The Meaning of Paris

  • Paris already reeling from January’s attack on Charlie Hebdo + a Jewish deli  > most recent attacks > breaks proverbial camel’s back.
  • world’s fears come to fruition + Daesh (ISIS or Islamic State) claimed responsibility => French President François Hollande dubbed attacks an “act of war”
  • act of terrorism > forced to reconsider, by political forces at home and abroad, military strategy.
  • Will more airstrikes be a possibility? Will the President send more special forces? Will “boots on the ground” no longer be theoretical, but a reality?
  • geopolitical implications>  current refugee crisis = most pressing since World War II.
  • status of thousands of refugees = inexorably more complicated in wake of this attack.
  • surge in support among anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic parties across Europe + National Front in France.
  • broader societal implication of this terrible event in France = Islam
  • social media show 2 specific trains of thought: 1.use this attack as referendum on Islam in its entirety + 2. claim “terrorism has no religion.”
  • > both miss an important point.
  • Assigning collective responsibility to a diverse group of over 1 billion people the actions of one specific militant group = tremendous error in logical and moral reasoning
  • blaming this attack on Islam as a whole simply validates Daesh’s worldview of a battle between Islam and the West.
  • Awoefully unwise to evade a pointed criticism of very particular strains of Islam > Wahhabism and Salifism
  • call out these dangerous worldviews = brand of Islam Daesh dedicated to = outrageously antithetical to all the values of Western democracy.

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Preceding:

Paris Attack and Ranting

Spike In Anti-Muslim Attacks Casts Spotlight On Government Policies

Human tragedy need to be addressed at source

Before you blame All Muslims for the terrorist attack in Paris

Solidarité: The Paris Attack and the Refugee Crisis

A husband’s heartbreaking tribute to his wife killed in the Paris attacks

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Find also to read:

  1. Paris attacks darkening the world
  2. Brussels-born Salah Abdeslam key suspect Paris terrorist attacks
  3. Refugee crisis, terrorist attacks and created fear
  4. Massive police operation in northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis
  5. French Muslims under attack
  6. Do we have to be an anarchist to react
  7. Wrong ideas about religious terrorism
  8. Human tragedy need to be addressed at source
  9. If Europe fails on the question of refugees, then it won’t be the Europe we wished for

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Sportocracy

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Barbarism has once again descended on the French capital. Yesterday’s terrorist attacks in Paris, which have left 129 dead and hundreds others wounded, have unleashed a profound sense of panic as well as a mass mobilization of solidarity around the world for the victims that will – hopefully – serve as the antidote to the unprecedented terror that has now gripped the iconic city.

In events like these it is easy for well-intentioned individuals to want to avoid thinking about any broader social and political implications. But as these discussions will invariably appear, they must be considered.

Paris was already reeling from January’s attack on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish deli but these most recent attacks – again on locations that define “normalcy” for most Parisians: the national stadium, a concert hall and restaurant – may ultimately be what breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

Now that the world’s fears have come…

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