No single religion, creed or race has the monopoly of good people. Good and bad people are in every religion, race or creed. All kinds of people are available in all society. The story that has been trending in the aftermath of the Paris attacks about a Muslim by the name Zouheir purported to have saved lives at the Stade De France has been proven to be a myth. On the other hand, a Muslim restaurant worker of Algerian descent,saved the lives of two injured women during the deadly Paris attacks. His name is Safer.
Zouheir, only recounted the story of the police officer who stopped the terrorist from gaining entry into the Stade De France on Friday night when France took on Germany in an international friendly match. The police officer’s action did saved many lives including probably that of Francois Hollande, the French President. But it was not Zoubeir as he was stationed elsewhere.
In spite of the obvious fact that Zouheir was not the hero that prevented untold carnage at the Stade De France, many hailed him as a hero – and sometimes specifically as a Muslim hero – on social networks and on news sites including the Mirror, the Huffington Post and others. Even Piers Morgan in a headline on Mail Online “brave Muslim named Zouheir” hailed him, but that story was later edited
“Zouheir” has been mentioned more than 8,000 times on Twitter, with all of the most popular tweets in reference to the Paris story. Several users claimed that there was some sort of cover-up happening around the story, or that it was being suppressed due to supposed anti-Muslim media bias. Others shared it to highlight what they thought was an “important” story and a “ray of hope” in a grim situation. Hundreds of posts were also shared on Facebook and Instagram hailing Zouheir for what he did not do.
Safer, the true hero of Friday night attacks in Paris is largely ignored and forgotten. A man who pulled two injured women into the basement as the gunfire continues to rage on the street. This is his account of the event, “I was at the counter. We heard explosions – really loud bangs. Everyone started screaming, glass rained down on us. It was awful. There was glass all over the place, hitting us in our faces,” he said.
It was then he saw two injured women outside the restaurant. “I saw two women out on the terrace had been hit. One in the wrist and in the other in the shoulder. They were bleeding really badly.” “I picked them up and rushed them downstairs to the basement. I sat with them and tried to stop the bleeding,” Safer added.
Safer’s story resembles that of Lassana Bathily, who was hailed as a hero for hiding a group of frightened Jews and other shoppers from the assault at the Kosher supermarket in January during the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Both, Safer and Bathily, are Muslim and both risked their lives.
