To commemorate the London bombings of July 7th, here is an article originally published on the morning after the bombs. The article has not been altered or edited and still resonates.

On the morning of 7th July, I drove my wife, Michelle, to work in London. At 8.45am we were at the entrance of Edgware Road underground station.

“Let me out; I’ll call you later,” she said.
“I can’t. This traffic is crazy,” I replied, tapping the steering wheel. We drove on. By 9.am I dropped her off near Bond Street tube.

The traffic slugged along like a snail carrying a discarded boot. The roads seemed busier than usual. At 9.40 my mobile phone bleeped with a message from a news text service: There had been an incident on the tube.

I switched on the radio and listened as Paul Gaunt on Radio London reported the incident. Rumours were that it was some kind of electricity surge. Passengers were being evacuated out of stations and onto public buses. Radio London listeners rang in saying that they had never heard of a power surge so powerful to cause what had now been thought to had been some kind of explosion.

The traffic ground to a halt. Drivers wound down windows and chatted across white-lined roads about the news.

Now Gaunt was reporting that several bombs had exploded: one in a bus carrying commuters from the stations. I realised it was near a training centre where I taught most mornings in Euston.

I called my wife on the mobile.
“I want you out.” Bombs are going off all over the place.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Just tell your boss that you are going home.”
“I can’t. Besides, the trains have been suspended and now all the buses have stopped too.”

This was serious. I turned the car towards my wife’s office in the City. I could only drive as far as Paddington. I had no other option than to park and set off on foot.

The scene was stunning: London had stopped. No cars and yet, no panic. The police had sealed off the main streets. People walking away from the centre were trying to call home on mobiles. Those without a phone were lent sets by friendly passer- bys. Some children gathered around policemen, I actually heard one say, “cheers for everything mate.” (Kids – ‘Hoddies’ – to policemen – in so called ‘big-bad’ London town)!

Having my press-card I was ushered through the police cordon to join a growing army of journalists heading towards St. Marys Hospital. Outside the hospital entrance a consultant spoke of grievous injuries. Spurred on by his statement I wondered how, what with all the barriers in place, I would reach the middle of London. I opted for the backstreets. Within forty minutes I had woven my way to Marble Arch.

Oxford Street was heaving with people. However, again, no panic. Just complete strangers, in a capital notorious for being ‘cold’, asking if everyone was okay. Although no one was formally told what to do, we all knew our roles. One man helped a drunk join the rest of the throng walking away from where I was heading – the central district.

Soon I was outside Bond Street. Whenever the mobile networks permitted, I spoke to my wife on the phone.

“Have there been any more incidents?” I asked.
“I am not sure. We don’t know whether we should leave the office.”
“Stay there. I am about an hour away by foot.”

Before long I was at Tottenham Court Road.

One of London’s more colourful characters is a gentleman who, day after day, marches up and down the West End in a crusade to warn pedestrians that “The end of the world is near.” Today was no exception. His placard made me chuckle. I picked up the pace.

Outside Holborn tube station, another group of people asked weary but tolerant London Underground staff for further news. No one argued. Most simply looked either north or south and set off on their journey homeward.

My wife was still about twenty-five minutes away, in the very heart of town. As I ventured deeper into the City’s arteries, the mood became not so much as sombre, but still.

Most American stores like ‘Nike’ and ‘Gap’ had within the hour closed their doors. Local stores remained open. It occurred to me that the whole scenario was bizarre. Despite the roads being deserted because of terrorists, here in the City of London shops like ‘Boots’ were selling sandwiches!

The sky grew weary and grey. The rain started to tumble. I was about five minutes away from Michelle. At last I spotted the street sign. I had arrived!

I had mentally prepared myself for a dramatic scene. What I got was people doing ordinary stuff that people do in offices. It seemed so improbably normal. Michelle was typing an email.

“You look exhausted.” She said, spotting the sweat on my brow.
“Well that comes from walking two hours!”
“I can’t leave yet. Just want to finish off some things…”
“You must be joking!”
“Go downstairs. There’s a wine bar open. Meet me in half an hour”.

This was ridiculous! There I was in the middle of London, having hiked through the thick of total uncertainty, being advised to go and have a pint at the local!

In the wine bar, I sat next to a lawyer (It was the City after all, and the Old Bailey was close by). He poured a glass.
“Outrageous!” He said, shaking his head at the table.
“I know.” I replied. “ I can’t believe this happening!”
He looked at me curiously and said, “I am referring to the wine: it’s tepid!”

Now I really felt I was in some kind of weird existence!

Half an hour later, together with Michelle, I started retracing my many steps to Paddington. As we walked, we were both struck by everyone’s quiet, almost dignified resolve.

