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Editorial
It was only a matter of time
Terrorist atrocities are a daily occurrence around the world. Bizarrely, a cutting from the 6 July Times was lying on the floor of the meeting room at Caledonian Road; found on 7 July, the headline read "The 28,000 victims of terrorism" and was a report on worldwide figures for (non-state) killings, woundings and hostage-takings in 2004.
It just happened that the day after that report the appeared bombs were exploding in central London rather than elsewhere.
But this was not an attack on our "freedoms" (they're rapidly being eroded by the government anyway), just a simple reminder that people living in Britain have chosen a government that perpetuates similar (though on a grander and more systematic scale) atrocities like this on a daily basis. OK, they don't put bombs on buses, they just, for example, carry out indiscriminate bombing raids from a great height.
Through the blunt use of military force or through economic policies and exploitation, our choices - of government, of oil dependency, of consumerism - help keep people around the world living in poverty and misery and maintain the dominant power dynamic.
The backlash
There's probably no shortage of people around the world angry enough to fight back against western economic and militarist interventions. Religion is just an added ingredient to the cocktail - undoubtedly a very potent one for some people.Islamo-fascism genuinely poses a threat to everyone who wants to live in a tolerant, open and free society. And while daily life under the Taliban, for example, or under the fundamentalists taking over in some areas of Iraq, looks miserable - especially for women and the LGBT community - it would probably be awful under any brand of theocracy.
While it remains unconfirmed whether the person or group responsible claim their action in the name of Islam, it was hoped that the backlash against the Muslim community in Britain would not be as severe as it had been in the US post-9/11. However, within 48 hours of the attacks taking place it was being reported that the Muslim Council of Britain had already received 30,000 hate emails.
Irrespective of who carried out this attack and their particular set of beliefs, this was an act of violence perpetrated by an individual or group who believe they can achieve a political aim through the use of force. Religion may be worn as a uniform, but it does not hide that essential truth.
Whether the whole of British society will also suffer a backlash, in the form of further repressive laws and policing, or intolerance of difference and of dissent, remains to be seen.
Fear is our only enemy
Speaking on 7 July from Gleneagles, Tony Blair told the world that the attacks would not change our way of life (sound familiar? ... fortunately Bush was on hand to help in our moment of national crisis). But that is precisely the point - we do need to change our way of life. Not in the way the bombers probably want us to, but we do need to stop ripping off the rest of the world and backing it up with military force and we do need to stop killing the planet through our short-term selfish desires.To pacifists and/or practitioners of nonviolence, the indiscriminate attack on civilians that took place in London are completely abhorrent and unjustifiable, but it remains important to understand the context in which all forms of violence take place.
The bombers probably want us to feel afraid of them and the power they believe they can exert through violence. In this respect, fear is our only enemy. Whether it is fear of people causing violence with backpack bombs, or of the violent uniformed employees in tanks and Tornados, or violent police in riot gear swinging batons and trashing protesters - their use of force binds them all. We must not be afraid of any of them. We must stand up and speak out for a different kind of society and we must attempt to live that dream in our daily lives and to walk without fear.
All violence is terrorism
Once again, the peace movement faces a difficult challenge. Galvanised after 9/11 and the build up to the war on Iraq, will people come together now to make a clear statement that rejects all forms of terror - perpetrated by state and non-state actors alike?Will the public push more strongly now for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, and if so, why? Is it just a matter of not wanting "our boys" to be in the firing line as a result of poor and subservient foreign policy? It seems that the British troops currently deployed in southern Iraq may be withdrawn - with some redeployed to Afghanistan - over the next 18 months anyway. So there needs to be more than a simplistic " troops out" response to these attacks - and this is where things become a bit more tricky. In the short term the simple sloganeering may attract a large number of supporters, but in the longer term a coherent and effective movement for change remains to be built.
Ironically, the London bombings offer an opportunity for the peace movement to make its voice heard a little louder than usual. It is vital that we rise to the challenge and make our message resound above the backlash.