Another Loss, but for the Sake of Another Hope

This is an opinion piece written by Ahmed Samy Lotf, a candidate in the Master’s program of International Relations and Diplomacy at AGS, after the 13^th of November terror attacks that took place in Paris. Ahmed was born in Egypt; he was in Cairo during the Egyptian revolution in 2011, and in Turkey during the Turkish protests in 2012 and 2013. He also lived in the United States and travelled around the world. He is currently interning at UNESCO in Paris, in the History, Memory and Dialog sector of the Culture Division.

This piece reflects the opinion of the writer. The American Graduate School in Paris respects diversity of opinions.

(Photo credit: www.francebleu.fr)

Another normal week had just passed in the City of Lights and Love. A nice relaxing weekend was expected after a long week full of work, studies, or traveling. A tragic surprise, however, was awaiting Paris on the 13^th of November 2015. Terror attacks took place in several different sites in and just outside of the city, resulting in 130 deaths and over 350 injured.

More than just lives were lost. The November 13^th event caused a severe wound in French society. Anxiety, depression and fear were tangible in the air of Paris. Nevertheless, looking at it from a social viewpoint, the reaction of the French was one of unity and maturity. After the attacks, instead of pointing fingers and accusing others of being extreme or exclusive of minorities, the French society has been trying to be more inclusive, more united, calmer, and more caring of the other.

Will the political leadership in France take advantage of this new form of social unity this time, and use it to eliminate discrimination, lack of sense of belonging, and fight extremism from within the society? Or will it be just a temporary state and a wasted opportunity, like what happened with the January 2015 Paris attacks known as Charlie Hebdo, which, after a first reaction of strong unity, caused French society to become more fractured, divided and politically conservative?

Politically, President François Hollande’s reactions were accepted by a large majority of the population of France. Even the government opposition had similar opinions to Hollande’s in response to this situation. (Hollande may just be using this as a tool to gain back the popularity that he and his party lost during the past couple of years.) However, in my opinion, the decision of more air strikes and more bombardments in Syria is to be strongly criticized and countered as it will be creating a vicious circle of violence, killing innocent people while being far from solving the problems.

Upping France’s participation in Syria may calm some local frustration and outrage; however, it is shortsighted and will only aggravate the problem. It is far from tackling the root causes of the problem that led to these terror attacks; the segregation, the discrimination, the alienation, the lack of sense of belonging, educational inequalities, and the problems caused by the media when it doesn’t remember that freedom comes with responsibilities. One needs to focus on and address these internal issues in France.

Extreme ideologies, whatever the political or religious group it sprouts from, are to be approached through social justice and to include everyone in the battle against it, especially the moderates in those groups. Therefore, if we are to fight against the few Islamic extremists in France, then that has to be done first and foremost with the French Muslims.

France may also have to spend more money on its national intelligence and security rather than on military budget, production of weapons that end up in the wrong hands, or another war – another version of what took place in Iraq.

Despite how sad and horrifying the reality of the terror attacks and the losses is, there may be something positive that can be taken from them. One may wonder if France needed, socially, a kind of shock to continue pursuing the aspirations of the French revolution. What did France need to gather the different parts of the French society in the same square? What did France need to lower the extreme voices within the society and listen to the open-minded, inclusive, and unheard voices? Did France need this? No nation deserves such a tragic human loss, but a social and political shock may be needed.

What we are seeing beyond this tragedy is an opportunity for a missing collective unity of the society, and for pushing the political will to direct more money towards education, towards including excluded sectors of the society, towards fighting poverty and towards improving the internal intelligence security infrastructure to protect all people in France regardless of their origins. Let us hope that the reasoning of the politicians as well as of the citizens becomes more peaceful, more constructive, and more efficient at “Building France” as a “République” that includes everyone.

Over that dreaded weekend, I locked myself in my house with a feeling of sadness mixed with fear. It wasn’t until late Sunday afternoon that I decided to make my way to my favorite place in Paris, Place de la République. The anxiety in the subway was tangible; it reminded me of my time in Cairo during the days of the revolution, all of those times that the city awoke to an overwhelming amount of innocent lives lost. The few words I kept overhearing were “Jeunes, Mort, Pourquoi”. When I arrived at the Place de la République I saw “all of France” there. I saw what should represent the “République française”: the white French, the African French, the Indian French, the Muslim French (Africans, Arabs, Indian or Asian), the Jewish French, as well as the tourists/visitors who were there to pay their respects. All of them were there for the same thing – mourning and honoring the victims. Their chants deeply moved me as they reminded me of the feeling of chanting in Tahrir Square (Liberation Square). My tears were not just for those who lost their lives in France, but also for those who continue to lose their lives in Egypt and in the rest of the world.

It is the chants for the victims of wars, genocides, and revolutions throughout history that were echoed in the Place de la Bastille in 1789, in Tahrir Square in 2011, and in the Place de la République in 2015. It is the words of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcom X, that I heard that day, as well as that of the Prophet Mohamed, who fought against slavery, gender inequality, and racism fourteen centuries before any treaty or law.

What is our human struggle for justice, liberty, and equality but the series of voices that echo those of our ancestors into our squares, streets, and prison cells? This is a fact of our history and our human nature: struggles and victories come with losses. The 13^th of November is another loss for the sake of another hope.

By: Ahmed Samy Lotf