Lauren Archer
Mr. Peat
A Devastating Attack on Paris
On Friday
November 13th 2015 Paris, France suffered from several tragic
attacks at the hands of the terrorist group ISIS. A restaurant, a stadium, and
a concert hall all packed with people, were the targets of these attacks. The
attacks all took place within a few minutes of each other and in close
proximity to each other. These attacks resulted in 129 casualties and countless
injuries.
These events are
extremely tragic and absolutely call for a heightened security and awareness
about the danger and possibility of other attacks being made by ISIS or any
other terrorist group, however they do not call for racism. In the aftermath of
the attacks many people have taken to social media to voice their opinions on
how we should handle future security, some sent prayers for Paris, it’s
citizens and any other area that disaster had struck that day while some have
said they want to halt the flow of incoming refugees from war torn countries.
People are also criticizing world leaders like Justin Trudeau, who has agreed
to bring 26,000 refugees into Canada over the next few weeks.
I believe that
Trudeau should continue with his plans to allow new refugees into Canada and
that some of those who have spoken out against these plans are, whether consciously or
not, are speaking from a place of racism when they say that if we let in these
refugees then we will experience the same tragedy that Paris has. In a sense I understand where they are coming
from, ISIS has succeeded in striking fear into people across the globe and it
is possible that Canada could be attacked however when we assume that it will
be attacked because we have let a number of refugees into our country we are
being unfair. We don’t blame Christians for Christian terrorists like the KKK
so why would we blame Muslims and Muslim refugees for the acts that ISIS has
committed. They are fleeing their
country looking for a better, safer life, what are we to do send them back to violent
war stricken countries? That in itself could backfire on Canada.
I don't exactly agree with the point you made when you said, "those who have spoken out against these plans are, whether consciously or not, speaking from a place of racism." Yes, some maybe be speaking out of a term of racism, but I think others are speaking out of pure terror. To some it may not matter who these refugees are or where they come from, but the fact that they were within ISIS's closest reach of influence. However I do agree with every thing else you said. I too believe that Justin Trudeau should continue to let those refugees in, and that we all need to stay unit in our fight against ISIS.
ReplyDeleteLauren, like Lucas's post (and Tom's response to it), you have initiated an important debate with Kim. I am sympathetic with both views, but I'm not sure that reversing our Syrian policy will necessarily make us any safer. The longer term challenge will be to integrate the new immigrants successfully into Canadian life. Remember, too, a great many ISIS radicals are effectively home grown, often borne and raised in France, Belgium, the United States, etc. How, I wonder, does that square with our refugee policy? The situation is complex.
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