Guernica

Guernica. Paris, June 4, 1937. Oil on canvas, 349.3 x 776.6 cm
Image licenced to Stephen Forsling FORSLING, STEPHEN by Stephen Forsling
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© Erich Lessing / Art Resource

This article originally appeared at Politika translated by Stevo Marjanović exclusively for SouthFront

Noon. Paris and “La Marseillaise.” Waking-up is painful and unpleasant. What happened in April 1937 in Guernica was a true shock for everyone. For the first time civilians were a target, while the planes flew so high that you could barely see them. Until that day, one army fought against another army. There were killings, but everyone followed the basic rule of protecting the civilians. This military code was replaced by a shameless world in which every soldier would be protected and in which only civilians will be hostages and victims.

They say, that Belgrade was bombed in 1999 to protect the human rights in Kosovo. As far as I know, soldiers didn’t die at Valmy to protect human rights, but to protect their national borders. And everyone who lost the sense of defending the borders has lost his mind.

That day, when Europe, in the name of sovereignty, gave up on borders, when humanity was replaced with politics, when Europe allowed to bomb one European city – Belgrade, for the first time since 1945, Europe sank into a mess and madness. Because the war in Europe, the war against Serbia, was waged in the name of supranational Europe.

And now, everyone in Europe is surprised by the tragedy in Paris. Chancellor Merkel, wearing black clothes, is expressing solidarity. Obama states that everyone is grieving together with France. And they should. But, was there solidarity with Russia and Beslan? What about Moscow’s  theater, or the recent destruction of tourist plane at Sinai? Did any European wore black clothes and expressed his sorrow because of the death of the Russian tourists? Or was there a building lit in the colors of the Russian flag? None of that happened, or at least not as much as they are grieving over France. I don’t wish to measure the amount of international sorrow, it’s a tricky business, but I’m amazed with the overall feeling of safety that you can feel in the West for a long time now.

Something like the cult of eternal young body that must not grow old, an infantile dream about immortality and power all under the fake shine of unbearable purity.

Now, the French politicians say, “France is at war.” Then I guess that the bombing of Libya in 2011 was a kindergarten party, and what about the involvement in the Syrian insurgency? Maybe the French elite is living in another world? If you are throwing bombs at others far away from your territory, you have to expect that the enemy will hit you back once in a while. Because the enemy doesn’t have airplanes and submarines, it will respond to you with the one thing it is capable of – terrorism. And since the civilians are the easiest target, it will attack civilians. Because civilians are also voters.

Appeals can’t help now, nor can declarations and statements about the fight against terrorism. Because you need to agree upon what is terrorism. And since that is not possible because terrorism is some sort of extra strategy, Paris will happen again. Somewhere else. Because terrorists are financed by 40 countries…

Miroslav Lazanski