Atrocity Central.

The Manchester attack has been dominating the headlines today, and rightly so. Children injured and dead, innocent lives lost ... it's an atrocity that is quite justifiably angering many. The arsehole behind it deserves a punishment worse than death, but sadly the world doesn't work like that.

What bugs me the most though, is the fact that if this were in Syria or other countries in the Middle East, it wouldn't dominate the news quite so much. I don't know what it is about us Brits, but when it comes to atrocities like this, we care more about our own home soil than the fact that it's happening worldwide. That's not to say the attack wasn't horrific - it was - but this kind of stuff happens almost daily between Israel and Palestine. It's still happening in Iraq, in Iran, Pakistan, Yemen ... this shit happens to other people too, and it infuriates me that people see one country as more "worthy" of headlines than others.

Let's get one thing straight - killing innocent people is wrong. Period. Wherever you come from, whatever your background, killing innocent people is wrong. So why is it that I see a huge outpouring of support for the Manchester attacks, but not for the bombings in Yemen? Why was the Charlie Hebdo attack more newsworthy than Boko Haram snatching young girls to force them into sex with ISIL soldiers? This is what pisses me off - terrorism is wrong, no matter what country you come from or what culture you live in. 

And of course there'll be those saying "Oh well she doesn't think we care" or "We should look to our own first", and you're right. We should look to our own. We should also look to those in impoverished countries dying of starvation because their government denies them basic human rights. We should also be looking to negotiate peace where it is possible, to help those who need it, and to embody the human rights we so vehemently uphold. I have neighbours who are Eastern European, and the amount of love and support those people give each other is remarkable. I also have British neighbours who couldn't give a rat's ass about each other.

I'm not saying the Manchester attack wasn't horrific. It was, and my heart honestly breaks for all those affected. What I am saying is that if you're going to condemn these attacks, condemn all of them. Condemn the female genital mutilation that takes place in some African countries. Condemn the brutality of ISIL/ISIS/Daesh/whatever they call themselves now. Condemn the bombings in Syria, Yemen ... condemn the murder of Rohingya Muslims in Burma. Don't just limit yourself to condemning terrorism in England. Terrorism is wrong wherever it occurs.