
Must we forgive the 7/7 bombers?
Many of the victims of 7/7 have spoken in detail about how they have used sometimes miraculous escapes to reframe their lives and give them new purpose. Others have spoken about the freedom and closure of forgiveness. Those who have suffered inconceivable pain through the sudden kinetic brutality of terrorism, either as victims or the bereaved, have every right to process how they make sense of it in their own way. But I worry that the busy hand of reconciliation that seems to elevate forgiveness above all other reactions leaves those simply – and legitimately – angry untouched.
Much is made of the Christian instinct to forgive those who trespass against us. The father of Marie Wilson, murdered in the 1987 Enniskillen bombing, became famous around the world for forgiving the terrorists who killed his daughter in the rubble feet away from him. It exposed the moral vacuity of the IRA's campaign like nothing else could. But for every Gordon Wilson, there are other victims of terrorism who cannot forgive and who will not move on. Their experience is every bit as valid.
In the Christian tradition, forgiveness is also contingent on repentance. In the case of 7/7, there is no one left to seek absolution for their grave sins. The suicide bombers denied their victims any possible closure in a final act of nihilistic wickedness. Subsequent attacks by Islamist militants have only demonstrated an increasingly depraved indifference to human life. Several survivors of the atrocity have said they still see the faces of the four bombers whenever they close their eyes. There may be forgiveness for some. But for many there is no forgetting this side of the grave.
I have sat with several victims of terrorism who are implacably consumed with hatred for what has been done to them or theirs. The fashionable consensus is that these people damage only themselves with unrelievable rage. Many well-meaning clinicians argue that letting go of such emotions and moving on with life is the psychologically healthy option. We must be extremely wary of somehow labelling such emotions as a 'second-class' response.
Anger can sometimes give birth to new purpose or even a way of going on for those affected. Not everyone can or should subscribe to the 'don't look back in anger' Disneyfication of events like the Manchester Arena bombing. Candles and flowers are a natural expression of community grief and resilience but the closer you are to the epicentre of a terror attack, and the more they happen regardless, the more disfiguring reflexive forgiveness can seem.
Survivors of the 7/7 bombing have found their own way to handle what was done to them. All responses, including simply wanting to forget, are equally valid and must be endowed with the same dignity. The government is currently considering the idea of a national day of remembrance for the victims of terrorism. Any arrangements must not seek to constrain the different ways people process violence against them or their loved ones.
Gill Hicks, a 7/7 survivor, provides another perspective. She lost both legs and spoke movingly on the BBC's Women's Hour today about her ordeal. An extraordinary presence of mind kept her alive, fixing tourniquets to her shattered limbs. Other survivors spoke about fellow passengers holding the dying as they slipped away, the heroic emergency response, the comfort of strangers in an inconceivable hellscape of noise, dust and suffering, the forging of lifelong friendships in adversity. These behaviours cannot defeat the terrorists. But they signal something beyond their comprehension which we can use on days like these: they will never crush love.

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Scottish Sun
14 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Six TRNSMT revellers arrested and police officer assaulted on festival's opening night
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Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
I was MI6 spy inside Al Qaeda – I'm haunted by 9/11 tip that came too late… but I saved thousands from another attack
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHILE thousands have suffered from Al Qaeda's brutality, few understand its inner workings as well as Aimen Dean, a former operative turned British spy. From 9/11 to London's 7/7 attacks, the terrorist group is linked with some of the most vicious atrocities of the 21st century. 10 Aimen Dean was MI6's top spy inside Al Qaeda Credit: BBC 10 Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 Credit: Getty 10 Al Qaeda were linked to the 7/7 attack on London Credit: PA:Press Association 10 Aimen with older brother at their home in Saudi Arabia Credit: Supplied / Aimen Dean The dad-of-one was 17 when he met Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, which killed almost 3,000 civilians. 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New Statesman
a day ago
- New Statesman
The mutation of jihad
Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP We fear the wrong terror. This week marked the 20th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings. But the spectacular terror of international jihad has significantly abated. In 2022, the UK downgraded its terrorism threat level from 'severe' to 'substantial', and MI5 director Ken McCallum observed in 2024 that terrorist threats had diminished during his time at the service. Attacks claimed by Islamic State group (IS) have fallen from almost 4,000 in 2018 to around 600 so far this year. And they are less likely to be of immediate concern to Western countries. Almost 90% of the group's violence now takes place in remote parts of Africa. A report published this week highlighted a newer danger: hostile governments are equipping themselves to execute professional attacks on British soil. The study by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, which Keir Starmer saw before publication, investigated Iran. It counted at least 15 attempted murders or abductions of British nationals or UK-based citizens since 2022, and designated the Iran one of the biggest threats to the UK, next to Russia and China. But it should not be news that the threat of state-sponsored, professional killings has been increasing in recent years should not be news. In 2024, MI5 admitted a 48 per cent rise in state-instigated assassination attempts on UK soil. But the only such incident to gain real cut-through was the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018. Jihad is changing its face. In recent years, jihadist and Islamist