TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Since early dawn on Saturday, two weeks ago, Paris is no longer just a name. This metropolitan city of 3 million people became a symbol of human suffering.
Three groups of armed people carried out brutal attacks on three locations filled with people. A total of 132 people were killed and at least 349 others were wounded. French President Francois Hollande, who was present at one of the sites attacked perhaps he may have been the the major target of the terrorists escaped from harm. It was the worst violent attack in France since World War II.
Predictably, in just a matter of hours, the terror group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack. Once again, these horrific events have affected our sense of humanity and civility, raising questions of diversity and how religion of any kind can overcome the adversity.
Understandbly, Hollande immediately declared France to be at war with ISIS and asked the National Assembly, the country's lower house, to declare a state of emergency for the next three months.
A former member of the French Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Agency (DGSE) made a very interesting statement: French intelligence was never really prepared to face terrorist attacks. French participation in the air attacks against ISIS strongholds in Syria has not been accompanied with the awareness of possible 'vengeful' actions within France itself.
At the start of the year, three armed man attacked the editorial office of the weekly publication Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people. Two days later, an Algerian couple took hostage the customers of a Jewish grocery store, killing four people. The two incidents happened in Paris.
Europe has indeed been shaken by ISIS. Before the recent Paris terror attacks, a Russian airplane crashed on the Sinai desert. ISIS again claimed the incident as one of their operations.
In the meantime, some 6,000 European citizens have gone to the Middle East to join militant groups there, with some of them travelling back and forth to Europe. More than 500 French citizens have joined ISIS, half of them having returned back to France.
'The war on terrorism' as envisioned by Hollande and backed by US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be just a matter of time. But more importantly, there should also a 'war against the roots of terrorism'. Acts of blind revenge are unlikely to resolve the problem. The airstrikes of the United States and its allies on Iraq on March 2003 triggered the continuation of war, not ended it. Similarly, the terror in Paris cannot be used as an excuse to reject migrants fleeing the war and seeking shelter in the European countries and in the United States.
Two 'roots of terrorism' are stupidity and a communication paralysis. What is needed, therefore, is a movement that believes that terrorism, in all forms, originates from a 'misguided ideology' that gains currency around the world. The warped ideology should be replaced by one that is more civilized and more humanitarian.
The terror in Paris has united the civilized world. This global unity must be used to raise people's awareness of the threat of terrorism everywhere around us. This is particularly vital since one of the perpetrators of the Paris attack, according to the Jakarta Police chief, once lived in Bandung for about three years. (*)
