Seven seven

I listen to stories - that's my job. Sometimes a story and storyteller fix themselves deep in my mind. Neema is one of those storytellers. She was in Tavistock Square on July 7th last year when a suicide bomber blew up the number 30 bus.
I was running a storytelling event for young people in Walsall. Neema was the last in the storycircle. I realised this story was special. It features today on BBC Black Country Local TV. (This links to the BBC Broadband Portal)

I was at home last July 7th, sitting at the table at which I'm writing now. I wrote into this blog as the terror unfolded. First on Radio 5 live and later on BBC News the full horror of what had happened was revealed. The first call I remember that indicated that it was a terrorist attack was when a caller to Matthew Banister talked about the bus in Tavistock Square. He described how the roof had been peeled back and people were screaming and running from the scene. We had been attacked. I say we, because it was an angry outburst against the whole nation.

Last week's New Statesman carried an article about one of the bombers, Shezad Tanweer and the writer Shiv Malik speculated about what may have motivated him

Perhaps this is the rub. Perhaps mainstream society didn’t
simply lose Tanweer to a bunch of brainwashing Islamofascist
gangsters. Perhaps in the village-like, insulated atmosphere
of Beeston, he came to regard the Mullah Crew not just as part
of a brave new Islamic world, but also as the most attractive
and dynamic path towards helping his community, both locally
and internationally.
After all, if they could get heroin addicts off heroin and turn
them back into productive members of society, maybe they
could do other things, bigger things, that most people would
think impossible. Maybe, against the background of war in
Aghanistan and Iraq, they could do something to change
British government policy.

This week a video of Shezad Tanweer was broadcast by Al-Jazeerer, in which he warns that the attacks on Britain will get worse. We may not have "simply lost Tanweer to a bunch of brainwashing Islamofascist gangsters" but there's no doubt that he was lost. His actions are unforgiveable.

Today many many others will feel the loss of people they loved - innocent victims. I trust they will find some meaning as they reflect and mourn today.