Michael Levy: 7/7: The London Bombings of 2005 Remembered and Muslim Perspectives
[Michael Levy is Britannica's Executive Editor. He received a bachelor’s degree (1991) in political science from the University of North Carolina and a doctorate (1996) in international relations and comparative politics from the University of Kentucky.]
Map of London bombings of 2005; Encyclopaedia BritannicaAmerica has September 11 of 2001. Spain has March 11 of 2004. And, the United Kingdom has July 7 of 2005. All three involved terrorist attacks on transportation networks. All three were superlative disasters: the 9/11 attacks were the worst terrorist incident on U.S. soil; the Madrid train bombings were the deadliest terrorist incident in Europe; and the London transit bombings in 2005 were the deadliest incident on British soil since the end of World War II.
These terrorist incidents shook the West to its foundations. The United States, Spain, and Britain are all open societies with large immigrant populations, countries that pride themselves (more or less) for being melting pots where diverse peoples live in peace. Indeed, when the Madrid bombings occurred in 2005, the knee-jerk reaction was that it was the homegrown Basque group ETA rather than terrorists with foreign ties (contrast that reaction with the initial reaction in 1995 in the United States to the Oklahoma City bombing, when thoughts first turned to Islamic terrorists). That openness, in particular the freedom that each country cherishes and enshrines in law–came under withering criticism, as governments and citizens questioned the proper balance between protecting civil liberties and ensuring national security; more often than not, national security concerns won out (and with understandable, if sometimes lamentable, reason)....
Read entire article at Britannica Blog
Map of London bombings of 2005; Encyclopaedia BritannicaAmerica has September 11 of 2001. Spain has March 11 of 2004. And, the United Kingdom has July 7 of 2005. All three involved terrorist attacks on transportation networks. All three were superlative disasters: the 9/11 attacks were the worst terrorist incident on U.S. soil; the Madrid train bombings were the deadliest terrorist incident in Europe; and the London transit bombings in 2005 were the deadliest incident on British soil since the end of World War II.
These terrorist incidents shook the West to its foundations. The United States, Spain, and Britain are all open societies with large immigrant populations, countries that pride themselves (more or less) for being melting pots where diverse peoples live in peace. Indeed, when the Madrid bombings occurred in 2005, the knee-jerk reaction was that it was the homegrown Basque group ETA rather than terrorists with foreign ties (contrast that reaction with the initial reaction in 1995 in the United States to the Oklahoma City bombing, when thoughts first turned to Islamic terrorists). That openness, in particular the freedom that each country cherishes and enshrines in law–came under withering criticism, as governments and citizens questioned the proper balance between protecting civil liberties and ensuring national security; more often than not, national security concerns won out (and with understandable, if sometimes lamentable, reason)....