Following ISIS attacks in Paris, France, French President François Hollande has said “France is at war.”
On Friday, Nov. 13, eight ISIS terrorists wounded more than 352 people and killed 129 people in six attacks. Seven of the terrorists were suicide bombers, and the eighth attacker, who is believed to be Salah Abdeslam is still on the run.
In the early morning raids of a northern Paris building on Nov. 18, another terrorist detonated herself while the French police searched for Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the attacks. She was allegedly Abaaoud’s cousin. Police detained seven people in the raid, none of which were Abaaoud or Abdeslam.
“I was very shocked when I found out about the attacks, the first thing I thought about was my friends in Paris were and if they were okay,” French teacher Dr. Mami said. “There is nothing that can justify what happened Friday evening, nothing.”
Following the attacks, social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, flooded with news and support of the victims. Many artists and graphic designers made artwork to mourn the loss of the victims and show respect. Over 6 million posts on Instagram and over 8 millions tweets included the hashtag #PrayForParis.
Once the news was released Friday night over 11 major world cities lit influential buildings in the French colors of blue, white and red. These buildings included the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia; The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada; The One World Trade Center in New York, United States; and the Tower Bridge in London, England. On Nov. 13, The Eiffel Tower turned off all it’s lights to mourn the victims, but on Nov. 16 they became illuminated in the French colors to honor them.
“I think the public sometimes forgets about ISIS and the terrible things they have done,” sophomore Ryan Narwoit said. “All of this brings back public interest. When people are scared, they do something.”
On Nov. 16, French President François Hollande called for a special congressional meeting in Versailles to speak about terrorism and the attacks from Friday. He focused on how to fix issues that arose in their national defence, including amending the French constitution to allow police to react more efficiently to terrorism and the plan to create over 8,500 jobs in the defence workforce.
“We are not in a war of civilizations. These assassins don’t represent a civilization,” Hollande said. “We know, and it is cruel to admit, that French people killed other French people on Friday. Terrorism won’t destroy the Republic, because the Republic will destroy terrorism.”