Walking to the shop during lunch, a colleague remarked yesterday, “This is what people were doing in Paris, they were just going about their day”.
Last Friday evening probably started off like any other for those Parisians. Those running to the gig were probably excited. Maybe someone was running late and a little flustered. Maybe someone else was meeting an old friend for dinner and laughing and catching up about failed dates, holidays and favourite movies. It was probably, for most, just another evening.
Then it became unforgettable.
The Paris Attacks, killed 130 people, wounded 368 but affected everyone.
The grief felt by Paris rippled through the world. Not because we knew those injured or killed but because we could relate to them. The world mourned the death of strangers because they weren’t that strange. They were Parisians, Europeans, they were just like us. We identified with them.
Of course in the days that followed, grief-shaming and questioning surfaced. Why care about Parisians when Syrians are killed every day? Why care about a conflict you know nothing about? Why not change your profile picture to a Syrian flag? Those who expressed grief were called band-wagoners and slandered as ignorant.
So why bother?
It was put simply by a colleague here, Ariana Dunne.
“I don’t know anyone in Syria or the Lebanon. I know what’s going on in the world. I know that all of it is unfair but I am a Dubliner, an Irishwoman, a European and a citizen of the world. And the news will affect me most in that order”.
So yes, we accept that more responsibility needs to be taken to understand the conflict. But we were right to mourn. We did so because those who were killed were just like us and that Friday evening probably started off just like any other. Maybe someone was excited, maybe someone was running late, maybe someone was meeting an old friend. For most, it was probably just another forgettable evening.
And then it became unforgettable. For all of us.
Ariana’s Post in Full:
I am a Dunne, a Dubliner, an Irishwoman, a European, and a citizen of the world. The news will affect me most in that order.
“I’m going to weigh in here because I’ve read so many different statuses and I just want to say something. The bombs that went off in Lebanon and Syria and Gaza did make the news. I heard about them and I tutted and shook my head and thought how terrible it was.
My first thoughts went to my brother’s friend who recently donned his Irish Army uniform and boarded a plane leaving behind his girlfriend and much loved daughter to go on a peacekeeping mission in the Lebanon. A young Irish man who enjoys a pint and who has nothing got to do with Middle Eastern conflict is putting his life on the line along with 500 other young men and women to try and help the people of Lebanon and to try and bring about peace…
No I didn’t change my profile pic to the Lebanese flag in a show of solidarity and maybe I should have but since I was a child I have been hearing about bombs and conflict and death in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Yugoslavia all these countries outside of Europe.
But you see that’s the thing – I’m Irish, a European, a Dubliner. I identify with other Irish and other Europeans, the people who hold the same values and ideologies as me. Growing up listening to all of these Middle Eastern conflicts I watched as my people, leaders of my countries sent aid and help and support, held meetings tried to bring an end to conflict but nothing worked and fighting continues to this day.
It’s a complex religious and land conflict that needs time and education but the barbarians that have entered the fold in the form of IS are enemies of us all and of course it’s then that I become a citizen of the world.
Growing up I was affected the terror inflicted in Northern Ireland and beyond. I partook in a vigil for the Omagh bomb victims and early on I learned what a religious and land conflict does to people. But growing up I never, not once, heard about innocent people being gunned down or blown up on the streets of Paris.
Paris an iconic city, a city I’ve been to many times. I learned French in school; my sister lives there with her Parisienne husband and their two Parisienne children. I’m involved. What happens to Paris happens to ME in a much stronger way than what happens in the Middle East.
When people are gunned down and blown up for enjoying themselves and having a good time then I will change my profile picture in solidarity. A stupid and futile symptom of the social media fuelled society we live in. It doesn’t mean I don’t care about every other country that is being affected by war and terrorism.
If my sister is in danger or my sister’s family or my sister’s friends, then I’m involved. I don’t know anyone in Syria or the Lebanon, apart from my brother’s friend, so my immediate reaction is not as strong. That’s human nature and I’m only human. A sentiment lost on the IS.
In my time living in London I worked with and made friends with people of every denomination Protestants, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslim, Atheists, Born agains… And we all lived and worked harmoniously together. I loved learning about their different cultures and traditions. It’s difference that makes life so interesting.
I have siblings in Dublin, London, Paris, New York, LA and Brisbane. Prime targets of IS. I’ll never sleep easy again knowing that IS is determined to wreak terror on the cities where my brothers and sisters and their families reside.
So believe me, I know what’s going on in the world. I know that all of it is unfair but I am a Dunne, a Dubliner, an Irishwoman, a European, and a citizen of the world. The news will affect me most in that order”.