Back in the car I switched on the radio and listened to the accounts of the numbers of dead and wounded. I felt sickened that anyone would have acted so callously towards innocent people in the name of a ludicrous cause. (My thoughts fell to news I heard a few years earlier of the death of some of my cousins caused by a Palestinian terrorist attack in the centre of Tel Aviv).

An organisation worthy of a leader cowering in a cave.

As for today if it was to turn out that the cause was in the name of al-Qa’ida, I felt that the foundation had become a brand in decline. Its message of ignorance had been propagated to highly susceptible people with twisted fantasies of fame, paradise, willing virgins and power pumped via global media like TV and especially the internet.

It occurred to me that television, the harbinger of global images, had become the equivalent of a tribal elder: one hand chastising families (viewers) with tales of warning. On the other tickling their fancies with title –tattle. Leaving the measure of everyone’s perception of reality being no wider than a 32” screen.

Worst still, the web had become a conduit for political manipulation with independent sites featuring downloaded clips of suicide bombers, uploaded directly from the frontline terrorist activities in Iraq and the Gaza. I remembered a security expert explaining how many impressionable young people would have downloaded, voyeuristic video clips showing carnage and devastation. A psychologist explained that many of these vulnerable wretches watching their MPEG files would have mentally placed themselves at the heart of the ‘action’ as if in an X-Box game. Others, in exchange for common sense, would have been promised fifteen minutes of fame and an eternity of infamy. Their brand of inverse hope must have felt like a pretty ‘cool’ alternative to following a life of mediocrity.

Yet today, on 7th July, such promises had been proven futile. A bigger far more invincible brand had shown its true colours. Like any great brand, it didn’t rely on just facile slogans, shallow logos, absurd brand values political miss conceptions or insincere figureheads. It drew its strength from the people who lived and breathed its ethos, simply because they chose to.

Today I saw that brand live in the face of a coordinated police force which, in less than an hour, secured the world’s biggest city. I saw it in students who unresistingly rushed to help and support victims. It was in the quiet voice of a London Transport worker who held the hands of a man she only knew as ‘Paul’ as he forlornly joked that now he had lost a leg could enter the 2012 Paralympics. It was in the eyes of countless ordinary people who, when the chips were down, acted responsibly and with care. I heard it in the voice of a man drinking a glass wine who wouldn’t let some terrorist change his way of life. I understood it as never before. However, before long that clarity would be sorely challenged.

Political madness

Just days later, man’s greatest advocate for remaining on the fence in the face of any hint of strength of character – cynicism – would rear its ugly head, even driving me towards its ‘dead-end’ road conclusion.

By now the apologist managers of the otherwise excellent bbc.co.uk website decided to replace words like ‘terrorist’ from their news pages with ‘militants’. That cynicism was further compounded when London’s own major, Ken Livingstone, showed all the classic signs of ‘Dhimmitude’. It led him to invite more antagonistic clerical leaders into the country. His naivety was so great that he later compared the perpetrators of the hideous crimes to innocent civilians like Israelis who had to put up with suicide bombers, including murderous assaults from even women and children. Amazingly only 15 days later the poorly advised mayor even deflected civic responsibility for the police execution of an innocent Brazilian.

Words as weapons of mass destruction
As a writer, I have always been involved with the meaning and interpretation of words. Drawing out the benefits of products and services in advertising copy calls for judicious editing. Yet as history proves, what is left or out of copy can make a vast difference to its final understanding.

In every faith, people will pick and mix the parts of a holy text which best suits a specific understanding of its meaning. For example, in Judaism different interpretations of text are at the heart of Talmudic learning. The Koran too has many sections of text which are open to different interpretations. Indeed, with so many understandings to consider many Islamic scholars developed the rule of ‘abrogation’ which suggests that later dated text abrogates earlier text.

Of course the majority of Muslims are peace-loving. Yet when you read texts from the Koran such as Q8:59-60, which suggests that Muslims should prepare to fight non-Muslims, “Agianst them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts) of the enemies”, you can appreciate how certain people will insufficient understanding may misinterpret the holy text. According to Mr Patrick Sookhdeo, ‘Director for the Study of Islam and Christianity’, thank to abrogation, “ the mantra ‘Islam is peace’ is almost 4,000 years out of date. For today’s radical Muslims it would be truer to say ‘Islam is war’”.

According to Sookhedo, Mayor Livingstone and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair are naïve to believe that a few choice ‘soundbites’ will resolve an endemic culture of violence which even before the war in Iraq has been widespread throughout the world, not just London…

21st July 2005

…Russell Square district London. I am leading a training course for businesspeople learning about brand communications. Someone rushes into the room. “There’s been another attack. This time the bombs failed to detonate. There are no casualties, but the police have said we can’t leave the building; the underground station around the corner is closed. As you can hear from the sirens outside, there’s a lot of confusion.”

