| |
|
A little introduction- The original thread having drifted so far off topic that there were two totally different discussions taking place, it's been generally agreed that having two separate threads is the best idea. The original's been locked, but not deleted, so any points you may have made that you feel you'd like to make again are still there for all your cutting and pasting requirements.
Note- this is the thread for discussion sparked by Ganesh's original post (reproduced below). If you don't want to talk about that, but want to talk about something else, then please do it in a different thread. Should you wish to discuss the equally valid (but separate) topic of terrorism and religion, Citizen Frances has kindly started a thread for that here. If you wish to discuss this moderator decision, then we can do it in the Policy.
Anyway, without further ado, the words below were posted by Ganesh on July 13th, six days after the bombings on London's public transport system.
From the moment people first started calling the London bombings '7/7', it was inevitable there'd be comparisons with the World Trade Centre tragedy. Toward the end of the 7th of July and in the days that followed, comparisons flowed thick and fast, from US and UK media.
Obviously, being the single biggest terror attack (in terms of fatalities) on British soil, since whenever, it was going to be held up against the single biggest terror attack (in terms of fatalities) on American soil. The pattern of attacks (several explosions, in the public/civilian sphere, happening more or less simultaneously) was also extremely similar to those on 9/11.
Even as the event was being reported by the British media, there was some evidence of contrast. I can't recall the specifics but, on the afternoon of the bombings, there were accounts of some sort of establishment involving "American students": the audio reports talked about them crying and saying they wanted to go home. Although no comment was made upon this, the article was topped and tailed with interviews with injured-yet-stoical Londoners vowing the attack would not cause them to change their habits "because then the terrorists would've won".
Subsequent to 7/7, the coverage on the UK side has tended to emphasise the 'Spirit of the Blitz' casualness with which the attack was treated, and speculate that this was because London has had a history of violence (Guy Fawkes, World War II, IRA bombings, etc.) or because doughty Londoners are a particularly hardy breed (not quite sure how they can divorce this from the history of bombings, etc.).
At least some of the coverage on the US side has tended to compare the London bombings with the World Trade Centre attack - tending to compare 7/7 wth 9/11, noting the difference in reaction on both sides of the Atlantic (both defiant, but Londoners blase while New Yorkers were shocked to the core) but frequently drawing the conclusion that the British will somehow "understand" or sympathise with US feeling subsequent to 9/11 ie. the War on Terrrrr, the Patriot Act, etc., etc., etc.
I'm not sure how I feel on the whole thing. On the one hand, I feel proud that Londoners are able, ostensibly, to shrug off a major terrorist attack and make a beeline for the pub (perhaps the presence of pub culture in the UK but not the US is relevant in the reactions to disaster of both nations?), and I'm irritated by attempts to make our bombings the "British 9/11" (not the same scale, not the same symbolic importance, not the same history of being attacked). On the other, I'm started to get scratchy with the resurgence of "plucky little Englander" cant.
I'm not sure where this is heading. I suppose I'd intended this thread to be a comparison of 7/7 and 9/11, and the reactions to both events, in terms of population and media. Do as thou wilt. |
|
|
