Heroes and peace

And so it came to pass. Sixteen hours after the siege at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in central Sydney, special police forces stormed the establishment, reportedly after hearing gunfire inside. Three people died as a result: the gunman and hostage-taker, identified as Man Haron Monis, Iranian by birth who had migrated years before to Australia and then appears to have “embraced a radical Sunni theology”; Katrina Dawson, 38, a lawyer and mother of three who allegedly died as she protected a pregnant friend when the police stormed the cafe; and Tori Johnson, 34, reportedly the cafe manager, who was wrestling with Monis for his gun.

People have called the two victims “heroes: for the way they died and their reasons for risking their lives.” A mound of flowers has grown at the cafe’s entrance, people’s mute way of paying tribute to the dead and wounded, and for expressing grief at such violence in a city, one commentator said, where “even the police don’t see the need to carry guns.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed the Australian public’s puzzlement and prevailing sadness at the tragedy. “There is nothing more Australian than dropping in at the local cafe for a morning coffee,” the Prime Minister remarked, “and it’s tragic beyond words that people going about their everyday business should have been caught up in such a horrific incident.”

While investigations are still ongoing, especially on how Monis, who was apparently already known to Australian authorities, managed to get hold of a firearm and storm a cafe in such a busy area, Abbott chose to put a positive “spin” on the aftermath of the rescue.

“These events do demonstrate that even a country as free, as open, as generous and as safe as ours is vulnerable to acts of politically motivated violence,” the Prime Minister said. “But they also remind us that Australia and Australians are resilient and we are ready to respond.”
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Although the two events are dissimilar and the outcomes, while bearing similarities, still contrast with each other, the Sydney cafe hostage-taking reminds one of the Luneta hostage incident.

While both events ended tragically, with the gunmen and some hostages dying as a result, fortunately the “retaking” of the Lindt Chocolate Cafe was not replete with the shocking, dismaying images of incompetence and recklessness that we all saw on our TV screens in 2010, as Manila police tried to “take” the tourist bus parked in front of the Luneta Grandstand.

Police in Australia say they do not believe Monis was part of a bigger or organized plot, even if one of his two demands was for a flag bearing the symbol of the Islamic State. His desire to hold up an Isis flag could have been a way of validating the ties he felt with the growing Islamic terrorist group.

Just goes to prove that we don’t even need an organized terrorist operation to paralyze a major city or take innocent lives. All we need is an unhinged individual who believes he (or she) has a valid grievance against government, authorities or an adopted land, and is willing to risk his own life, along with others’, in pursuit of retribution.
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On the home front, hopes are high that peace and silence will reign, if even just momentarily, with the declaration of a truce and ceasefire by both the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces with the CPP/NPA/NDF.

The “Somo” (suspension of military operations) will cover the period from Dec. 19 to Jan. 19, explained by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles as being “in line with government’s Christmas tradition, as we have always wished to provide for our people’s peaceful and joyful celebration of this holy season and a hope-filled welcome to a New Year.”

No response yet has been heard from the communist rebels, although they have traditionally accepted the ceasefire offer in years past. After all, even rebels should welcome the chance to put down their arms and spend the holidays with their loved ones.

Aside from giving both sides in the insurgency a break from hostilities, the ceasefire, said Deles, should also “allow unhampered rehabilitation of calamity-affected communities, many of which are also conflict-affected, and sustain the goodwill generated from the positive results of the collective disaster preparedness undertaken by government and communities.”
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Silencing of guns at this time of year, added Deles, should allow authorities as well as the public at large to push through with “preparations for and celebration of Pope Francis’ visit,” which could be “carried out with undistracted reflection and prayers and deep hope for abundant blessing to be showered on our people.”

The peace adviser had one last wish for the nation in these days of feasting and praying: “After the difficult trials of the past Christmas seasons, we pray for a peaceful, happy and hopeful season for everyone—a chance for all families and communities to come together in celebration and steadfast hope.”

Hope—that is a commodity in short supply in this time of conflict, violence and different forms (and modes) of terrorism. But it somehow surges anew around this time of year, even, or especially so, for rebels.

They are, after all, men and women (as are our soldiers) who do what they do in pursuit of a dream for our country, even if the methods they have chosen contrast and contradict. May everyone use this breather to reflect and to remember, and perhaps find peace in all our hearts.