Former President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir warns we must show moderation in our response to the attacks in Paris, so as to avoid the escalation of violence, RÚV reports. She has closer ties to Paris than most, having been a student of Sorbonne and a French teacher for years.
In an interview with Rás 1, she maintained we’re at risk of war, “and that’s why we must show moderation and self-control so as to prevent a war from breaking out. We must be very careful in the next few days and not forget the sadness.”
“We mustn’t forget that Western nations have their own history in what we now call the Middle and Far East, and not only us remember that history,” she said. Still, she prefers looking ahead, trying to find solutions to the problems we face, “and under no circumstances may we let this influence our opinion of people innocent of those events, but perhaps belonging to the same religion.” The danger, in her eyes, is that in the wake of such events, harsh judgment is passed toward innocent people, and that’s difficult to witness.
