Let me be absolutely clear: my heart goes out to all the victims of the Boston bombings and their families. And I sure as hell hope that whoever is responsible for these deaths gets his (probably their) comeuppance.
That was me stating the obvious, so let no-one interpret the words that are to follow as anything less than me being in total condemnation of the acts that lead to this tragedy.
However, I can’t be anything but disturbed by the way the “worth” of lives seems to have become relative. Public awareness of international tragedies appears to be directly related to the size of the ‘public relations exercise’ (for wont of a better way to describe it) attached to the aftermath of the tragedy.
When photos and stories are splashed all over the media, because the tragedy is connected to a country that happens to be a major world player, human sensibilities spring into action. Everyone is shocked. The prayer chains start rolling. Related posts take over social media. We become avenging furies, baying for the blood of whoever was responsible for spilling the blood of innocents.
And rightly so, I hasten to add.
Sadly, this same zealous defense of human life fails to manifest itself when a tragedy is connected to a country with a less visible profile. Like Syria, like Iraq, like Venezuela or Pakistan, to name a few.
In Boston, three people were killed. About 176 others were injured. We do well to weep for every single one of them, because the loss of human life is not quantifiable by numbers.
However, I will never understand why we do not mourn all the other innocent lives that are caught in the crossfire of war every single day as vehemently, as publicly, as determinedly as we mourn the Boston victims.
Why aren’t we crying for the 42 people who were killed and the 257 injured in Iraq on Monday, due to election clashes?
Why aren’t we crying for the 31 bodies discovered in Aleppo, victims of the Syrian strife? The bodies were recovered today during a ceasefire and included children, as reported by The Guardian today.
Why aren’t we crying for the 20 Pakistanis who died in a suicide bombing the Pakistan's north-western provincial capital, Peshawar?
Why aren’t we crying for the nine children who were burnt to death in Senegal last month, after they were kept locked in a shed?
Why aren’t we crying for the seven people who were killed in Venezuela’s election clashes? Not to mention the 160 that were injured.
Is it because these deaths are not “glamorous” enough by our Western standards?
Is it because the countries where these deaths occurred aren’t rich enough to command the attention of the whole world?
Is it because we are so shallow that our emotions are dependent on the amount of times an issue is thrown at us on the social media?
Whatever the reason, let us snap out of it.
Mourn the Boston victims, by all means. And let’s make sure whoever is responsible pays his dues.
But let’s also make sure we pay all the other victims and their families the same courtesy.