Paris and Terrorism: Living with Fear
When I arrived in Paris six years ago as a Kurdish university student, terrorism and Islamic radicalization were not even topics of discussion on campus. Today, the threat of terrorism is on everyone's mind. Parisians have seen their city dramatically transformed in the wake of the last year's terrorist massacre at the Bataclan.
The terroristic attacks have damaged the "Paname" — a word for Paris and its suburbs. Paris is wounded. The mood is tense. The City of Light is slowly healing.
Image Credit: DailyMail UK
Beyond the tragic loss of human life, the economic fallout has been severe. Hardest hit is tourism in a city that has long been one of most popular holiday destinations in the world. Following the terrorist attacks last November, Paris hotel reservations and flight bookings dropped by half. According to the New York Times, in the first 72 hours after the attacks, the Parisian hotel sector reported a $530,000 loss. According to more recent reports, the French hotel industry has suffered €750 million in losses over the past year with hotel stays in Paris dropping by 11.4 percent.
Behind the hard numbers, the social impact is more visible to the naked eye. You have only to stroll down the Champs-Elysées to see the heightened levels of security, including soldiers, in front of stores and shopping malls. Shoppers cannot enter stores without being asked to open their bags for security checks. It's inconvenient, but in my opinion, it's the only appropriate given the terrorist threat.
In my view, European countries with large Muslim populations should have taken precautions and started increasing security levels immediately after the emergence of ISIS and refugee flows from the Middle East. Europe, especially France, is vulnerable to terrorist attacks. They cannot know when and how these attacks will strike especially now that terrorism is brewing from within their own society.
Kurdistan, where I am from, is still fighting ISIS with Western allies like France and the United States. The difference is that in Kurdistan, we thankfully know where terrorist attacks might come from. European countries don’t have the same luxury as they fight against radicalized Islamists inside their own societies. With terrorists who are brainwashed teenagers without any understanding of Islam as a religion, countries such as France are up against complex problems.
Against this backdrop, Parisians are searching for ways to protect themselves. Just outside Paris, a training zone has opened to teach French citizens how to protect themselves. Parisians who are in search of equipment or tools that can help them escape dangerous situations in case of an attack now have an answer. There are videos and articles posted online (see below) to teach people what to do to survive an attack. Did Parisians or residents of other European cities give much thought to protection training and safety against terrorism before ISIS? The answer is obvious.
I interviewed several families — French and foreign — about how they are responding to the threat. Many said they are worried when they leave their houses. Some explained how they take precautions by scouting their surroundings when going out and telling their children to be more careful. They tell them to avoid crowded places. One told me, “I am really worried about my family... we have never lived in a situation like this… I pay maximum attention when taking my children to school and I am worried about them.” Others explained how they are trying to learn techniques to escape an attack and survive in case police can’t reach them. Another family I interviewed explained how they pay more attention to people’s body language and that they try to avoid going to concerts, sports matches and other crowded places as much as they can.
