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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion

FRONT: We are the world

WE ARE THE WORLD

When a terrorist group strikes at the heart of democracy, the world has a moment of silence and then bursts into chaos. That’s exactly what happened after three groups of terrorists staged six different attacks in Paris on Friday that left 129 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Amid this anarchy ISIS claims to have plotted, we feel fear, anger and pain.

“How could this happen?” we ask.

The truth is this has been happening for a while in a part of the world the West has dismissed as too far gone to assist.

Exactly one day before the organized attacks in Paris, an Islamic State double suicide bomber in Lebanon killed 43 people. On Friday, 26 were killed by ISIS in Iraq.

The Editorial Board wants to know why we mourn for one tragedy and not another.

We didn’t see any flag filters or safety check-ins on Facebook for those in the Middle East. We didn’t see news coverage of vigils and mourning in these countries. We certainly didn’t see landmarks across the world light up in Lebanese or Iraqi 
national colors.

How can we seclude our compassion for one group of people over another? Yes, France is the United States’ oldest ally. On the day our world came tumbling down with the Twin Towers, France said “We are all Americans,” and Friday, we all became 
Parisians.

It’s also possible our constant opposition against the Middle East has damaged our ability to sympathize. Our brothers and sisters in France fight for the same values we do, and we often see those in the Middle East as a source of great turmoil.

However, we cannot ignore the pain and terror those in the Middle East experience from ISIS, which not only wants to destroy the Western way of life but all ways of life. We would like to remind everyone the largest group of casualties ISIS has claimed were Muslim.

We fear the backlash that follows most terror plots conducted by jihadists. Prejudice and hate become rampant during times of fear. Talk of closing borders to Syrian refugees has spread to many countries in Europe — even the U.S. — after officials discovered one of the attackers gained entrance into Greece as a Syrian refugee, which many, like the Guardians’ Patrick Kingsley, say they believe was a calculated move by ISIS. France has already begun aerial attacks against ISIS in Syria, and talk of nuking the Middle East has plagued 
social media.

What’s almost even worse than these aggressive 
reactions is the inaction.

If we can do nothing but change our profile pictures on Facebook, we have truly lost.

Can we not assist in other ways besides taking the social media approach? Are we doomed simply to watch and participate in the next “supporting” trend as more lives are lost?

We, the Editorial Board, ask people to think of options other than hashtags.

We ask our nations leaders to think before they act and our citizens do the same.

Most importantly, we ask everyone to open their hearts to all who’ve fallen victim to senseless violence.

Paris is not the only place faced with the jagged knife of jihadist ideology — the entire world is at risk.

If you want to pray for Paris or keep Parisians in your thoughts, we beg of you, please also remember to pray for the world.

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