I turned to the businesspeople. “Let’s take a five –minute break for you to call home on your phones.”

Five minutes later…

…“Ok people, would anyone feel more comfortable leaving at this point?” The businesspeople shook their heads…

… “Ok then, I continued pointing to the next slide. How would you market a ‘singing potty’ to a busy mother…”

The real fear of terror

Terrorist inanity is a reality of globalisation. Yet so too is global unanimity. As a Londoner I am proud to stand with, shoulder to shoulder with fellow London-based Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, atheists, Hindus, Buddhist and even cynics, we all pay homage to the dead and survivors of 7/7.

However, unlike the website which advocates the message ‘we are not afraid’, I am afraid that I am afraid. I fear for the next generation of impressionable minds who may find themselves more encouraged to sharpen their knives rather than the scholar Rashi advised, ‘sharpen their minds’.

The dead from 7/7. May they find peace

Names include:

JAMES ADAMS
James Adams, 32, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, died in the Tube explosion between King’s Cross and Russell Square. He was the deacon at his local church. His parents, Elaine and Ernest Adams, said in a statement that they held “no religion or faith accountable”.

LEE BAISDEN
Lee Baisden, 34, an accountant from Romford, Essex, is thought to have died at Aldgate.

PHIL BEER

Phil Beer, 22, from Borehamwood, Herts, was on the Underground with friend Patrick Barnes when the explosion struck between King’s Cross and Russell Square.

ANIA BRANDT

Polish citizen Ania Brandt, 43, lived in Wood Green. She took the Tube from there at 0800 BST, heading towards Gunnersbury. An Israeli citizen, she had moved to London in order to escape the uncertainty of living in the midst of Palestinian terrorists. She is believed to have died in the Russell Square bombing.

MICHAEL STANLEY BREWSTER
Father-of-two Stan Brewster, 52, from Derby, was a council highways engineer on his way to a conference at West Kensington, London.

CIARAN CASSIDY
Ciaran Cassidy, 22, lived with his parents in Finsbury Park. He was last seen heading into work in Chancery Lane and he died between Russell Square and King’s Cross. After extensive checks of the hospitals, Ciaran’s father Sean said: “We have no hope whatsoever. I believe he is gone.”

RACHELLE LIENG SIONG CHUNG FOR YUEN
The husband and friends of Ms Chung For Yuen, 27, handed out leaflets across the West End and at stations and hospitals in London in a desperate attempt to find her.

It was later confirmed that she was killed in the explosion between King’s Cross and Russell Square stations.

BENEDETTA CIACCIA
Italian business analyst Benedetta Ciaccia, 30, traveled on the Tube from Liverpool Street station. She was due to marry her fiancém Fiasz Bhatti, in September.

ELIZABETH DAPLYN
Elizabeth Daplyn, a 26-year-old administrator from north London, died in the Piccadilly Line blast while traveling to work at University College Hospital.Her family said she was a talented artist and musician who read Fine Art at Oxford University.

JONATHAN DOWNEY
Mr Downey, 34, of Milton Keynes, died in the Edgware Road blast.

RICHARD ELLERY
Richard Ellery, 21, was traveling into Liverpool Street station on his way from his home in Ipswich.

ANTHONY FATAYI-WILLIAMS
Anthony Fatayi-Williams was on his way to work at Amec Offshore Services, near Liverpool Street station, but is thought to have taken an alternative route to work, via King’s Cross, because of delays on the Northern Line. He died in the number 30 bus blast.

DAVID FOULKES
David Foulkes, 22, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, died in the Edgware Road explosion after traveling to London to meet a friend.

ARTHUR EDLIN FREDERICK
Arthur Edlin Frederick, 60, of Seven Sisters, north London, died in the Piccadilly Line train at Russell Square.

KAROLINA GLUCK
Karolina Gluck ,29, is thought to have died in the Piccadilly Line explosion between King’s Cross and Russell Square stations. She had taken the tube from Finsbury Park towards Russell Square, where she worked.

JAMIE GORDON
Jamie Gordon (aged 30) died on the Tavistock Square bus.
Mr Gordon, of Enfield, north London, had not been heard from since calling his work, City Asset Management, on Thursday morning to say he was on a bus between Euston and King’s Cross.

A statement released by his family said: “He loved life but didn’t take it too seriously.

RICHARD GRAY
Father-of-two Richard Gray, 41, from Ipswich in Suffolk, caught his usual train to Liverpool Street and then took the Tube, but never returned home.

GANZE GUNORAL
Ganze Gunoral, 24, left her aunt’s house to catch the Tube. The Turkish national, who lived in Barnet, was on her way to her language college in Hammersmith, west London.

LEE HARRIS AND SAMANTHA BADHAM
Architect Lee Harris, 30, died overnight in hospital after he was caught up in the Tube bombing near King’s Cross.

