London 7/7: 9 Years On and the Threat ISIS Poses to the UK

In the introduction to my MA dissertation, I spoke of how every person alive at the time of the attack on the Twin Towers back in 2001 remembers what they were doing when they heard the news. Even if you wanted to forget, it's virtually impossible and in a smaller scale but equally important set of events, 7/7 is burnt into the memory of those who lived through it, particularly those of us living in the UK.

In the early morning rush of commuters on the 7th of July 2005, four coordinated suicide attacks took place within the heart of London on public transport- three on trains in key locations and one on a bus in Tavistock Square. Reportedly, close to 60 people (including the four suicide bombers) died, as well as approximately 700 people left with, thankfully, non fatal injuries.

Via The Guardian

 

At the time, I was only 14 and was participating in our school sports day whereby every single member of the staff and student body was off school premises and having a good day at the local sports centre. I remember slipping in the mud while playing football and after brushing myself off, checking to see if my phone was still intact. I flipped open my phone to find a message from my elder brother. It read something along the lines of, "There have been bombing in London. Stay calm and stay safe."

 

I remember showing a teacher and a few people around me, and soon, others too were receiving calls and texts from friends and family. Those with parents who commuted were frantically attempting to get hold of them and parents were urging their children to get back home immediately. The head teacher gathered everyone to tell us what had happened and for the first time in my seven years at that school, absolute silence engulfed us all. The shock of what had happened had chilled us all to the bone.

I like to think that we have moved on with our lives and have subsequently learnt from what happened on that day. We’ve fared off much better than our American counterparts as our headlines were not all plastered with news pieces commemorating the day. Though the few years after the attacks felt a little difficult to deal with, the British community has proved itself to be aware of the difference between regular, law abiding Muslims and those who have been radicalised and brainwashed by Islamist hate preachers.

The only issue now, and this is the crux of the matter, hate preachers are regaining a following within the UK. Last week, several moderate Imam's and keyfigures in British mosques have spoken out to stop people from travelling toIraq and Syria to perform Jihad with the latest terrorist organisation in theregion, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  There is a growing fear of youth being brainwashed into thinking that it is their duty to fight alongside these terrorists to create an Islamic Caliphate, looked over by a supreme leader - otherwise known as Abu Bakr al Baghdady.The irony of such a character declaring himself to be the Caliph of the Muslims is not lost on us.

It must be pointed out that the British government have successfully forced out several of these hate preachers and finally taken the action to prevent them from having a platform to speak from in the UK. Abu Hamza was deported for trials against him, with several counts of terrorism on his head, and the notorious Al Arifi was also banned from entering the country after he had a hand in grooming several youths in Cardiff's Al Manar Centre.

 

The Reality of ISIS, via Instgram @no2isisofficial

The British government would be crazy in thinking that the growing threat of ISIS (now shortened to IS) cannot reach the shores of our little island. Though their military expansion plans border on insane, (with Baghdady supposedly having his eyes on Spain too) we cannot ignore the fact that they have successfully taken hold of major cities in the Middle East, namely in Iraq and Syria. The threat is real and we cannot choose to ignore it and simply think that it will blow over in a while. I mean, wasn't that what we all thought would happen in Syria? It's only been a good three years and few thousand lives.

Today, sympathisers of the brutal murderers who suicide bombed our beloved city have taken the liberty to graffiti the memorials, defacing them on the day of the 9th year anniversary. My fear is that sympathisers will start with small things like this and go on to bigger things if they remain unchecked and monitored. This needs to stop.

Via The Guardian

This is a plea to Britain. We cannot stay silent to these war crimes and against these violations to humanity. We cannot allow those lives to have been lost in vain. We cannot give another chance for terrorism to shake the foundations of our country, nor pollute the minds of our youth. We cannot allow for a repeat of 7/7. We must stand against and condemn the actions of ISIS and all those in support of it.