This November, one of the worst terrorist tragedies in history struck. In coordinated attacks, led by members of ISIS, suicide bombers attacked in a heavily populated area. Many people died, and many more were injured. The entire country reeled in horror—how could such a thing have happened? No, I’m not talking about Paris. I’m talking about Beirut, Lebanon.It’s a story similar to that of the Paris attacks, which happened a day later. Both attacks left dead and injured in their wake. ISIS claimed responsibility for both bombings. In both countries, citizens banded together against terrorism and arrests were made. However, you won’t find anyone on Facebook changing their profile picture to Lebanon’s flag. Why has the world overlooked the Beirut tragedy?Of course, there are a few reasonable explanations. For one, the Paris attacks were larger and more sophisticated. 129 people lost their lives in Paris, compared to at least 43 in Beirut; there were six locations in Paris attacked, as opposed to one in Beirut. But these explanations don’t hold true as there are plenty of occasions where Western media overplayed a smaller tragedy while ignoring a much larger one.Part of the reason for the incredible media bias, according to freshman Jeanne le Galcher, is that the Paris attacks were far more unanticipated. “After the attacks that occurred in January, people thought that they had strengthened the security systems so that it wouldn’t happen again…But now people are scared because they see that there’s a failure in the system.” This fear resonates with many Westerners, especially in America after 9/11. The more prejudiced reason that the media has been primarily focusing on Paris is because it’s a Western country—countries that are largely viewed as safer and farther away from the conflicts of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. “People have a tendency to think that Lebanon is in “that region,” and it happens all the time, whereas Paris is in one of those “untouchable” countries,” le Galcher (’19) adds tentatively. This is unfortunately a very common attitude among those in Western countries—news of bombs and attacks in the Middle East are no longer surprising to Western viewers. Of course, many people have also noticed the discrepancy between attention paid to the Paris attacks and the news coverage about other events in the world, like Beirut. The #prayforparis movement has been combated by #prayforworld, which aims to draw attention to other tragedies that took place around the same time as Paris and Beirut, such as bombings in Baghdad and the Syrian refugee crisis. Although the intention is good, the “Pray for World” movement still lacks the focus that the Paris movement did. “It was important that the international community acknowledged and showed their support,” le Galcher (’19) said on “Pray for Paris,” but that’s exactly where the “Pray for World” movement is lacking. Generalizing tragedies into two categories, essentially “the West” and “everywhere else,” deprives the people of Beirut and Baghdad of the support that they also need.Even though it’s understandably impossible to give equal media attention to every important international event, what’s important is that we are aware of them and recognize them. One nation’s tragedy isn’t worse than another’s, and it’s time that Western media starts showing that. It’s not a bad thing to pray for Paris, but just remember to pray for Beirut as well. This article was written by Savannah Billman. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: カランドラカス on Flickr