Ken Berwitz
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
– Martin Niemoller
Today\’s quote comes to us from CNN\’s Martin Savidge, reporting from Paris. Yesterday, Mr. Savidge said this about the November 13 terrorist attacks in that city:
“I think what reallyhas shaken the people of Paris, they\’ve grown accustomed to the idea that ofcourse the city is a target. But thisparticular assault, aside from the sheer numbers of people that were killed orwounded, it was the neighborhoods that were struck. It was the fact that thistime no one was spared. It wasn\’t that a person was picked out because of theirfaith. It wasn\’t because a person was picked out because of their jobs such asCharlie Hebdo. This was just people – any kind of person. And that has reallyshaken the people of Paris. This time you could not explain it away as somebodyelse\’s threat.”
Let\’s start with the fact that Martin Savidge does not know what he\’s talking about. Survivors\’ accounts of the attack tell us that the terrorists asked people to recite passages from the Quran. Those who could were assumed to be Muslim and spared. Those who could not were killed.
Other than that – and, admittedly, it\’s a big “that” – Savidge has a point.
I suspect that a great many Parisians see Jews the way they see Muslims: not real French people. And when the Charlie Hebdo/Kosher market attack took place in January, they saw it as specific to defined, limited groups – journalists and Jews – rather than to average Parisian men and women.
This time they don\’t; this time it is clearly an attack on their concept of average Parisians, thus an attack on them.
I award Martin Savidge Quote Of The Day honors for getting this part of it right – while being so dead-on wrong about victims not being picked out because of their faith. Funny how at least some part of the truth comes from sloppy (or, worse still, intentionally incorrect) reporting.
