People are wondering where the ‘Pray for Mogadishu’ hashtags are :-: Metro

People are wondering where the ‘Pray for Mogadishu’ hashtags are :-: Metro

METRO MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – OCTOBER 14 : Scene of a massive explosion is seen in the capital Mogadi..

METRO

People are wondering where the 'Pray for Mogadishu' hashtags are
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – OCTOBER 14 : Scene of a massive explosion is seen in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia on October 14, 2017. At least 23 people have died and many others injured after a truck bomb detonated in Mogadishu. (Photo by Sadak Mohamed/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

On Saturday a terrorist truck bombing in Mogadishu killed more than 300 people, and injured another 200.

Not only was it the worst terror attack in Somalia’s history, but it was one of the deadliest of any country in the world.

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However, many have said there is a marked difference between how people are reacting to this attack, and how they responded to those in Europe and America.

After attacks in Paris, Nice, Berlin, Orlando, Manchester, London and Las Vegas, hashtags such as #PrayforLondon or #JeSuisParis quickly trended on social media.

Which has left people wondering why there is comparatively little support for Mogadishu, despite the death toll being so catastrophically high.

India R. McGee tweeted: ‘If what happened in #Mogadishu had happened in Milan or Milwaukee or Middlesbrough we wouldn’t still be talking about Harvey Weinstein.’

If what happened in #Mogadishu had happened in Milan or Milwaukee or Middlesbrough we wouldn’t still be talking about Harvey Weinstein…

— India R. McGee (@innajongee) October 17, 2017

And Ta Lungaz added: ‘Mogadishu blast is not even trending… Africa u a on ur own.’

Mogadishu blast is not even trending..Africa u a on ur own…?

— Ta Lungaz (@Gqanyi) October 15, 2017

I'm baffled . Nearly 200 people die in a bomb blast in #Mogadishu#Somalia and we don't even seem aware in the UK. Geez if this was Paris ?

— Sheldon (@DamonTrott) October 15, 2017

Writing about the issue on Facebook, Detroit law professor Khaled Beydoun went further and questioned why it wasn’t being given the same prominence by international broadcasters and newspapers.

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‘I hate comparing human tragedies, but the mainstream media makes you do it,’ he wrote on Sunday.

‘Listen, the number of people killed in Somalia yesterday was more than 10x more (230+) than the number killed in the terror attack in Manchester in May (22). 230 to 22.

‘Yet, there are no slogans claiming “We Are Mogadishu” and no catchy images floating around social media demonstrating solidarity. Most shamefully, there is little mainstream media attention documenting the ungodly death and devastation in Somalia’s capital, and certainly no television specials or emergency fundraisers providing aid. None and none and none.

People are wondering where the 'Pray for Mogadishu' hashtags are
Small groups in the UK have been organising vigils and rallies to remember the victims (Picture: UCL BME Network)

‘We get it – white and Western, European and American victims ‘merit’ the media attention and the public alarm it spurs, and Black and foreign, African and Muslims do not. This is institutionalized within mainstream media, social media and elsewhere.

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‘And the implicit message rendered by this lack of coverage is that that this brand of terror is “indigenous and common” to places like Somalia, African and Muslim-majority countries at large.

‘This is an expected effect of structural Islamophobia and anti-Black racism that deserves critique, and both middle fingers. But so do our own who swiftly rush to express solidarity with European and American cities but stay silent when terror, of an even greater scale, strikes cities that are predominantly Muslim, Black, Brown and poor.

‘The same media channels that pressure you, me and us to claim “I Am Manchester” or “I Am Las Vegas” preempts the possibility of doing the same for places like Mogadishu. So F**t It, I Am Mogadishu.’

People are wondering where the 'Pray for Mogadishu' hashtags are
Somali businessmen stand near the scene of last Saturday’s explosion in KM4 street in the Hodan district in Mogadishu (Picture: Reuters)
People are wondering where the 'Pray for Mogadishu' hashtags are
People gather at the scene of a massive explosion in front of Safari Hotel in the capital Mogadishu (Picture: EPA)
People are wondering where the 'Pray for Mogadishu' hashtags are
Scene of a massive explosion is seen in Mogadishu (Picture: Getty Images)

However, some countries did show solidarity with the attack by dimming the lights of their national monuments.

Most prominently, the Eiffel Tower went dark on Monday night out of respect for the hundreds that were killed.

People are wondering where the 'Pray for Mogadishu' hashtags are
The lights of the Eiffel Tower in the French capital Paris are switched off on October 16 in remembrance of those killed in Mogadishu (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

And small groups in the UK have been organising vigils and rallies to remember the victims – although nowhere near on the same scale as those organised after attacks in Europe.

Three days on, people in Mogadishu are still searching for their loved ones among the debris, and are struggling to clear away the rubble and charred human remains.

Around 165 victims have now been buried without being identified, as their bodies were so burned they were beyond recognition.

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