Man who lost wife in Paris attack pens open letter to ISIS

A man who lost his wife in the Paris attacks last week has penned an open letter to ISIS, which is quickly spreading the message of love, in defiance of hate, across social media.

Hélène Muyal-Leiris​, 35, was one of the 89 concert-goers who were killed at the Bataclan concert hall in the terrorist attacks on Friday evening.

In his Facebook post titled “You Will Not Have My Hatred”, Antoine Leiris writes that the terrorist organization will not succeed in fueling him with anger or suspicion towards others.

“Friday night, you took an exceptional life – the love of my life, the mother of my son – but you will not have my hatred. I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know, you are dead souls,” he wrote in French.

“I will not grant you the gift of my hatred. You’re asking for it, but responding to hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are. You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost.” ​​

Leiris ends his letter by stating that even though he and his son are now without a wife and mother, they “are stronger than all the armies in the world.”

“He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will threaten you by being happy and free,” he wrote. “Because no, you will not have his hatred either.​​"​