Thursday, July 7, 2005
I'm sure we're all watching the horrific news from London, and our thoughts go out to everyone overseas. That image above is chillingly familiar.
Those who know enough to be reading this know enough to be out there scanning for news on their own. I've been by Norm's, LGF, Winds of Change and on. Here's a UK Blogs Aggregator.
Other than noting the obvious G8 connection, the recent start of the Hamza trial and the al-Qaeda hallmark of a never-before heard-of terror group taking responsibility, I have no analysis to offer. Just watching and taking it in.
Update: I was going to stay away from any politics or finger-pointing, but some things just can't pass. I suppose it's not in the nature of having a blog to stay away from putting a few thoughts or observations down. Norm quotes the Socialist Worker -- "The British government cannot avoid its responsibility for these terrible attacks, which are a consequence of its support for war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan," and labels it "contemptible." Andrew Ian Dodge (blogging from London) quotes Red Ken Livingstone and says, "Mayor Livingstone just said this was an attack "on working class Londoners" as if it were fine if they had attacked the rich or powerful." (Andrew Sullivan has more of the Livingston quote and lauds it -- the rest is better but you have to overlook the sub-text which I find it difficult to do.) Finally, there is this statement of George Galloway which Sullivan appropriately labels the Voice of Appeasement:
No one can condone acts of violence aimed at working people going about their daily lives. They have not been a party to, nor are they responsible for, the decisions of their government. They are entirely innocent and we condemn those who have killed or injured them...
Which is of course exactly wrong, but not unexpected, as neither Galloway, Livingstone nor the dregs at the Socialist Worker are democrats at heart and have no respect or understanding for it whatsoever except as an expedient they're forced to live with.
Also, don't miss this post at Harry's Place: A letter to a friend
I will watch the British reaction with studied fascination. I wonder what the reaction will be in the coming weeks. A Churchillian "stand up and fight," or have they gone so far over as to begin eating each other's heads instead?
I made aliya in January and am currently in the UK visiting family. When I heard this mornings news I had to pinch myself to check what country I was really in. I then checked my emails and found friends in Israel emailing me to check everything was ok. Today was a day of role reversal, and a day that proved my theory that there are problems all over the world, and I would rather live out my problems in Israel.
So why was Spain attacked in the first place anyway?
I wonder if Bush was involved in this somehow:
"In April 711, the Arab governor of Tangiers, Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the strait between what are now Morocco and Spain with an army of nine or ten thousand Berbers (the place where they landed was soon to have a new name, the rock of Tariq, Jabal Tariq — Gibraltar). Goth King Roderick hastily took an army south, but Táreq and his Berber troops defeated it in a battle near the River Guadalete, and the king himself was never seen again except in legend. Tariq ordered that a group of prisoners be cut into pieces and their flesh boiled in cauldrons, then released the rest, telling them to spread the word about Moorish practices."
No offence, and you can bad-mouth Galloway and the SWP all you like, but if you think Livingstone isn't a genuine democrat then you know nothing about British politics and are best advised not to comment. Livingstone has more respect for and understanding of democracy than anyone else in British politics these days, or any American or European politicians I've come across.
London is a multi-cultural city, and on any ordinary day that's its greatest and easiest feature, but on a day such as this it's very easy for communities to fracture. There have already been reports of the BNP, a small but vocal far-right party, trying to stir up racist and anti-Muslim feeling. Livingstone's speech made it clear that this was an attack on every community in London, every race and religion represented in the city, and that we will all stand together. He made it clear that this was an attack on London and about London, not about the G8 or the war in Iraq. He spoke from the heart, without a prepared statement, without a script, and he spoke for London. I can't imagine anyone better than Livingstone to represent my city today.
"To those who came to London to claim lives: Nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that life in our cities, where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail." Livingstone's words.
Link
From Arnold Roth, who lost his teenage daughter to brutal Islamist terrorism:
Ken Livingstone is a virulent strain of IRA-loving scum.
A LETTER TO WWW.STEYNONLINE.COM:
TERRORIST APOLOGIST
Ken Livingstone's celebration of "Dr" Yusuf al-Qaradaw has been quietly ignored in Britain. After the London bombings yesterday, the Mayor of London's support for the cleric is worth remembering:
"Ken Livingstone's refusal to acknowledge that he was wrong to welcome the extremist Muslim cleric Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi in July 2004 is a demonstration of his disregard to the concerns some of London's diverse communities.
Livingstone was presented with a 214-page dossier compiled by the LCC, a group comprised of 13 groups such as the Board of Deputies for British Jews, the Hindu Forum of Britain and the gay rights group Outrage! Outlined was evidence to support their opposition to Livingstone's red carpet treatment to the suicide bombing advocator, women's rights suppressor, anti-gay adherent of the militant Wuhhabi interpretation of Islam advocated by al-Qaradawi, a "moderate" in Livingstone's eyes.
The LCC gave evidence in their dossier of some of al-Qaradawi's venomous remarks and positions. He refused to condemn the beheading of Nicholas Berg by militants in Iraq, described homosexuality as an "abominal practice" and "a disease" whose offenders should be put to death to "maintain the purity of Islamic society". The cleric used his authority in Islamic theology to give his seal of approval for suicide bombers in Israel who target Israeli civilians, and gave his support to the actions of the terrorist group Hamas. He condoned practices of female circumcision and okayed domestic abuse but "in no case should he resort to using a stick... that might cause pain or injury". More recently,Livingstone's favorite cleric commented, as reported in The Times and the BBC on 11 January, that the victims of the Asian tsunami deserved to die.
Peter Lucey
Wokingham, Berkshire
Quite a letter!
Rather than respond here, I have put up a new post. See the next entry.