By Michelle Abou-Raad
April 15th,
Patriots’ Day, or as we Bostonians like to call it, Marathon Monday, is a civic
holiday during which New Englanders of all ages line the streets of Boston and
its neighboring cities to cheer on runners as they hit the pavement for the 26.2
mile race (42.195 kilometers). It is a day of celebration and excitement that
everyone, especially my Boston University classmates and I, looks forward to
all year. However, this past Marathon Monday did not end with the usual
lighthearted jubilation that I have come to love. Instead, we were left with
great loss, broken hearts, and a city paralyzed by fear due to the two bombs planted at the finish line by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev.
What followed
that perilous Monday was a city and its people feeling shocked, afraid, and
distraught. Many of the emotions we felt were mollified when Tamerlan was
killed and his brother was apprehended after a statewide manhunt four days
following the bombings. When the news of Dzhokhar’s arrest reached us, everyone
felt a sense of relief as well as great patriotism. College students from
around Boston rushed to the Commons, a public park in the city, to celebrate
the “defeat of the terrorists.” Caught up in the frenzy of enthusiasm, I joined
the throng of students on their way to the Commons. However as I began walking
with the students who were chanting “USA! USA! USA!” I came to the realization
that this was no cause for celebration. Three main reasons convinced me to turn
away from the crowd and return to my room that evening.
First, the
notion that someone’s opinion could change so drastically from one week to
another alarmed me. At the Commons, students praised and cheered for the police
officers that they had been cursing and criticizing less than one week ago for
breaking up their parties. I could not help but wonder if this praise and
commendation was genuine or just a false sense of nationalism.
Another
recurring thought was what could have instigated such deadly and hateful
actions? The Tsarnaev’s were two young men who had lived in the United States
for most of their lives and seemed to be fully integrated into American society.
Planting bombs at the Marathon was obviously not a spontaneous decision. This
plan was based on an underlying motive that caused them to take such destructive
actions against a country they had inhabited for many years. We may never know
the reason for the brothers’ actions, but regardless, it is clear that there
was a serious problem and a deep hatred for the United States that drove them
to kill three people and injure almost 300 innocent civilians. Instead of
celebrating, we should have been addressing potential issues that give rise to
this type of radical behavior.
Finally, I
realized that actions of terror and violence are commonplace in many parts of
the world. On the day of the Boston Marathon bombings, 33 people were killed in
car bombings and explosions across Iraq. Seventeen people were killed in the
Central African Republic conflict the weekend before the Marathon, and about
6,000 people were estimated to have been killed in Syria in the month of March
alone. I cannot imagine living in a place such as Iraq or the Central African
Republic where people must live in constant fear of attacks. For weeks after
the bombings, I tensed up and felt pangs of worry whenever I heard sirens
outside of my window fearing that some other sort of danger had gripped my
city.
I believe it is
important to put this tragedy into perspective because the death and
destruction that Boston and its people suffered is a nightmare for many with no
happy celebration at the end of it. The Boston Marathon bombings received local,
national, and international media attention, while the tragedies that I stated
above were not even mentioned by American news syndicates. The Marathon
bombings were a grave tragedy and they should remind us to embrace a human
perspective with a broad lens. We must not only shed light upon the suffering
and hardships of victims in our city, state, or country, but also of those around
the world. Boston has received immense support and solidarity over the last few
months. The global response has been inspiring, and I truly hope that my city
and I will be able to reciprocate these thoughtful sentiments when tragedies like
this one strike other areas of the world.
Michelle Abou-Raad is currently completing an internship at Women without Borders/SAVE in Vienna.
Another
recurring thought was what could have instigated such deadly and hateful
actions? The Tsarnaev’s were two young men who had lived in the United States
for most of their lives and seemed to be fully integrated into American society.
Planting bombs at the Marathon was obviously not a spontaneous decision. This
plan was based on an underlying motive that caused them to take such destructive
actions against a country they had inhabited for many years. We may never know
the reason for the brothers’ actions, but regardless, it is clear that there
was a serious problem and a deep hatred for the United States that drove them
to kill three people and injure almost 300 innocent civilians. Instead of
celebrating, we should have been addressing potential issues that give rise to
this type of radical behavior. 
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