groups that have embraced more pragmatic, local agendas have tended to flourish. Meanwhile, supporters of more extreme jihadist ideologies – groups like IS and al-Qaeda which once posed significant threats to the West – are foundering. In 2001, al-Qaeda executed the grandest and most famous assault the West had ever seen on its own land. The 2017 attacks on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge represented a transition to less complicated methods, such as stabbings and driving vans into crowds. IS was encouraging followers to use whatever equipment they can get their hands on. Now, commenters on GeoNews, the main al-Qaeda chat room, are wont to take a despairing tone; in late April this year, one commenter reflected 'Jihadism goes nowhere, it didn't achieve anything… it's like digging in water… The best that can happen is like [what happened in] Syria'. Since the December 2024 overthrow of the al-Assad government, Syria has been ruled by Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known by his military name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Al-Sharaa's regime has dismayed Islamist hardliners by distancing itself from typical jihadist and Islamist demands, such as rigorous application of Sharia law. Instead it has loudly touted its respect for religious minorities, with a programme more reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire's 'millet' ('personal law') decentralisations, which gave religious communities a degree of local autonomy. Al-Sharaa has even shaken the investment tin to the US and other Western powers. And, perhaps most controversially, his government is signalling openness to normalising ties with Israel, its arch-foe. Unburdened of US sanctions, Syria's economy is expected to begin the slow path to recovery. Al-Sharaa has generally prioritised winning international credibility as a competent and pragmatic leader over governing by strict Islamic principles. He has proposed plans to privatise state-controlled infrastructure and made overtures to foreign investors. Government officials have stated intentions to model Syria's future on service-based economies like Singapore. It is a surprising posture. Historian Djene Rhys Bajalan has coined the term 'Salafi Neoliberalism' to describe the strange new synthesis of 'malls and mosques'. Other media outlets have described it as 'Islamist technocracy', pointing to the equal centrality of technocratic institutions and conservative social mores. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Before Syria, there was Afghanistan. Despite being spurned by the international community for its deeply regressive social policies, hardcore jihadists had condemned the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan after its 2021 takeover as too lax. IS's local wing and its affiliated media regularly scorn the Taliban, holding that the group has abandoned jihad, failed to implement Sharia and allied itself with enemy foreign powers. Accepting national borders and engaging in diplomacy is considered anathema to IS's vision of global jihad. Taken as evidence of ideological compromise was the Taliban's removal from Russia's list of terrorist organisations. And this week, on 9 July, Afghanistan posted an extraordinary tourism advert online, which opens with a shot of five turbaned men behind three kneeling hostages. The leader says 'we have one message for America', then pulls off the hood of the central hostage, revealing a beaming Westerner who shouts, 'Welcome to Afghanistan!' Of course, all sorts of propaganda will be used in service of attracting tourism; but this is nonetheless a sea change from the autarkic Taliban regime of the 1990s. Affiliates of al-Qaeda now appear poised to make a definitive break with the transnational jihadist model most infamously espoused by Islamic State (IS). Al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen (AQAP) and Somalia (Al-Shabaab) have showed signs of being willing to collaborate with the Iran-backed Houthis, traditionally an ideological foe. In Yemen in April, a former al-Qaeda member rebranded innocuously as the Movement for Change and Liberation, a new, locally focused party. The affiliate in West Africa's Sahel region, JNIM, is perhaps the most likely to split from al-Qaeda's central structure next: media branding changes, such as the removal of JNIM's logo, suggest a split from the wider North African branch, AQIM. In February, one al-Qaeda supporter wondered in the GeoNews chatroom why 'JNIM want to separate from [al-Qaeda]?… It's sad'. JNIM's drift away from al-Qaeda may allow it to more openly collaborate with other non-jihadist militant groups such as Tuareg separatists. JNIM has also reportedly signalled willingness to combine forces with non-jihadist armed groups in the Sahel, such as the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), against common enemies in the region (predominantly the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso). Burkina Faso's military junta plainly considers the Taliban and JNIM entirely separate entities, meeting with the former in May while engaged in a bloody war with the latter. What is left of IS itself has blamed the West for the move away from jihadism and toward more palatable alternatives in order to undermine them and lure Muslims from the 'true' path. One high-profile IS supporter posted on Facebook, '[the US] gave Afghanistan to Taliban… and Syria to [al-Sharaa's] HTS which converted to secularism'. Devoted IS supporters see more pragmatic Islamist movements like HTS as enforcers of the West's war on terrorism who are beholden to Western interests, rather than being committed to applying Shariah by the letter. Al-Naba, IS's weekly newspaper, has recently struck a downbeat tone. An early July editorial worried about low morale and a wavering commitment to global jihad. Several other recent editorials have all but admitted that the group is on the backfoot, especially in its Middle Eastern heartlands, where its attacks have dropped significantly in recent years. Transnational jihadism – an ideology that has demonstrated remarkable tenacity throughout the first quarter of the 21st century – may be about to turn a corner. As US power retreats, those who might have been attracted to confronting American imperialism are concerned by other questions. International terrorist imperatives are being subordinated to domestic, material issues. At least for now, the success of the local appears to be global jihadism's loss. [See also: Netanyahu bends the knee for Trump] Related