Bob Marley´s The Wailers

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If life in the big city is such a race to the grave, why push the pace? Sometimes it pays to pause, relax and take stock of your situation. This week Brussels, the pulsating political heart of the European Union, was under lockdown. Paris was mourning its slaughtered souls. Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet and the civil war in Syria and northern Iraq is still raging on. In the end, there are many ways in which one can respond to terrorism.

This Saturday night when I decided to go see Bob Marley’s original band “The Wailers” perform all the songs from their classic album “Legend”, I was responding in my own way. Whereas Isis glorifies death, I celebrated life through music. The ultimate aim of terrorism is not to maim or kill, but to instill fear in the hearts of millions. This venom is extremely potent and neurotoxic.

In the past, it has led to the unnecessary curtailment of civil rights, torture, unwinnable asymmetric wars of attrition in the Middle East, not to mention the sacrifice of privacy and freedom for the sake of security. Thanks to the Wailers’ performance, I have resisted my natural proclivity of embracing realism, in the international relations’ sense of the word. Instead of giving in to fear and sorrow, I still prefer to believe in the words of Bob Marley sung tonight:

“One love,

One heart,

Let’s get together and feel alright,

As it was in the beginning,

So shall it be in the end,

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right,

Let’s get together and feel alright.”