#EuropeanProblems

Solidarity is hard. Equality is hard. Justice is even harder. 

Yesterday, European leaders, including our Prime Minister David Cameron, marched in a walk of solidarity in France in a united stand against terrorism and in remembrance of the 17 murdered civilians in the Parisian terror attacks and hostages.
  It was called for. A public act that united nations and reassured us that the next people (and the harsh reality is that, this was not, and shall not be, an isolated attack) will have to contend with a less than unprepared government and, indeed, continent.
  It was, in my opinion, a beautiful act. It was needed. Everyone needed and wanted to know that they were safe and not alone. It was so so so important, but ... not the epitome of importance. We then had our mandatory reality check that often occurs in the wake of European tragedy. It was our little #EuropeanProblems. 

  In Nigeria, a photograph emerged of 2,000 civilians murdered in brutal attacks on the country. It's not that no one this side of the world cared, just that no one knew and, hence, no one was marching for them. 

  Atrocities like this are so common in some parts of the world that they almost occur and remain unnoticed in isolated incidences. It's only when they are collated that we can see the true extent of it.
  No one is ever intensely worried about starving children when they're ordering drinks at a night club. No one is ever thinking about gang rape at a Chelsea away game. No one is ever thinking about Guantanamo Bay whilst they're shopping at Westfields. We have to - consciously - force ourselves to think outside the sphere of 'me' and remember others. It's hard when there are so many things going on and we ought, sometimes, to think about things happening 'across the pond' - which ever pond that may be. 

  The caption under this Nigerian photo asked when there was going to be a solidarity march for these victims? 

  The answer: probably, never.  

"Mummy, I want to get off!" - An Insight into Terrorism Today

As Mi5 warn of a British massacre carried out in the wake of the French murders and hostages that have rocked the nation over the past few days, I began to think that the war on terror isn't actually that: a war. 

  When a bully picks on a child in the playground: pushes him, steals his phone, throws away his homework, that is not a war. When the child retaliates: when he sticks up for himself, that is not a war, either. That's self-defence. 
  And, like a child getting back at a bully in the playground, the more that we react to and provoke terrorists or people with malicious intentions, the more they will come back. Reactions, the world works, among others things, upon reactions. 

  But I know that we can't sit back and do nothing. It's so important to be proactive. For the government to protect its people. But we have to do less of a something than we have been doing, but more of a nothing than I believe is necessary. 
  Incessant talking and evaluating our terror situation and threat levels makes us sound scared. But talks to change policy and implement sanctions makes us prepared. 
  With terrorism always on our mind, we potentially encourage the harmful behaviour which we seek to prevent. If I was a terrorist (which I am not), or even a person who was driven and harboured malicious thoughts to take the lives or even just scare other people, I believe that surprise would be the key element to an attack. And how can you surprise a people who seem to be exploring every avenue? You think of something new. Something unique. Something unthought-of. Surprise. 

  We need to tackle the issue on a quieter level rather than shouting, publishing and sharing our every advancement and failure. (Oh the irony!) Because I know that right now I'm doing nothing to help the case that I'm making but perhaps that's just it. Perhaps we just can't stop ourselves. Our lives have such a thirst for thoughts and we, as individuals, are so wrapped up with our own thoughts that we can seldom detach ourselves from them and think as an independent entity. 
  We need to keep our efforts low key, but at the same time, there are so many of us who demand, however subconsciously, to be kept abreast of our terror situation. People who, even though they don't consciously pursue the government's terror prevention efforts, are put at ease by being force-fed the headlines, which reassure us: 

Yes, it's ok. They do still care and they'll do anything to save us. 

  But why shouldn't we seek that reassurance? Why shouldn't we need it? Perhaps our answer lies in the knowledge that we should be able to live in a world free of terror. 

  Terrorism, for me, is a vulgar and cyclical practice. An de-humanising act, on so many levels, that continues to surround us like the mad eye of a stiff rearing horse on a children's fairground carousel. It will always, for now it seems, be a can of tinny and off-key music in our ears until, one day, we pray, that the melody stops. 

"No To Terrorism"  - taken from http://cdn.i24news.tv/