Hope in Paris: ‘I Will Not Give You the Satisfaction of Hating You”

Hope in Paris

The massacre in Paris that killed 129 people has shaken people all over the world. The carnage and devastation the terrorists left behind will haunt us for years to come. During this time when the world stood still, millions of people flooded to support the French. Some used the French flag as their profile image on Facebook. People lit candles and prayed for the innocent. Governments of the world vowed to take action against the crimes that claimed so many lives. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would bolster military forces to combat terrorism. Buildings all over the world lit up with the colors of the French flag to stand in solidarity. Terrorists want us to feel fear, so we hide, and that is how they win. But not these brave people. Here are quotes from those who lost their loved ones, and those standing with the country.

No Satisfaction

A husband wrote a letter after his wife was murdered in the attack. Antoine Leiris is a journalist at France Bleu and wrote on behalf of himself and his 17-month-old son. He penned he would not allow hatred to consume him. "On Friday evening you stole the life of an exceptional person, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred. "I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know, you are dead souls. If this God for whom you kill blindly made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife is a wound in his heart. So no, I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you. You obviously want it, but to respond to hatred with anger would be to give in to the same ignorance that made you what you are."