Maan on the Street: Brussels, Beirut, Ankara, and more
‘All these terror attacks are the same’
Today I woke up to a tornado alarm going off. It was just a drill, yet it was still alarming — for lack a better word. In the event I feel endangered, I have a self-defense mechanism in my own being that keeps me aware of danger to keep me safe. It’s like an internal tornado alarm. It’s important we feel danger as it approaches to avoid tragedies from marring our lives.
There’s a similar feeling that comes from reading about the tragedies of other people in crisis far and near. It’s a feeling atrocities like the terrorist attacks going on everywhere around the world could be happening at our door steps. As terrorist begin to set up camp in secret pockets across the globe, terror sets up camp in our hearts. It’s more important than ever that we empathize for people in pain.
In the terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium, two bombs exploded at an airport, and one other at a metro station. The explosions claimed at least 30 innocent lives and the injury of 230 others. It is impossible for me to begin to understand pain felt by the families of those who died. It is probably just as hard for me to do the same for those injured. It is also impossible for me to hide this sense of fear that arises from knowing how unpleasant our world is becoming.
However, this feeling is not new to me. It wasn’t new Tuesday, and it wasn’t new when the similar attack happened in Paris, France. It was the same feeling I got when I heard similar terror in Palestine, Beirut, Ankara, Tunisia, Somalia, and those near my home country of Saudi Arabia. These stories are just as true and just as terrifying. In fact, these stories are not only older but have been terrorising the hearts of their people for much longer than most of us are aware of.
Earlier this year in Tunisia, a gunman spent every bullet in his magazine, taking the lives of 38 and injuring 36.
A suicide bombing in Beirut killed at least 40.
Also this year, a railroad station bombing in Ankara killed at least 100 and injured 400.
Since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, my Palestinian friends have told me many stories of how they live in fear of being attacked by Israeli soldiers.
My Lebanese friends have shared stories of leftover mines going off in the middle of the city.
My friends from Syria tell me how their people envy anyone who dies of natural causes.
Those are just the influences I have near me, and I am glad I have made contact with people who shared their stories with me so I can at least try to comprehend. That’s because I know I can’t rely on media to cover their stories. So I ask myself: how much of it do I really hear?
Maan on the street: Did you hear about Brussels? Did you hear about Beirut? Did you hear about Ankara?
I went around Purdue asking students what they heard about the attacks in Brussels as well the not-too-distant attacks in Beirut and Ankara. I asked each student how they felt about the these attacks and how they felt about how selective the media is about covering news.
David Gonzalez Cuadrado, Mechanical Engineering
On Brussels
Yes, I heard. I’m afraid of what the people can do for religion.
On Beirut
Yeah, there were a lot for sure. I feel the same.
On Ankara
Yes, there were two actually. It’s all the same. I know that the revolution in the first world is not the same, but it’s incredible how we manage to think that the people that live in Brussels matter more.
Ryan Preston, Biomedical Engineering
On Brussels
Yes. It’s awful that it happened. It’s awful that anyone dies for that reason.
On Beirut
Same thing. Same people dying for stupid reasons.
On Ankara
Exact same thing. More people. I think it’s unfortunate that certain locations get more media coverage. Things are still separated in terms of media coverage, so the western world in general gets more. So the same things happen, it’s just that we hear more about the western world.
Mubin Hanafiah, Civil Engineering
On Brussels
It’s a very tragic thing. It’s not the best start of the day watching something so bad happen to your fellow human beings. I still can’t believe people can do that to each other. What’s the point of that? You lose your humanity. We’re supposed to be here to stick out for one another.
On Beirut
I did not hear about that one. Hearing about it now is surprising because that is also a bad thing that happened. The fact I didn’t know about it is sad because I feel like the coverage for similar tragic events in the western world and the rest of the world, there’s a big disparity in that. I can’t believe I didn’t see that in the news.
On Ankara
That’s horrible. A lot of us live in a place where we don’t really have the danger of these things happening to us. Especially a danger at this scale. I mean, you try to imagine how it would feel like in their shoes. You can’t. You’ve never experienced it.
Brianne Seiders, Veterinary Technology
On Brussels
It makes me feel a little scared. Especially for our safety here. Especially because spring break happened, so I personally was flying in and out of airports. It kinda makes me scared of safety and what could happen.
On Beirut
Same way. Wow, I don’t really know how to take that. It makes me nervous. We think that we’re safe but I really don’t know how to take that.
On Ankara
It makes me a little nervous about what they’re bombing for. How does injuring other people prove your point? It’s scary. I wish that they covered it all. I mean, just you talking about it there is only a few that I heard about. So what happened to the other ones? Why didn’t I hear about that? They’re only talking about half of them. I wish I knew more about it. Maybe if it was more obvious then more people might know about it and something can change.
Maryanne Mundia, Nutrition Science
On Brussels
I’m terrified. It’s scary that these things keep happening.
On Beirut
Same thing. Still terrifying.
On Ankara
It’s definitely sad that these things keep happening. They shouldn’t be happening. Yeah I think there is definitely a [media] bias, I mean, one got more attention that the others and I think that they should all get attention. In some countries it’s happening more and in some countries it’s not, but it’s still happening. Something should be done about that.
The actual act of taking one’s life is portrayed in an equally brutal manner, aside from the number of casualties. People are dying all around the world. I personally don’t disagree with the art of prayer by changing one’s Facebook profile picture for a few days or using hashtags to raise awareness.
I am not trying to rant about the attention that Brussels got over Beirut or Ankara, but I would like to raise awareness of the biased climate through which we receive and share news. I understand most of the examples I used are of Middle Eastern states, so I am myself also limited to the stories I hear.
A crucial thing to note is that a lot of the interviewees touched on a common point: all these terror attacks are the same.