It’s time to stop using a Western-based concept ten years on from the events that began the Arab Uprisings.
A century after the mass immigration of North Africans began, Arabs in France are more present in politics, the economy, and culture than ever before. Yet part of the French population rejects a shared history in favor of the myth of the “interior enemy.”
The Charlie Hebdo attack prompted an unprecedented collective response throughout France. Was it an admirable act of national solidarity in defense of press freedom or an outburst of xenophobia in a country that has lost its way?
If grand values are no longer deemed crucial or even relevant to the French government in the name of fighting terrorism, then terrorism, for all intents and purposes, has already won.
The terrorist attacks in Paris have unleashed a wave of international solidarity. But what about when a bomb goes off in Beirut, Baghdad, or Ankara? Shouldn’t we mourn those victims, too?
