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[Jul. 7th, 2009|10:39 pm] |
Today is the anniversary of the 7/7 London Bombings, and as Jennie points out, the fact most of you hadn't even realised that is the best outcome of all.
Good. It's a shame our own politicians had to milk it (and everything else whether it technically existed or not) in order to reduce our civil liberties, but obscurity is an excellent fate for "Britain's 9/11".
And yeah, I suppose I'm reminding people by writing this post, which would seem to be against the point, but it's worth celebrating the victories when we find them. The fact that almost no-one cares about "7/7" is a big victory against the morons and manipulators who seek to make us see the world as "us and them", and inventing phrases like the "Axis of Evil".
So let's keep Not Doing That. Good work, all. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 7th, 2008|07:15 pm] |
Three years since 7/7, and I've been re-reading my friends' posts from the day. You all rock.
Here's mine, on the slim chance that someone didn't see it already.
Muslim radicalisation is still an issue. A very small issue, that was always there. A minor issue, compared to gang culture and bigotry and lack of education and the financial policies and the government and empty celebrity and social inequality and prejudice and the state of the nation. Somewhere in there, at about 1%, there is the problem of radicalisation of vulnerable teenagers. The newspapers apprently think it is worth approximately 40%, alongside asylum seekers and What Her Off Big Brother Did Today. |
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| 7/7, one year later. |
[Jul. 7th, 2006|10:05 am] |
So, one year on from some british guys killing 52 people with homemade bathtub bombs and faulty timers using plans copied badly from the internet.
London continues to not 'do' terror.
The great British understatement and stoicism last year shone through in quotes that eventually made it into a worldwide email which featured just some of the many collected in this post over the course of the day.
(That post is worth reading if you haven't before and possibly worth a look today anyway. It went on to be recorded on Snopes.)
The response from newspapers on the other hand (even this morning) is the one that sells shock headlines, but the public aren't buying it. True, I got some looks carrying my backpack onto the tube at 7.30, but the point is that the commuters were still there despite the date and location. I'm the wrong colour to cause concern, anyway - yep, the bombers sure advanced the cause for Muslims in the UK.
However, in general our minds have not changed on anything. UK laws have become very focused on "security" - resulting in a clampdown on civil liberties not seen even in previous wartime - but this doesn't affect most of us. If it ever did, the average citizen would probably splutter "you're doing WHAT?" in disbelief at some of the powers the Government now has, but it hasn't impacted the daily life of many.
While we wait to hear whether the (fairly likely) copycat attempts happen today, we already know they won't get the reaction they want. There's a good chance they won't achieve anything other than generating anger towards extremists. Britain will not become an Islamic state, the US and Israel won't change policy, the Middle East situation won't be resolved. In the war against being ruled by fear, we've won already. (The other wars our Governments involved us in may take more time and are less easy to classify as any good result.)
I extend strength and hope to everyone reading this, regardless of religion, race, or politics. Today may bring up painful memories and concern, but the message to extremists from the British public remains the same:
Still Not Afraid. |
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| Quotes of the day |
[Jul. 7th, 2005|04:09 pm] |
Okay, this seems to be the official LONDON BOMBING quote post...
Update: Wow, this got a huge response! Thanks to everyone who submitted more quotes and links - feel free to link to this post, by the way, you don't have to ask!
The quotes themselves somehow seem inadequate to show the spirit of the people who have contributed or left a comment on here. A site that goes some way towards doing this is this one:
http://www.werenotafraid.com/
Special mention to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) halcyon_shift who beat me to posting, and to my flist for providing the start of it. I don't have the owners for the quotes, so consider them unashamedly stolen and not credited! :)
I went through Liverpool Street station a few hours previous, because I went to work early. I live three streets away from the Bus bombing. One of my friends was on the street when the bus went up, and I didn't get home last night (because I work miles away and the transport links weren't back until, ooo, 18 whole hours later).
I could freak out, and many people I know would have more cause than me to do just that - but we're not doing it. Whenever the subject comes up at work, people get this little grin and their eyes go hard. They look resolute and compassionate, ready to stop and help, or make any effort. Not for one second is there any doubt that we love each other, the way of life, or the country (no matter how much we bitch about it).
Thank you to the wonderful people who make the UK and worldwide LJ great.
( The Big Quote List. )
I'll repeat what I say somewhere below: I work with some Muslims. They're furious about the attacks, and about what these extremists do in the name of Islam. Every Muslim I've met who tries hard to follow the faith has been kind, generous, gentle and Good. Al Qaeda have done huge harm to the Muslim community in Britain and around the World - but I want to say here that there's people out there who know the real score. Good is good.
Peace and love to you, wherever you are.
-tyrell.
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 7th, 2005|01:26 pm] |
As lithiumdoll pointed out, the witnesses on the news seem to be very calm. Most of the Londoners are more concerned with how they're getting to work tomorrow, and act as though it's all a rather distateful inconvenience.
HURRAH!
The great British Spirit triumphs once again! Take that, Al Quaeda. You tried to spread panic with your terrorist ways, but you hadn't counted on a nation of repressed, stiff-upper-lip Brits who refuse to show unseemly emotion in public!
People are generally spooked, but quickly contacting their friends and making plans to deal with the disruption. Good on you!
Of course, as someone pointed out already, we're used to this sort of thing - we had the IRA going at London (and Brighton when I was there) for a while now. The novelty is gone for anyone over a certain age. (I have to be careful about saying "oh, we're used to terrorist scum being murderous bastards, we had the IRA do it" on the international political LJ's, it tends to offend some folks. Folks who can fuck off, clearly).
And as someone else on my flist said (approximately):
"Blimey, I didn't think the French would be THAT upset..."
UPDATE: stu_n just provided this, which is completely brilliant.
BBC Parliament internal email:
NEWSFLASH:
There has been a widespread outbreak of grumbling and tutting today in London, along with a large number of people going home instead of to work, with a certain amount of guilty pleasure.
Sorry, bad guys. We've been bombed before, and we just adjust our day to account for it. This is London calling. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 7th, 2005|11:18 am] |
Got back from a meeting to find 9 missed calls and 12 emails. Thanks for the concern :)
I'm fine, luckily I get the tube (through liverpool street) at about 7.10am...
Tavistock square is GODDAMN CLOSE TO MY HOUSE, dammit. |
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