In light of the recent devastating attacks on Paris, social networking sites have been flooding with people expressing their sympathy for the victims of this heinous crime. However, a few people seem to be slightly misinformed. Amid the union of people standing in support of Paris, there are two groups of people who need to be grounded: those who think this is a concrete reason to hate Islam and all Muslims, and those who think Paris is getting "selective sympathy" solely because the victims of this attack are "white,"

This is in response to those people.

Reasons why you shouldn’t blame all Muslims for this attack:

1. They were also among the victims of this attack. Paris, being a metropolitan city, homes people from various religious backgrounds. Islam is one of them. You cannot blame a group of people who were the unfortunate victims of the same attack that was executed by the people from their own religious background.
2. These are exactly the kind of attacks refugees are running from themselves. In the wake of this attack, there has been an influx of people who blame the refugees, but the fact is that these kinds of breaches of safety are exactly what the refugees are trying to run away from.
3. They stand in solidarity with the victims. There is a group of terrorists that is igniting these attacks, but on the other hand, there are also 1.5 billion people from the very same religion that are standing with the rest of the world in solidarity.
4. ISIS or any other such terrorist group doesn’t follow the principles of Islam to begin with. This is perhaps the most important distinction. Like every religion, Islam also has a foundation of principles that every Muslim should follow to live as a peaceful human being. Islam does not, by any means, condone heartless murder or violence, for that matter.

Now, to the people who think Paris is getting "selective sympathy" solely because the victims of this attack are "white." Here are the real reasons why everyone is so disturbed by this attack:

1. See reason no. 1 above.
2. We all have a connection with Paris. Whether it’s physical or emotional, we all feel like we’re connected to the City of Love. Either you know someone from Paris, your family lives there, you’ve spent your summers there, studied abroad there or want to, or you’ve never been there but have always wanted to go. That city is a symbol of all our dreams, and with this attack, those very dreams were cracked (but not broken).
3. It is a usually peaceful city. One of the biggest reasons why this comes as such an immense shock is that, despite relatively smaller attacks that have occurred earlier this year, it is usually a peaceful city
4. This is the largest attack on France after WWII. With over 120 people dead, and more injured, this is the worst attack on France since WWII.

I know it’s near impossible to change anyone’s mind with a single piece of writing, but I hope those of you who belong to any of the categories above are able to open your mind a little. In this time of woe, it is vital that we, the citizens of the world, stand in harmonious union. As clichéd as it may sound, united we stand, divided we fall.