When tragedy strikes the world, social media is usually the first place people go to express how they feel about it. Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of the team behind Facebook seem wholly aware of this, as not even a day after the horrific attacks on Paris and users were given the option to change their profile picture to red, white and blue as a statement of “solidarity” to those in France. At first glance, it’s a pretty touching gesture: it’s been stated numerous times that what infuriates these terrorists the most is people showing compassion and unity in response to their attacks as opposed to anger and division, and Zuckerberg and co. gave us such a simple but meaningful way of expressing that unity (much in the same way they did for Pride).
However, the Paris attacks weren’t the only tragedy that struck the world on November 13th. A funeral was also bombed in Baghdad which killed 18 people, and barely a day before that there was a suicide bombing in Beirut which killed over 40 people. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for both of these attacks as well. They hurt and terrorised these people just as much as they did the people of Paris, yet there was no option given on Facebook to change your profile picture to the colours of the Iraqi or Lebanese flags; only France was given this respect. Facebook also gave Parisians the option to ‘check in safely’ in order to let friends and families know they were okay – again, another meaningful gesture, but where was this feature for those fearing for their loved ones in Baghdad and Beirut? Do their lives not matter as much as those lost in Paris?
Evidently not, according to social media. Countless accounts on both Twitter and Facebook donned the French colours or some sort of symbol on their profile pictures to pay respect to the French victims, yet barely any did the same for any of the middle eastern countries affected by the same terrorism. Many of the civilians from these nations voiced their outrage at our ignorance, and rightly so – is it any wonder why the west is so despised when we only seem to care about the tragedies that happen on our soils? Granted, the closer an attack hits, the scarier it seems and that’s undoubtedly why the Paris attacks garnered such as huge response from western media. Yet that shouldn’t the reason we mourn the loss of life and ‘show solidarity’. We should show solidarity regardless of where a loss comes from purely because of what it is: a loss of life.
As if our complete disregard for the lives lost in the middle east wasn’t bad enough, the French president decided to respond to the attacks on his nation by bombing Syria in an area where the IS are supposedly based (with the UK now sadly following suit). Even more innocent lives have been lost, yet France’s retaliation barely received even a fraction of the media attention that Paris got. Grieving should never be turned into a competition, but by only showing solidarity with France we’re just proving to the world that we’re only bothered about western lives – about our own.
What happened in Paris was evil and tragic, and this isn’t to try and take away from the victims or the grief of their friends and families. It’s clear that those who changed their profile pictures meant well but sadly, in times such as these, meaning well just isn’t good enough. It’s time to stop cherrypicking who we mourn and show solidarity with and start showing support for all who are hit by terrorism around the world. Rather than hashtagging about how “all lives matter”, why not just be honest the next time devastation strikes a predominantly white country – for far too many, it’s only ‘western lives matter’.
Words by Samantha King