Our ASTU class has been reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer which deals with the terrorist attack of 9/11. While the book follows the aftermath of the attack from the point of view of a young boy, the mass hysteria that followed the attack can be seen in attacks happening now.
On January 7th 2015 in Paris France, two brothers shot and killed twelve people causing a global outcry. They attacked the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after they had published comics about the Islam religion. It brought into question, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the extremism of Islamists. The hashtag #JeSuisCharlie became one of the top trending hashtags of social media websites like Twitter and Instagram with people all over the world sending their support to Paris.
This attack has seen Parisians banding together and forming a strong front against terrorism. In a way this is the first time they have been vulnerable to attacks since World War Two and it has sent the entire country into overdrive. It has amped up defenses and protective measures which in some cases are a bit extreme.
The Metro published an article about an 8 year old boy who was detained and questioned by police because he refused to comply with the minute of silence for the victims and cried “I am with the terrorists!” Now I’m not encouraging or condoning this type of behaviour, but at eight, I definitely didn’t know what a terrorist was. I also wouldn’t have been able to be quiet and still for an entire minute, it goes against everything my overactive, over talkative eight year old impulses would have told me.
I feel this child’s actions could also have been caused by the lack of exposure this information has had on children. Teenagers and Preteens have obviously gotten behind and understand some of what happened as they were key in spreading #JeSuisCharlie, but young elementary aged children are often kept in the shadows. It is possible that this child heard bits of his parents, teachers, important others, etc. conversations and had to piece together an uneducated decision. Can we really get mad at an eight year old child for being uneducated on issues that elude and confuse many adults?
The final line of the article says, “Dozens of people have been arrested and accused of defending terrorism since the attacks.” Arrested for defending terrorism? If we look at the Allied Western attacks on Iraq, Iran and Pakistan, from the point of view of the citizens from those countries, would they perhaps see our attacks as terrorism? And do we not defend our actions in these countries? Is the war not killing more of their people, soldiers and civilians, than Americans? Excuse me for playing the devil’s advocate, but it confuses me as to why we are outraged at the death of twelve journalists when thousands of innocent civilians are dying daily and no one gives it a second thought.
This relates to the discussion we have been having in our ASTU class in regards to Judith Butler’s book, Frames of War; When is a Life Grievable? She discusses the difference between the collective ‘we’ and how that ‘we’ affects who we grieve, when we grieve and why it is ‘ok’ that we don’t grieve for the deaths of people that are not part of our ‘we’.
I am not defending these horrible attacks, I am merely asking questions that I feel the innocent civilians on the other side of the attacks may be asking.
Source:
http://metronews.ca/news/world/1274512/8-year-old-boy-faces-police-questioning-for-saying-he-supported-charlie-hebdo-attackers/