He had been traveling with his partner, 36-year-old Samantha Badham, who on Saturday was also identified as a victim of the atrocities. The couple met at Hereford Lads Club when Lee was 17 and preparing for his Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award. Samantha, then 23, was on the club’s committee.

GILES HART
British Telecom worker Giles Hart, 55, was traveling from Hornchurch to Angel and died in the Tavistock Square bus bomb.

MARIE HARTLEY
Marie Hartley, 34, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was in London on a training course when she died.

MIRIAM HYMAN
Miriam Hyman, a picture researcher, last spoke to her father at 0945 on Thursday after coming out of King’s Cross station. The 31-year-old was sitting on the pavement and said that she was fine. She was traveling to work at Canary Wharf, but was told by her agency not to come in. She died in the bus blast at Tavistock Square.

OJARA IKEAGWU

Mother-of-three Ojara Ikeagwu, from Luton, caught her usual train to King’s Cross station to her job in west London. From there, the 55-year-old social worker would have taken a Piccadilly Line Tube to Hounslow.

SHAHARA A ISLAM
Shahara A Islam, 20, a British-Bangladeshi woman, lived with her parents in Plaistow, east London.

NEETU JAIN
Neetu Jain, 37, called her boyfriend at 0930 on Thursday, telling him she had been evacuated from Euston station and was getting a bus to her place of work in Old Street. It was the number 30.

EMILY ROSE JENKINS
Emily Jenkins’ brother James Bowles last heard that Emily, 24, was catching the southbound Piccadilly line from Russell Square on her way to work.

ADRIAN JOHNSON
Father-of-two Adrian Johnson, 37, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, was traveling on the Piccadilly line train when a bomb exploded on it between King’s Cross and Russell Square.

HELEN JONES
The family of Helen Jones released a statement saying they believed she had died in the bombings but she was never formally identified.

SUSAN LEVY
Susan Levy, 53, from Cuffley, Hertfordshire, was the first victim of the London bombings to be formally identified.

SAM LY
Sam Ly was a 28-year-old Australian who died in hospital of injuries sustained in the bus bomb blast.

SHELLEY MATHER
Shelley Mather, 26, held dual passports with New Zealand and Irish citizenship. She had been living and working in London for three years.

MIKE MATSUSHITA
Mike Matsushita, 37, a former tour guide, was a Vietnamese-American.

JAMES MAYES
Friends of James Mayes took photographs of the missing 28- year-old to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel in a bid to track him down in the days after the attacks. He was never found.

ANNE MOFFAT
Anne Moffat, 48, from Old Harlow, Essex, was head of marketing and communications for Girlguiding UK.

COLIN MORLEY
Aged 52, Mr Morley was from Finchley in north London.

BEHNAZ MOZAKKA
Behnaz Mozakka, 48, a biomedical officer from Finchley, north London, is thought to have been killed in the King’s Cross blast on the Piccadilly Line.

JENNIFER NICHOLSON
Jennifer Nicholson, 24, of Bristol, worked for a musical company in London.

MIHAELA OTTO
Mihaela Otto, 46, died in the explosion on the Tube between King’s Cross and Russell Square.

SHYANUJA PARATHASANGARY
Shyanuja Parathasangary, 30, died on the number 30 bus.

ANAT ROSENBERG
Anat Rosenberg, 29, a charity worker from Israel, was killed on the Number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.

PHILIP RUSSELL
The body of Philip Russell, 28, from west London, was recovered from the Tavistock Square bus blast site.

ATEEQUE SHARIFI
Ateeque Sharifi, an Afghan national, died in the Russell Square bombing.

IHAB SLIMANE
Ihab Slimane, a 24-year-old waiter from Paris, had lived in England for three weeks.

CHRISTIAN SMALL
Christian “Njoya” Small left his flat at 08.00 on Thursday on his way to work in Holborn. He never arrived.

FIONA STEVENSON
Fiona Stevenson, 29, a solicitor living in central London, failed to arrive at work on Thursday morning.

MONIKA SUCHOCKA
Colleagues last heard from Monika Suchocka, 23, in a text message she sent saying she was getting on a bus on Thursday morning at about 08.40.

CARRIE TAYLOR
The mother of Carrie Taylor 24, last saw her at Liverpool Street station as the pair traveled from their home in Billericay, Essex, together.

MALA TRIVEDI

LAURA WEBB
Laura Susan Webb, who was 29 and from Kingston-on-Thames, died in the explosion at Edgware Road.

WILLIAM WISE
William Wise died in the bus blast at Tavistock Square.

GLADYS WUNDOWA
A University College London cleaner, Gladys Wundowa, 50, was on the number 30 bus when the bomb exploded in Tavistock Square.

JEAN CHARLES de MENEZES
Shot eight times (seven in his head) by police marksmen after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.

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