On November 13, the coordinated attack by ISIS militants targeted the French capital, which left 130 people dead and hundreds more wounded, received worldwide media attention. Around the same time as the attack on Paris, 43 civilians were also killed in Beirut, Lebanon.

Anne Barnard of the New York Times reported on this double standard in her article, “Beirut, Also the Site of Deadly Attacks, Feels Forgotten.” Some people in Lebanon began to question whether the world noticed their suffering. I interviewed Hassan Talib, who witnessed the Beirut attack.

Visiting his family and friends back in the city, Hassan Talib experienced one of the most devastating attacks Beirut has seen since the civil war of the 1990s. Talib said, “I was in Habib’s Café playing pool with my cousin. I was right around the block from the bombing when all of the sudden, the glass windows of the café exploded all over the place as my head spun.”

After the blast, Talib tried to get his head together and moved his jaw and mouth so his ears would stop ringing. Talib tensed and became emotional as he described what happened. “I was trying to stand up and get cautious when I awoke a bit I looked at my legs and hands as they were all bloody from the glass; everyone left the café. Then I looked from the window and saw really dark smoke and people screaming all over the place. However, the harshest moment was when I got out and looked at some bodies and blood around me. My eyes were pouring with tears as I sprinted to my house praying to God my brothers and father were still there. They were all there; it was the first time that I ever saw my father cry,” he said.

So far what is known is that seven of the Beirut bombing suspects are Syrian and two are Lebanese, according to the Interior Lebanese Minister, Nuhad Mashnuq. This led to suspicion among Lebanese citizens that refugees had a hand in the attack. When I asked Talib if he felt Syrian refugees are the reason behind this attack, he said “I want to say no, but I do think that a small portion of these refugees is young male ISIS members, who played a role in preparing for this attack. Not all, though!” According to Michael Karam of The Spectator, in his article, "How Lebanon is coping with more than a million Syrian refugees,” Lebanon has accepted “around 1.5 million Syrians, a number equivalent to a third of its population.”

“The attack was inevitable; over the course of history, Syria and Lebanon were one country during the Ottoman Empire. Even though Syria and Lebanon are now independent countries, they still depend on each other. Ever since the Syrian revolts started against Assad, Lebanon has been vulnerable to Syria’s instability,” Talib said.

Talib went on to say, “People think the Middle East is a battlefield. The Middle East was home to the greatest leaders and originators in science, literature, and art. Lebanon was also called the Paris of the Middle East before wars took advantage of it.” Responding to what happened in Paris, Talib stated, “After the attacks on both Paris and Beirut, we all have recognized these barbarians’ absolute threat to society. So this isn’t only a Syrian crisis, this is a worldwide dilemma that must be put down ....Instead of hating on each other, we must all unite in the face of radicalism and say enough is enough.”

To end the interview, I asked Talib if he had one message to the public, what it would be? “At the end of the day, we have to interact with one another, we have to smile, and we have to keep our hearts pure. We can’t afford to hate each other like what is happening today; love will always outweigh hate. No matter who you are or where you come from, remember that together we are better, stronger, and imperishable.”