London is under attack from terrorists. Those six words are summing up what is happening today. Londoners are going through the feelings and emotions that Israelis face on a day-to-day basis. The public transport system, including the underground and buses, have been subjected to what appears to be a series of terrorist attacks.
From around 9.20 a.m. today when I first heard what was happening, I have been glued to the TV and radio, trying to find out what is going on and talking with friends and family who have been traveling.
At first, we were told it was a power surge on the London Underground which caused incidents at five stations, including a train crash; then we were told a double-decker bus had its top blown off in central London.
People are trapped with injuries underground, many are dead.
We are experiencing a day of confusion, panic and uncertainty. The train service has stopped, the bus system in central London is also coming to a standstill. What will happen next?
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, has advised the public not to make unnecessary journeys. No one is certain if there is more to come.
A conference on the Israeli economy at the Great Eastern Hotel near Liverpool Street station, which Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to attend, has been evacuated. The Israeli Embassy in the Kensington section of west London is also cordoned off.
It looks like it was planned — and planned with much thought. It was coordinated to bring London to a standstill and leave Londoners feeling that more can happen. And if more doesn’t happen, then the feeling remains that whoever caused this could have done much more.
London has never experienced such a coordinated terrorist attack in its history. How London moves on from this is too early to say. We will mourn those who have been killed and seek justice for those who caused it.
Leslie Bunder is editor of www.somethingjewish.co.uk
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
