Ung 1
Stephanie Ung
Mohammad Javad Rafi
Human 1AS Sem
20 November 2015
World Attacks
On the evening of Friday the thirteenth of November, Paris was attacked. This was caused by a series of terrorist attacks, all coordinated to target six locations in France. This unexpected situation was shocking and overwhelming for all across the world. However, this event was not the only devastating attack going on at the time. In addition to the Paris attacks, Lebanon and Baghdad were also affected by these attacks of terrorism by the same large extremist militant group, ISIS. In Beirut, there was a suicide bombing and in Baghdad, a funeral bombing took place. All together, hundreds upon thousands of lives were affected, either directly or indirectly. The combination of all these attacks set a worldwide panic.
I, for one, was shocked to hear about the attacks, especially on Paris. I believe this is due to the media and how it was presented. The well known city of Paris, the heart of France, the city of love, was attacked. And although it is obvious how devastating and horrific this situation is, there are many other situations just like this that are happening constantly, but they are never discussed as greatly as this attack is. This is because Paris is so popular and known, so when a devastation like this occurs, people feel more affected by it. Furthermore, the media also presents places such as Beirut and Baghdad as areas of constant war and killings, seeing them as norms; so the reaction of the world is less intensified to them than to Paris. Personally, I was very appalled by all of these attacks, but especially for the circumstances of Paris, just like the rest of the world was and was expected to be, what with the media and such. I think this was because the attacks took place in such normal everyday areas, such as the Stade de France, which is the national stadium of France, a concert hall, and several restaurants. It makes one stop to think, ‘What if I was eating in a restaurant or watching a concert and that happened?’. For me, my biggest concern was why these attacks were taking place. There is a lot of controversy over this topic, some stating that it is due to the religion of the ISIS attackers, that they were doing this for their devotion to God and to prove their faith. Others argued it was for power and to “deter powerful nations from carrying out more attacks against it.” (McCants, Why Did ISIS Attack Paris). There is another standpoint stating that any areas that are fighting against ISIS or that have anything to do with them are being victimized and targeted. All of these possibilities could be the reason for the attacks, but there is not one sure answer.
Overall, my response to all of these attacks is the same: confusion and sadness. I will never understand why terrorism attacks occur even with many offered explanations. It is just devastating and terrifying to know that these acts are constantly happening everyday. It is quite unfortunate that it had take that long for people, I included, to realize these actions happen so often just because it happened to such a popular city such as Paris. However, this issue of terrorism did gain more interest and concern from people around the world. While it is evident that the state of Paris is in danger and many are concerned for those being affected by it, we as a whole should always be troubled by these acts for those affected by it everyday. With so many major pressing issues at hand, it would not seem right to say those in the extremely affected areas are in danger, but, that the world is in danger.
Works Cited
1. McCants, William. “Why Did ISIS Attack Paris?”. The Atlantic. Web. 16 November 2015.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/isis-paris-attack-why/416277/>
humanityinhumanities 