It was sad to receive news of the ISIS attack on Paris, France on Friday the 13th. About 129 lives were reported lost with over 300 other people injured.This led to solidarity prayers propagated by social media platforms under the hashtag #PrayForParis.
More people have gone to Twitter and Facebook condemning the cowardly attack as they show their solidarity prayers with France. This was an attack to humanity and we must unite to defeat this enemy.
However the issue of terrorism is not new to the people of Kenya. For the last five years the country has suffered numerous attacks from Alshabaab including the Westgate attack and the recent Garissa University attack.
In almost all of these attacks, the European nations, including France were quick to issue travel advisories to its citizens travelling to Kenya. They tainted the country’s image to appear as if the whole of Kenya is insecure. You can recall CNN referring to Kenya as a hotbed of terror just before President Obama's visit. This has been a big blow to the tourism sector and to the economy of the country.
It should also be remembered that France was among the first countries to issue travel advisories to its citizens when terrorists struck in April at the Garissa University where about 148 innocent souls were lost. The ISIS attack on France is just a lesson that terrorism is a global agenda and any nation can be attacked, whether you are a super power or not.
What bothers me is the way the world has reacted to the Paris attack compared to the terrorist attack on Garissa University. The news of 148 souls lost in Kenya during the attack on Garissa University was not received the same way the news have been received in France. In Kenya, the news meant that the nation is insecure and therefore travel advisories were issued. In France it is the other way round.
In as much as I am not against the solidarity prayers, I will not change my profile picture on the social media platforms to the flag colors of France. We ought to think logically and straight when some things happen. We should be praying for humanity rather that just Paris. It’s funny how terrorism makes people religious and is the only time the world will appear united.
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