Paris, Beirut and Baghdad faced terrorist attacks last week, killing hundreds of people and wounding hundreds more in bomb explosions and hostage crises.

Approximately 129 people were killed and 352 are injured in Paris. Men with assault rifles attacked people at the Bataclan theater and took survivors hostage. The next two attacks took place at the Stade de France during a soccer match and at various restaurants in central Paris.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for all three attacks in Paris.

“I don’t know anybody who died in these attacks,” Upper school French teacher Galina Tchourilova said. “But I do take it very personally. Because this attack is not just on the French people or the Parisian people, it is an attack on humanity.”

Bérengère Foulquier, who lives about one kilometer from Bataclan, commented on the environment in Paris after the attacks.

“We went to work Monday, and there [was] a very particular ambience,” she said in an interview translated from French. “That is to say that people [were] a bit gloomy. Because Paris is mostly inhabited by youth, there is an atmosphere of rebellion and the roads aren’t empty.”

In addition to terrorist attacks in Paris, a double suicide bombing in a Shiite residential area in southern Beirut on Friday killed at least 43 people and injured at least 200, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The Islamic State has also claimed responsibility for this attack.

In Baghdad, an Islamic State militant allegedly self-detonated a bomb at the funeral of a Shiite pro-government fighter, killing at least 18 people and wounding 41.

To commemorate the Paris attacks, various countries around the world lit up buildings and monuments with the French flag, and Facebook created a filter of the French flag that users could place on their profile pictures.

Some felt that the Paris attacks were getting more attention in comparison to the Beirut and Baghdad bombings.

“I understand why [the West] is more acknowledged and more well-known because it’s Paris, but I find it a little disrespectful that Beirut, where these same acts of terror are happening, is going unrecognized,” Matthew Hajjar (9), whose family is from Lebanon, said.

Middle school French teacher Denise Sorkin believes that the amount of attention that Paris is receiving as a result of the attacks is reasonable because of America’s connection to France.

“Many people in this country have a very personal relationship with the city of Paris; [the attack] strikes a nerve in a much more personal way than most,” she said.

To support those affected, the French National Honor Society (FNHS) posted heart-shaped notes onto a board, and Upper School students wore black yesterday.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on November 20, 2015.