Norte Dame Tragedy & The Hypocrisy Of The Grieving West

By Mohamed Harees –APRIL 19, 2019

Lukman Harees

‘Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue’ – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

What happened in Paris where one of the world’s iconic monuments Norte Dame became an unfortunate victim of a raging fire ,was tragic and heart breaking. The sincere grief shown by the world leaders including the West and the hash tag laden expressions of sadness ablaze in the social media were touching and emotional. Trump even suggested in his usual style that perhaps flying tankers could be used to douse the flames. EU President bewailed the sad spectacle of the fire, referring to the Norte Dame as an institution allegedly belonging to the whole humanity. Around 1 Bn Euros have been pledged to reconstruct the cathedral, with most money coming from  few elite families connected with Paris’ fashion houses.

It was indeed, a globally significant  monument ,well known for its intrinsic arts and architectural value, beyond being a Christian landmark. The expression of  global grief at all levels is understandable and part of our human value system. However the problem lies in the selective nature of the grief , sorrow and sadness shown and the double standards and hypocrisy shown particularly by the so-called leaders of the West. The fires set ablaze as a result of the West’s  imposed wars and terror in various parts of the world specially the  ME in partnership with the regional dictators, have become so commonplace and routine that the world outside has taken them as given and resultantly been immune to the innumerable tragedies of killings, violence , casualties and famine. Besides, what if these types of laudable gestures of pledge to restore this iconic monument, was also equally made to put an end at least to the most horrified scenes of ‘banlieues’ ( ghettos) in their own backyard in Paris. The recent gilet jaunes protests are a testimony to the extent of marginalisation in France. These types of prioritising  bricks over bones and human lives are common in today’s secular world. Perhaps, this tragedy would awaken the world’s conscience, where it realises there are many more different things and people to save, beyond just Western artefacts.

Recently, the world saw on TV how WikiLeaks co-founder Assange was pulled out of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, possibly to be extradited to US. His revelations included

the horrific adventures the US/UK combine did in Iraq ,Afghanistan and the ME and thus it was not in the interests of the West to keep him out revealing their well guarded secrets about their evil plans in the rest of the world. Today, many other countries have been dismembered in the ME- Libya, Syria and Yemen have been made anarchic and bombed back to Stone Age. Gaza and Occupied territories in Palestine are ruined beyond imagination, becoming a hell hole ion earth. Millions have died , rendered homeless and undergoing famine and health related issues, thanks to the trigger happy tantrums of Bush and his poodle Blair. Even ISIS was a Western construct according to even Western experts. Apart from occasional condemnations and expressions of grief, there has been no serious measures even by the UN to hold those guilty of war crimes in the West to account.

Calls for Trump’s flying tankers and such expressions of heart  breaking grief were palpably absent when far more serious tragedies have been staking place in the world. Zionist Israel periodically undertakes land grabbing, forming settlements illegally and bombing expeditions in Gaza, the largest open prison camp in the world, killing hundreds and destroying Palestinian homes and heritage. During the Israel’s operation in 2014, more than 2250 Palestinians including women and children were killed. Israeli Ambassador to the US bodily declared that it is Israel’s right to bomb hospitals but  this horror hardly elicited serious condemnations. In 2018, hundreds of peaceful protesters were killed near the Gaza fence, while US recognised Jerusalem as the capital of the Zionist State. Recently, the US recognition extended to Golan heights too. Many Palestinian artefacts are being destroyed on a regular basis by the Zionist regime.

What happens in Yemen is really heart breaking  to say the least. The worst inhumane catastrophe in recent times according to UN ,unravelling in this poor nation due to the brutal war waged on them by Saudi and UAE supported by US military hardware and software does not attract the similar Norte Dame type condemnations or concerns around the world. Around 85,000 may have died due to starvation and malnutrition and 40 school children recently lost their lives due to a US supplied bomb. For many Barack Obama is a saint and a model US leader. But in his time , 26,171 bombs were dropped on the world in a single year|(2016) and drones were leisurely used to killed innocents in Afghanistan. Today, he was mourning about the destruction of history when Norte Dame was ablaze, when he had been part of destruction of history elsewhere. Hilary Clinton too expressed similar type mourning. Trump’s ‘feats’ in double talk and adopting double standards are open secrets. It is a shame that many tragic realities more graver than the Norte Dame have not been getting the same raging empathy.

Thus, the hypocritical outbursts of emotion and mourns from leaders such as Macrons, Obamas, Trumps and Mays belie their own countries’ complicity in killings ,destruction and wars in many other parts of the world. For them, a burning monument is their own backyard is something to grieve upon whereas evil consequences of many  events undertaken to pursue their own strategic interests elsewhere are justifiable. There are many elites in Paris  who will pledge money in millions to reconstruct the burning cathedral (quite justifiably), but would not part with their funds when it comes to rehabilitation of their own backyards. The ‘humane’ treatment of refugees in the Calais jungle in France or those from the other  side of Mexican ‘wall’ in USA is wishful thinking! What is referred here is not about expressing grief for Norte Dame ;rather total lack of proportion generated in collective grief emerging from the decision making rooms in the west, when compared with other worst tragedies elsewhere ironically  created by them.

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