7/03/16
| A father and son are executed by the Islamic State after three months in captivity. |
7/03/16
A man is beheaded for 'mocking' Islam.
7/07/16
Fifty-six pilgrims are blown up by a Sunni suicide bomb attack on a Shiite shrine.
7/05/16
Four popular soccer players are forced to kneel and then shot in the head by caliphate members in front of children.*
I first started this article earlier in the week, well before the recent attacks in Nice, France but now it seems fitting to finish it now. I've been sitting here in front of my computer for some time now, trying to gather my thoughts on the point that I am trying to make, but it's taken a while for me to muster up the courage to start clacking on these little white and black keys because I fear that I cannot do this piece justice. That there are no words I can possibly say to sum up the state of this world and the state of my wandering mind. But I am going to try.
First off, I would like to say that regardless of what country you are in, be it France, Syria, Belgium, Iraq, South Sudan and any other country that has felt the overwhelming grip of terrorism: I mourn with you. We all bleed the same color, and as of late, there has been too much blood being spilled in the streets of the world.
After terror attacks in first world countries, we hear about it for weeks. Months even. The stories flood in, pictures are spread, particular hashtags for that country are seen on all social platforms, flags are flown, and services are held as the whole world mourns for the tragic loss of life. Then comes the search for whoever caused such a travesty as we ask ourselves why someone would do something so horrible. We stay glued to our screens and phones as we try to process what has happened. And this is good. This is how we adequately mourn. This is how justice and healing must be brought. We recognize the severity of this violence and we all respond in heartfelt ways. Those in France, and Belgium and Orlando do not go forgotten and I think that is how it should be.
But that is not always the case.
I first starting hearing about the violence in the Middle East back in 2010. I was only 11 years old. Over the past 6 years, I have noticed something rather alarming. If something happens in first-world countries, it makes headlines for weeks. And if not, no one cares. Death tolls in the Middle East are treated like trends. That is to say that after a day or two, we hear the stats and then we never hear about it again. Why? Are they somehow less human than us? Maybe they were asking for it by being Muslim and living in the Middle East? Is that why? Within this past week, I have heard more about Hilary Clinton's emails than about the horrific bombings in places like Syria, Iraq, Bangladesh and Turkey. That is not OK. The stories of what is going on in the Middle East need to be told and the people who live in those countries often don't live long enough to tell them.
I am an American.
I am 17 years old.
I am a Christian.
I don't know anyone in those countries, I have no Muslim friends. I am Latino so I have nothing to connect me to those countries in any way. I am in no position to care about any of this, but I do. I've been wondering though why it seems like I am the only one. But, I know that is an illusion and that there are others out there that care as well. I am not asking for much. I am only asking that you grant them their humanity and give them compassion, even though that it something that no one should have to ask for. And when I say for you to grant them their humanity, I mean stop perceiving them as something other than the complex human beings that they are. Do you think that they do not mourn when their friends and family lay slain in the streets? Do you think they are our enemies? All these terror groups was their problem long before it became ours. But did we hear their cries for help? Did we mourn?
I cannot speak for all of us, only for myself. And to that, I must say that I never want to stop caring. And it hurts because I know that I cannot care for this entire shattered world. I do not know how to mourn for so many so I'm asking that you help me to. If my heart breaks, so be it. But may it break into enough pieces that there is one for every man, woman and child that has been killed by terror attacks. Because, as it turns out, ISIS is not their fault. These terror attacks are not their fault. They did not ask to be blown up, they did not ask for war. They did not ask for their families to be brutally murdered right in front of them. They did not ask to be forced out of their homes and countries.
They did not ask for any of this. But they are being treated like they did.
Isolating Muslims from the rest of the world is exactly what ISIS and other terror groups want. Because if no one steps in, if no one speaks up, then they can get away with anything. And as I sit in my sunlight room, safe from all harm, I can hear the television in the other room. Obama is giving a speech about the attack in Nice. He said that we must stand with our friends in France.
When will we call those in the Middle East our friends that we must stand by?
*These are only a few of the stories I found about terror attacks in Muslim countries. For the full list, look here.)
