@CiC -
Although it is grim to celebrate the deaths of two young women, it comes from a place of frustration. Austria, their nation of origin, is a safe and socially progressive nation that has put its darkest days behind itself to create an inclusive and strong country its inhabitants and citizens can be proud of. The country created an environment that allowed the families of these young girls to practice their religion and develop their own ideas and communicate with the outside world. As women, it afforded them equal opportunities in life to education, interpersonal relationships, and even to drive a car. Austria allowed them to make their own decisions.
They made the decision to spit in the face of the country and join a group that has stated it openly seeks to destroy the ideals of the west which include the freedom they took for granted.
Out of fear and frustration Austria and Germany, along with Italy (and years earlier Russia) went through revolutionary changes and elected leaders who promised strong leadership and protection of their own ideals. Nationalism reigned strong and "otherness" was rejected. If you didn't support the country's ideals and become a part of the "sameness" that the leaders promoted, you were dealt with.
Whether you believe the holocaust was real or not, CiC, or if you feel the numbers of European Jews who were terminated are exaggerated, you have to acknowledge that Germany and Italy, and independently Russia, did specifically persecute those populations.
Now, just over half a century later we'd all like to believe we're in a better place. Marriage equality between races and genders has been established. Governmental discrimination against certain groups is far less than what it used to be (although we can all acknowledge systematic racism still exists) and social mobility at an all time high. Your birth circumstances do not dictate how you may live your life.
But these girls rejected that. An ideology who they felt was so closely associated with their religion seduced them. Daesh's brand of Islamic interpretation was too much for them to resist, in spite of the endless information available to them to warn them.
They picked up and moved to a known warzone, whos tragedies are featured on nearly every newscast, expecting paradise. They flaunted their defiance and figuratively told the people of the west that the struggles they faced.. that the tens of millions who died for the freedom in which they were raised was for nothing. I'm not being dramatic when I say people feel they figuratively spit on the grave on every soldier who fought for the relative luxury in which they were raised.
They then arrived at the front and became propaganda pieces. Media darlings. Recruiting tools. They found their paradise until they were no longer good enough for headlines. Then reality set in.
I don't think we'll ever truly know WHY they fled... but they realized their mistake too late. They realized that they made the wrong choice. And they died for it because their hosts (who later became captors) disagreed with their decision to flee.
Austria disagreed with their decision to leave the country but they certainly wouldn't have been slaughtered for it.
A lot of people are scared and frustrated. The powder keg is heating up.
Chilling message from menacing migrants who say either borders are open or die | World | News | Daily Express
We need to measure how we react. This is how Hitlers start.
