I just wrote a post a day or two ago, and I don’t usually update my blog very often…but I felt the need to address the reactions I see on social media to the tragedy in Paris on Friday evening.

There are tragedies that can be attributed to the Islamic State of Iraq and alSham (ISIS) and their allies that occur on a regular basis. Two bombings happened in Beirut on Thursday. A massive attack killing 147 people happened in Kenya in April. There was little to no news coverage, certainly not to the scale that we are seeing for Paris. Is that because tragedies in these places are so common that we are numb to them? Is that because we value some lives more than others? Is that because this time, they’ve gone too far, and too far west? Are we less comfortable with attacks when they are against people who live in a European country instead of an African or Middle Eastern one?

As one of my friends wrote on Facebook, “I am all for solidarity”. I have nothing against those who stand with the people of Paris and want to show their support. But I am concerned about the trending. Tragedy should not be a trend. It should not have a filter to place over your picture that gives the illusion of interest and global awareness that does not in fact exist. The “try it” button that allows everyone on Facebook to be able to place a veil of compassion over their  everyday lives, just because their friends are doing it, despite not knowing anything about the event or what led to it.

I am concerned with our focus on #prayforparis instead of focusing on how the Parisians themselves are responding by allowing strangers into their homes, taxi drivers driving people home for free, comforting each other. Instead I see people who are not even from Paris or have any relation to Europe saying things like, “This is why we shouldn’t let refugees into Europe, #prayforparis, #deportallmuslims”. As if the refugees aren’t running from these exact people. As if all Muslims are terrorists.

Equally, I am very uncomfortable with how often we just press “share” without even reading an article past the headline. I have seen many people sharing an article about the attack in Kenya by al-shabaab which killed 147 students, with no idea that it occurred months ago in April.

Do show solidarity. Do care about the world around you. Be up to date on events and things going on. Understand, instead of mindless sharing. And talk to people, even if, especially if, you disagree with them. Hearing another side is important, even if it doesn’t change your mind, just so that you can see that your opinion is not the only valid one.

Only by talking and truly communicating can we have peace, not by frivolously changing our profile pictures to keep up with the trend of being globally aware.

Peace for the World.

For some further reading:

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/11/why-im-not-turning-my-facebook-photo-blue-white-red/

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

The day I got on the train in London and traveled to Paris was the morning of January 7, 2015. Coincidentally, that was the same morning that terrorists attacked the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. So as I was sitting on the train eating my cheese and bread like a good backpacking tourist I received a text from my mother telling me to be safe, that a terrorist attack had just happened in Paris.

I spent the next two days being a tourist in the city, and my life was largely unaffected by the event. I tried to grapple with the fact that I was being a tourist, just a dumb tourist, while an entire country was in mourning. I took pictures in front of monuments, monuments where the flags were at half mast. I stood in the rain, waiting my turn to go into Notre Dame. I walked through the Louvre and made my way through a sea of Asian tourists with selfie sticks. I helped my new Chilean friend clip a lock with his boyfriend’s name in a heart onto a bridge, a symbol of eternal love. And I walked past “je suis Charlie” posters in cafes, restaurants, and my hostel.

The experience in Paris was a strange one, because I was trying to equate the wonderful time I was having in the city with the fact that a terrorist attack had just occurred.

Now terrorists have attacked the City of Love once again, and this time have killed over 140 people. While this was happening, I was standing in Under Armour, my new place of employment, bemoaning the fact that it takes so long to register a passport and be cleared to receive a paycheck.

I don’t know how to address what happened in Paris. I’m still trying to come to terms with it in my mind. The things I do know:

1. I am so grateful to Facebook for having a safety check-in, so that I know my friends there are safe.
2. We are so lucky to feel so safe. I worry about a mugging, not a terrorist attack. Maybe I should worry more.
3. The world is a messed up place.

All I know is that I am grateful that I am safe, devastated that people want to hurt others in such a violent way, and angered at the response. I have seen many responses, to be fair, but they all fit neatly into two groups. One, pray for Paris. And two, “I’ll pray for European victims of terror as much as they pray for Jewish victims of terror”. This last group…it solves nothing. Bitterness and resentment does not bring back anyone from the dead, does not save the incredibly misguided and angry people who think that violence is the best way to achieve their goals, and does not help the world heal and move forward.

It is not necessary to turn the other cheek and get hit again in order to leave behind your resentment. If everyone would have compassion, the world would be a better place.

Peace to Paris.