A Moment of Reflection on the Anniversary of the London Bombings

On July 7, 2005, London experienced one of the most significant terrorist acts in the recent history of Great Britain. Multiple bomb attacks across London resulted in 52 fatalities and more than 700 injuries. For many in London, that morning was a game-changer in a game that would continue to play out over the ten years that followed.

Conflict and insecurity are not new or recent phenomena. But when new and powerful forms of violence strike cities and their communities, bringing distinctive challenges to people’s everyday struggles, new questions are asked about relationships, prejudice, coexistence, and policy interventions. And when the violence is associated with cultural differences more questions are posed about whether diversity itself strengthens and enriches human history, or whether it is seen as an unavoidable source of conflict and antagonism.

The Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University and Faith Matters, a nonprofit that works to reduce interfaith tensions, share an interest and a scholarly responsibility to bring these questions to the public square. So a few weeks ago we worked together to ask colleagues to reflect on 7/7. The request resulted in an online collection of short articles reflecting on both the July 7 bombings and the decade that followed.

This set of articles is a combination of personal views; not a single voice but the voices of several, and indeed voices that need not always be in agreement. We hope they will prove useful for improving, understanding, and bringing greater respect for cultural differences. Our teams stand unequivocally against all forms of violent extremism and are in favor of promoting dialogue wherever conflict, the movement of people, and differences in belief put pressure on our ability to live together peacefully.

One of the most notable impacts of the 7/7 attacks has been on perceptions of Muslims. For some the bombings reinforced existing concerns regarding the incompatibility of the Western and the Islamic worlds. The event raised the profile of Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations narrative. But notions about monolithic Western and Islamic worlds are simply not accurate nor helpful. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the UK itself, where British Muslims have their origins in an array of different lands, with a variety of rich traditions and approaches to religion. 

Presenting 7/7 as evidence of a “them” and “us” dialectic has been particularly detrimental for integration in Britain, where the diversity that was set to flourish under multiculturalism became a threat to British values. Furthermore, by framing the attacks and subsequent events in a global context, local realities are undermined and even ignored. What really is important for the overwhelming majority of people is not taking a stake in a particular side, but rather having a stake within society.  

The fact that the perpetrators of the London bombings were “homegrown,” unlike the case of 9/11, led to an additional set of anxieties for security purposes. It was no longer enough to secure our borders from outside threats. Worryingly, de-radicalization has seemed to overshadow all public policy debates on Muslims. It may be that the emphasis on de-radicalization over the last ten years has hindered our understanding of terrorism. Linking acts of organized violence with radicalism and extremism has placed the focus of investigation on expressions of radical political and religious beliefs, rather than violence itself.

We have been struck by the reality that there is a cohort of young Muslims who can barely remember what it was like to be part of a faith group that was not subjected to such intense scrutiny. We have reflected also on how deeply entrenched stereotyping of the “Other” remains within our post-colonial mindsets. Instructions to universities and schools to identify those with extremist views coupled with institutional racism and stereotyping of children is a particularly alarming development of the post-7/7 era. Distrust towards the Other as a result of acts of violence also perpetuates distrust within communities against those very authorities that are in place to provide their security.

The necessity of finding a balance between the moral panics we currently witness and ensuring our security remains. We cannot deny that some of our young people are taking up the call of foreign militants to commit the kinds of violent acts that occurred ten years ago on our own soil. This has led to much introspection on the part of Muslims, resulting in a decade of unparalleled challenge and reflection. One of our colleagues, Dilwar Hussain, has provided a particularly potent contribution to this reflection. Despite polls demonstrating only a small margin separating those who do and do not believe Britain’s Muslims are opposed to terrorism, Hussain writes, “My hope is that out of all the tragedies we are seeing, we will begin to look to new horizons where Muslims define a positive story of life in Britain in tune with their faith.” 

By reflecting on the events that took place ten years ago on this very day, this collection of short articles hopes to tease out not only the lessons we have learned over the last decade, but also thoughts for how to approach the next stage of our journey in the post-7/7 era.