ALL Lives Matter!

Terrorists struck in Paris...

I get most of my news from the Internet these days and, as I was busy most of yesterday getting ready for a dinner party that I was giving last night, I did not hear about the “Paris attacks” until one of my dinner guests mentioned it.  Others chimed in and a lively conversation about “terrorists” ensued.

It wasn’t until this morning, when I had a chance to look at the news myself, that I learned that not only had “terrorists” attacked Paris, there had also been attacks in Beirut and Baghdad. Of course, the stories of these attacks were not given the same prominence as those in Paris, which one news source described as “Europe’s  worst attack in a decade.” 

...and in Baghdad

Later, I was perplexed to note that many of my Facebook “friends” had included a French flag (tricolor) ‘veil” over their profile photos - presumably to “show solidarity with the French people.” 

“What about the Arab people?” I wondered.  They too have suffered – first from similar attacks, believed generated from the same terrorist organization (ISIS) – and then from being ignored.  The fact that terrorists killed “brown people” in two Arab” cities goes virtually unnoticed, while terrorists killing “white people” in a major European city dominates world headlines.

While the numbers may be smaller (the sources I saw said that 41 were killed in Beirut, 19 in Baghdad, and 119 in Paris), a life is a life – and all lives matter (or should!).  Why are so many otherwise well-intentioned people perpetrating “white supremacy” by loudly proclaiming concern for terrorist activity in one part of the world, while utterly disregarding terrorist activity in another part of the world?

...and Beirut!

And how many of those who are painting French flags on their faces and decrying “terrorism” have the slightest inkling that the sad history of white, European privilege, is largely responsible for the birth of organizations like ISIS and Al Qaeda?  My friend Jonathan Cook, a British journalist currently based in Nazareth (Israel) expresses this far better than I ever could, so I would invite you to read his thoughts on this subject (http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2015-11-14/outrage-at-paris-attacks-masks-our-racism/#sthash.fktvBu0Q&st_refDomain=www.facebook.com&st_refQuery=) – and then maybe take that French flag off your face and take a good look at the rest of the world!