An Incident Incomprehensible

Photo credit: SlipStreamJC via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

It was a day like any other. The Sun filtered out its usual heat and let the cold freeze him a bit. The clouds were sure they loved to laze about in the sky. And BBC World News had decided to break the news about a heinous attack that took place a little after New Year's Eve.

This was the attack on a Turkish club in Istanbul. Several were injured, several were dead, and ambulances were in and out of that area.

It turns out it was a very famous club - Reina by name - in that city. The gong of the New Year had already gone off in the club and people had sparklers in their hands.

They were delighted by the glow of the fiery sparks that burst forth from the sparklers. They were glad the headache that 2016 was had come to an end. And, as one witness said, "we were looking at each other and saying: 'Never again! Never again!'"

The 'Never again' referred to the terror strikes that had riddled and harassed the peace out of Turkey all of last year. Of course, it's involvement in Syria is to be blamed and also that President Erdogan has been running the country with an iron fist that does not quite care for philosophies such as freedom and independence. At least that's the impression news reports sallying forth from Turkey seem to give.

Anyway, that which they wanted never again happened. Among the injured were several tourists. The BBC showed a man being taken into an ambulance as he spoke a language I could not comprehend. But I did understand - from his body language and the nods of his head - that the man himself could not comprehend what was happening.

If you step back from the shock of the attack - which now the ISIS claims to have orchestrated - and ponder over it all, you too may shake your head and nod in approval at all that being a mile away from comprehension.

It's like a family next door at war with itself. Being a neighbour and a kindly one, you set out to help - partly out of compassion and partly because you don't like the din all those quarrels create in your backyard.

But you get dragged in into the bargain. Your family gets involved and then there is an explosion.

Photo credit: Foter.com / CC0

Both the houses blow up. Consequently, you are furious you went to offer help, and that family is furious you could not help enough.

In the middle of all this, your own family starts to revolt. And some from both families leave for a distant land. Someday, they say to themselves, all will be well. They pack their bags and move on with or without their loves, their trade, and their souls.

And a while later, like a thunderbolt in a downpour, one of those who leave realizes it was not his or her fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. So why then must they go into exile? Why must they walk the land they were happy not knowing?

Well, as you see, it makes no sense at all...