Voices: I lived through the Syrian war – but now I feel unsafe in Dublin

Of all days, my introvert brown-skinned, half-Palestinian, half-Syrian husband, who embraces working from home as a software engineer, is out in Dublin city centre for his work Christmas dinner. I kiss him goodbye before he takes the Luas train, oblivious to how our night is about to turn upside down.

I’ve been following the news earlier in the day. I’ve read about the horrific stabbing of kids and caretakers. As a mother of a six-year-old boy, I think of the mothers receiving the news of their worst nightmare. Why in the world would anyone commit such a terrible crime?

I search but can’t find any news on its motivation or the attacker’s identity. People have long ago talked about the dark web as an enigmatic, isolated online network,