By Ashlyn
When you study abroad, you're asked to register your trip through the State Department. After registering, you begin to get emails regarding travel safety and security in your host country. These emails mostly end up in my trash folder, forgotten. Shortly after I arrived in Denmark I began to realize that it is a very safe and secure country. Crime is low here. The Danes are, for the most part, kind and friendly and trustworthy. Though I am living in the large city of Copenhagen, the streets are quiet and there is no constant sound of sirens and cars like there is in D.C. Copenhagen, and Denmark as a whole, is very peaceful.
That doesn't mean, though, that there is always peace here. Yesterday, shortly after I returned from my study tour in Sweden, news broke that there had been a shooting at a cafe in Østerbro, one of Copenhagen's neighborhoods. One man died and two were injured. The cafe was hosting a free speech debate and Lars Vilks, a Swedish man who has created cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, was in attendance.
Later in the night, at a synagogue in the center of town, another man was shot and killed. The man was working as a guard for a bar mitzvah. The suspect for both shootings was killed a few hours later by the police in a shootout.
We, as students, are being encouraged to stay safe but also to not allow these incidents to frighten us. "We encourage you to continue your lives in Copenhagen in the same way that you did before these events," reads an email from my program's director. But it is difficult to return to normal so quickly after something so terrible and unexpected happens. I don't feel scared -- I know that the attacks were targeted and that security is now high in the city. But I do feel sad. That acts of terror are possible even in a country as small and peaceful as Denmark is unsettling. Especially when those attacks are in response to the freedoms of speech and expression.
As a journalism student, I believe in the supreme power of freedom of speech. Over my travel break I had the pleasure of meeting with an editor of a newspaper in Malmø, whose name I will not reveal as a safety precaution. Her response to a student's question about freedom of speech was poignant. "We are a newspaper," she said. "To us, religions don't have rights. People have rights." She went on to say that she would not hesitate to print an "offensive" cartoon or article on the grounds that it might offend the wrong person.
We don't often think of these people - journalists, editors, cartoonists, etc. - as having dangerous jobs. To most, a journalist or cartoonist is just a person who sits at a desk and turns out content for others to read. But there are times when decisions must be made. Difficult decisions about whether writing, drawing, or publishing something is important enough to put lives and safety on the line. What price are you willing to pay for the freedom of speech? Or the freedom to worship the religion of your choice?
I still feel safe in Denmark. I still feel confident about my decision to study here. The Danes are so welcoming and kind - one month into my stay here, I already feel a part of the Danish community. I may be just an American student studying in Copenhagen for a short time, but for the next three months Denmark is my country as well. I still believe in the safety and peace that has comforted me since I landed here four weeks ago today.
My thoughts go out to the families of the victims. We are all thinking of you.