Paris can beat fear of terror with more love

Paris is often called the ‘city of love’, but it now suffers from a surfeit of hate that is giving rise to terror attacks. Wednesday’s incident in the French capital bore the hallmark of Daesh attacks that are becoming increasingly familiar in Europe: Lone attackers unleashing fear using speeding vehicles, brandishing knives, and in some cases homemade bombs. It won’t be long before Daesh claims this attack as well. The extremist group and its sympathisers have owned up most of the attacks in the city in recent times. They have been doing it to keep the city, its people, and Europe on tenterhooks. Paris has been in a state of emergency since November 2015 when 130 people were killed in a carnage. Beefed up security, however, hasn’t deterred those who despise the city and the liberal values it espouses. More than 100 people have since been killed in various other attacks. In June, police shot a man who attacked an officer outside the NotreDame cathedral. In April, an attacker shot dead a policeman on the Champs-Elysées. How long will people in this city that redefined love in modern times live in fear of unknown hitmen from killer outfits?

Daesh is being pushed out of its sanctuaries in Iraq and Syria; the extremist group is finding new ways to spread its wings in Europe with lone wolves and hit teams. They are advocating simple ways to create chaos, and it is shocking how their pleas online are finding eager followers. Many are willing to give their lives for a hopeless cause, and security agencies know there is no foolproof mechanism to ensure such attacks do not happen again. One would imagine that foreign terrorists or the ones returning from terror camps pose a challenge to European cities. But countries are also grappling with the rise of homegrown terrorists who have found refuge in deadly ideologies, and are willing to cross the line of brutality. Paris is liberal, secular and democratic. Love is the perfect foil for these ideals. Terror will never prevail.