Paris Attack: Welcoming Refugees Is A Test Our Values

16 11 2015

Syrian Boy Recounts ISIS Torture

I was kept there for ten days. For the first two days, we were forced to stand upright. I was blindfolded and my hands were tied with plastic cord. I still have the scars.

I was terrified. More than 100 of us were kept in a room in the school. After two days I was taken out of the room to be interrogated. I hadn’t eaten anything or drunk any water, and I was extremely weak. They hung me up from the ceiling by my wrists, with my feet off the ground, and then I was beaten. They wanted us to speak, to confess to something.

Most people only last an hour before they pass out. If you were hung up like that for more than two hours, you’d die. I passed out. I passed out from the severe pain of hanging like that, and from the beating. They took me down and threw cold water on my face to wake me up. Then they took turns stubbing out their cigarettes on me. Here, I have these scars….12-year Old Syrian Boy recounts his suffering in the hands of ISIS

While the West and Russia trades accusations, and play political chess games in Syria, ISIS and other armed jihadist spread terror filling social media with videos of beheadings. Recent Russian bombing, especially around the northern city of Aleppo, has enabled ISIS to advance into villages previously held by the more moderate groups. Ordinary Syrians are fleeing their homeland, hundreds of thousands are crossing perilous seas in dingy boats to Europe, to a grudging welcome by few Europeans countries who have not yet put up the barbed wires.

With recent ISIS shooting in Paris, even the “grudging welcome” may soon turn to “barb- wired rejection.” Reactionary mainstream media are already whipping up sentiments; “Today’s refugee is tomorrow’s terrorist “scoffed a CNN anchor yesterday. Politicians are also chipping in,” Stop the insanity of welcoming refugee,” screamed former republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney

Times of trial test our deepest values. As winter draws closer, if the West shuts her doors in the face of tired, cold and hungry women and children fleeing terror; then they would be much worse than the ISIS they fear. For ISIS kill in cold blood by the “hundreds”, they would be killing by the “tens of hundreds” in truly cold blood.