Exeter crowds pray for humanity

‘Tonight I am proud to be an Exeter University student’


There were peaceful scenes of solidarity on campus on Sunday night, as the victims of terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad this week were remembered in a candlelit Vigil.

The vigil, which took place at the Plaza area outside the Great Hall at 7pm, was attended by hundreds and was deemed an incredible turn out by the event organisers.

Moving speeches and poems were read both in French and English by the President of the French society and its members.

Speakers urged for peaceful responses, quoting Martin Luther King; “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

The French national anthem was also sang.

Peace

Malaka Mohammed, a Palestinian student, was also a speaker at the vigil.

She raised concerns over the public reaction, or lack thereof, to the bombing in Lebanon which occurred the night before the atrocities in Paris.

“No one prayed for us. No one kept us in their thoughts. No world leaders made late-night statements about us.”

“No one changed their profile pictures. There were no hashtag. No option to be “marked as safe” by Facebook.”

This sentiment is currently being echoed on social media, with questions being posed to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, why the Facebook safety check tool and the French flag profile picture filter was only enabled for the Paris attacks.

To end the vigil, calls were made to stand united in the face of terrorism and to not be afraid.