The scene of a policeman lying on the ground with his hands in the air as two gunmen approach him is perhaps the most harrowing scene from yesterday’s barbaric attack in Paris, but it is the reverberations of the terrorists’ actions that will have a lasting effect – not only on France, but on all of us.
The policeman, shot at close range as he offered no threat, was shown no mercy. There is a simple reason for this: the people that carry out these attacks – unlike the god they claim to act in the name of – do not possess any humanity or mercy. What they have within them is hate, prejudice, intolerance and… a very large dose of cowardice.
Until yesterday very few people would have heard of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Within a few hours, it became a household name across the world as horrific images of at least two murderers were beamed across all forms of media.
The gunmen displayed chilling calm as they drove up to the offices of this publication, walked in and shot at the journalists inside who were holding their daily editorial meeting. The apparent reason? Because Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a cartoon of Islamic militant group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The killers calling out the names of the journalists as they opened fire will no doubt anger many people, but it says so much about them at the same time.
Though they have great funds and educated individuals at their disposal, these terrorist organisations will not use civilised means to promote their cause. They will not use the force of argument to persuade others to see their point of view.
Their only method is to use violence of the most vile kind – vile not only because of the barbaric acts they perpetuate, but also because they only target the defence-less – those without arms – to perform them on.
Cowardice does not get more cowardly than this.
There is no denying that the method is effective in certain ways. That two people can cause such shock in the world is a feat in itself – though this has become easier than ever with the prevalence of mobile phone footage and social media. And the bare faced cheek of the attack – in a major capital, in broad daylight – does give rise to the fear in each one of us that no one is safe.
But at the same time, it has a counterproductive side. When such acts take place on our home turf – and in the spirit of Joseph Muscat’s “today we are all French” comment, Paris is home turf for citizens of the Western world – it galvanises people’s resistance to these terrorists and instils a stoic indomitability that has been seen time and time again in times of crisis and war.
It also has another effect: giving more food for the growing right wing movements, particularly in Europe, to thrive. This is hugely undesirable. Not only because any form of radicalism is a scourge, but also because right wing movements will target the very people whom these terrorists claim to represent.
They do not, of course, represent them – the human tragedies being exemplified by fleeing Syrians, as well as other migrants, are testament to that. But such actions will perpetuate the vicious circle these people face of being unable to live in one land – their homeland – and being told they are not welcome in another.
We must not let these cowards force us into anything other than rational thinking and understanding.