirut, at a mosque, where 43 people were killed. I didn't know that, in Bagdad, there had been a bombing in a funeral. I didn't know that 2000 people had been murdered in Nigeria.
Those news broke my heart even more. First, because, even though it's okay that the news about France hit closer to home, most people in this part of the world did not care at all about what was happening in those countries. Then, because so many innocent lives were taken that day, at the hands of monsters who use religion - of all things - as an excuse for their murders and crimes.
That Saturday was a day of massive reflection for me. Enough with listing the facts that everyone probably knows by now - I'm going to tell you about the conclusions I got to.
- ISIS or Daesh or whatever you want to call them - they want to spread hate. We can't fall for it. We have to extend our love and compassion to all the innocent souls who are suffering with these wars.
- There's a world beyond our immediate, privileged horizon - we mustn't forget about it. Those people need our prayers, too, if that's the only thing we can give.
And the last one - even though it's far less relevant:
- Social media is good for spreading positive thoughts and vibes. If you're going to pollute someone's day with your bitterness, PLEASE DON'T. You don't know the heart behind people's publications. Don't pretend like you do, and mostly, don't act like being all snobby in these situations makes you look intelligent and intellectual.
lots of love,
Mariana
P.S: if any of these facts are wrong, PLEASE correct me! it's not my intention to spread false information.
P.S: if any of these facts are wrong, PLEASE correct me! it's not my intention to spread false information.
