Paris was devastated by several terrorist attacks on Friday, Nov. 13. (Photo from Wikipedia).Sarah Faulkner - Features Editorfeatures@insideuab.com
Casey Marley - Editor-in-Chief
editor@insideuab.com
This past Friday, Nov. 13, seven coordinated attacks on Paris resulted in the loss of over one hundred lives and the injuries of dozens more.
The first, second and seventh attacks, all suicide bombings, happened at and around Stade de France, where the French president, Francois Hollande, was watching France and Germany play an exhibition game. The third attack was centered around restaurants on Rue Bichat, where
militants opened fire with AK-47s. Ten minutes afterwards, a fourth attack took place at La Casa Nostra pizzeria on Rue de la Fontaine au Roi and a fifth attack at La Belle Equipe bar in Rue de Charonne followed. The sixth attack occurred at the Bataclan Theatre on Boulevard Voltaire, where the Eagles of Death Metal, a US rock group, was playing for a full house of 1500 people.
The attacks launched outcries across the world and led the French Air Force to conduct airstrikes against ISIS targets in Raqqa, Syria on Nov. 15. President Obama expressed solidarity with the people of Paris.
“Those who think that they can terrorise the people of France or the values that they stand for are wrong,” Obama said. “[...] We are reminded in this time of tragedy that the bonds of liberte, egalite, fraternite, are not just the values French people share, but we share. [...] Those go far beyond any act of terrorism or the hateful vision of those who perpetrated the crimes this evening.”
“I think the incidents around the world this week have been horrible tragedies. I have family in both France and Lebanon; and while I was relieved to learn that they’re all okay, it’s terrifying to know that any day might be their last,” said Abdallah Matta, an electrical engineering major. “ISIS intends to spread their message and divide us through terror but all they have managed to do is unite us against a mutual enemy.”
French native Dr. Serge Bokobza, an associate professor of French at UAB and the President of the Alliance Française of Birmingham in Paris, quoted “Blackpoodles” an article by the New York Times to express his sentiments. “Paris, we love you. We cry for you. You are mourning tonight, and we with you. We know you will laugh again, and sing again, and make love, and heal, because loving life is your essence. The forces of darkness will ebb. They will lose. They always do.”
However, these attacks occurred around the same time as other tragedies. These tragedies include a suicide bombing of a funeral in Baghdad, suicide bombings in Lebanon, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake in Mexico and a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Many people have publicly expressed outrage at the fact that the Parisian massacre has overshadowed other tragedies on both mass and social media.
Sophomore, A’la Abu Spetani is one of these vocal opponents of the overshadowing of the media’s coverage, and worries that biased coverage will further stigmatize her religion: Islam.
“In response to the Paris attacks, there is fear, there is outrage, there is hate. In response to the Beirut bombings, there was—silence. In response to the Baghdad bombings, there was—silence,” she said. “When I found out about the Paris attacks, I was horrified. I was terrified. And most of all, I was worried. I was worried about generalizations. I was worried that people would start playing their favorite version of the blame game. I was worried that a religion whose symbol I wear so proudly on my head would become the source of misplaced conviction and ridicule once again.
In the hours and days since the attack, I’ve had a lot of time to think, and the one thing I can’t figure out is why didn’t Beirut or Baghdad get nearly the same attention France is getting? Why was it not considered horrendous that these Muslim countries were suffering too?”
While Kscope will track the rest of the conflict overseas, we have been notified by Media Relations that no UAB students are studying abroad in Paris this semester. Only one student is currently studying in France, but in Pau, a town along the French/Spanish border several hundred miles from Paris.
