I am French and I live in Paris. I have been reading this forum for about a week as I recently started playing the piano again after years without it, I certainly didn't expect my first post to be on such a tragic topic.
I haven't lost any loved one, but I can't stop crying. However pointless some might feel prayers and thoughts are, even though I'm not a religious person I guarantee it's deeply comforting psychologically to receive so many expression of kindness and solidarity.
France has a huge problem, we don't feel so much fraternity anymore. Many didn't realize it before Charlie but it's right in front of us now. On January 7th, I was at work when the TV told us what happened and the first thing I heard was an embarrassing "Well, they asked for it" coming from a (usually very nice) Muslim colleague, the two other Muslim in the group agreed and the rest of the team was shocked. We grew up reading Cabu, some even studied his work at school, and we truly felt part of our culture had been stolen. He had just been killed by a kalashnikov in the middle of Paris. Crazy and unbelievable to us, it was not so unexpected to them. Then the conversation went on to 11/9 and it ended on the same division. They told us how their classes (we were in high school at the time) refused to do a minute of silence "Do they do minutes of silence for the Palestinian children Israel kills?" while my school organized a mass.
I am friend with these girls, we go out for coffee, we have fun, but something has clearly changed because of this talk. How come we defend so different views of the world while growing up in the same country? What can still be done to repair this? Is it too late?... Who is right?
It's not the only kind of indifference. When the Jewish supermarket was attacked, on the same street as our office, my boss (white, non-Muslim) was in the middle of his New Year speech. Muted TVs were showing pictures of the hostage situation, we could hear sirens outside and see police helicopters flying by the windows. But he didn't stop talking a minute about our company's financial health, glass of champagne in hand, while people were being murdered three minutes away. How sickening is that?
Part of the population did not feel truly moved by the January attacks because the targets were very precise and easily identified as "natural" enemies of extremist idiots. We could still feel somewhat safe: I'm not Jewish, they even spared the women's lives at Charlie Hebdo, my Muslim colleagues live healthy lives, in Seine-Saint-Denis, a poor area full of Muslims, why would they attack them there? We used to joke about it, saying that this crime stricken place was actually the safest place in France when it came to Daesh.
But it happened Friday, bombs, even in Seine-Saint-Denis. No distinctions of color and religion. It's proof that being free is enough to be an enemy. I really wish French people would realize we are all on the same boat, we are all the enemy. But it's not going to happen, I predict huge victories of right-wing extremists at next month elections.
Topic: Pray for Paris