These are the same people who were trying to keep children fleeing violence from Central America from receiving asylum in the U.S.
These are the same people who were trying to keep people from Africa out of the U.S. because of Ebola.
And now the same people are saying the U.S. should not even allow orphans -- even those under the age of 5 -- into the country because they might be "terrorists."
It Is Not About "We"
We can't say there is a "we" behind this special resonance of Paris. It is not a "we" of civilization; Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East. We can't say this is "Westerners" expressing a sympathy of similars; there are millions of people in the U.S. who are of Middle Eastern descent, and they are part of the "we" that is the United States. There are millions more who constitute the "we" of Europe.
So what about Beirut? What is it about the people in Beirut -- and Baghdad and Syria and so many other places under attack by ISIS -- that makes them somehow different from the people in Paris, somehow less worthy of our attention and empathy and solidarity?
ISIS is at war with humanity, and those of us who are human should express our sympathy for and solidarity with all humans suffering these attacks.
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