Up in Arms
Taking Responsibility for the Violence
by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez
I have to admit that I was not paying much attention to the bombardment of the city of Homs, Syria — now in its 25th day — before the deaths of two Western journalists there last week.
That is completely typical of me as a Western observer sitting comfortably at my desk, far from the tumult and terror of war.
I sat complacently at my desk during the bombardments of Sarajevo in the 1990s, and Baghdad in 2003-4. I was hardly aware of what was going on in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1994. Glimmers of awareness come and go about the current violence in the Congo, or in Burma.
For the most part, I go about my business like any animal would, focusing on what’s in front of me. As long as my belly is full and my personal security is not threatened, I can give a big yawn at the evening news, and go peacefully to sleep. (more…)
