Je ne suis pas Charlie. Je suis Saman.

I am deeply saddened by the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris and I too, like all of you, condemn any terrorist attack and any form of violence towards another human being. 

The attacks in Paris are profoundly shocking and it took me a few days to process the news. My thoughts are with the families of the victims and the people of France ever since. Acts of violence are not a solution and they will never be. 

To my friends I'd like to say that hate speech is not a solution either. It is a form of violence on its own. We all, religious and non-religious people are upset, angry and hurt yet remember that we are better than the product of our anger. We are smarter. We have the luxury to access information and enjoy education and we have the means to make our voices heard and speak up. 

I condemn any extremism comments, be it on Facebook or spoken out loud, as extremism leads to extremism and I will not support any form of hate or generalization especially not when we're talking about nearly 2 billion people globally. 

Remember that there is no or very little real depth analysis in the media and that the issue is broken down into a recipe based on three ingredients: a satire, a religion and a gun. Remember that there is more to it. 

Therefore it is important to ask the right questions and I'd like to ask all of you to take the time, even when upset, to question everything you read in the media. Do your research until you find answers for yourself that you can represent and argue for. If you take a step back you might even see that history is simply repeating itself. 

We should remember that these terrorist acts are an aberration of people's faith.
We should remember more than ever to respect and protect our friends and people who are faithful and innocent as they have been and will be the target of hatespeech, insult, violence and discrimination. 
Remember to call for reason.

We should stand united against terrorist attacks and any form of extremism. We should stand united against polarization and hate. We should stand for mutual respect and love for those who are innocent. 

Je ne suis pas Charlie. Je suis Saman.

Mute

He was standing and holding her. Tight enough to give her the support she needed, loose enough to give her space to expand her grief to its fully extend and to let it go. She was wearing the body of a mature woman but its action was the one of a child; leaning on him, slightly bent towards him - almost curled under the heavy pain. Her eyes were closed tight, her eyebrows frowned, her mouth wide open. No tears were wetting her cheeks, no sound leaving her open mouth - pure, clean, simple silence was all there was.

And I looked at him - a wise serenity was lying on his face, like a soft curtain hanging perfectly down a window. He knew all too well that holding her was all he could do.

And when I looked at her again, her face reminded me that there is a pain that we can set free, that we can cry out into the world. And that there is an overwhelming pain that fills us entirely, that leaves no air to breathe. A vacuum created by pain that leaves us - mute.