(no subject)
Sep. 11th, 2010 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hnpccI just thought I'd quote Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London at the time of the 7th July 2005 bombings.
"Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.
I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don’t want that - and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another.
Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."
Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.
You can hijack aeroplanes and crash them into buildings, bomb embassies, bomb trains and buses, crash boats into warships, bomb mosques, (including when the country is already reeling from natural disasters), bomb hotels, whatever.
And. You. Will. Fail.
Because we will not let you win.
We, the people in the middle, the ones you want to kill, the ones who frankly mostly just want to be left alone to worship or not as we please, to live our lives and go about our daily business in peace, to earn enough to feed our families and raise our kids and care for our sick, our disabled and our elders - we will not let you win.
Ever.
For every angry, disaffected youth you convert there are more youth who you won't, and who will actively work to stop you. For every raving lunatic who fans the flames by threatening to burn books, torch religious places, incite hatred, there are more of us who will oppose them and reach out in peace to try and restore order. For every one of us you kill, military or civilian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Christian or whatever faith or of no faith, there are more of us left living. For every one of us who turns to using your methods in anger, there are more of us who will refrain and who will work together to resolve our differences in as peaceful a fashion as we can.
You will fail. Because we will not let you win.
Ever.
"Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.
I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don’t want that - and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another.
Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."
Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.
You can hijack aeroplanes and crash them into buildings, bomb embassies, bomb trains and buses, crash boats into warships, bomb mosques, (including when the country is already reeling from natural disasters), bomb hotels, whatever.
And. You. Will. Fail.
Because we will not let you win.
We, the people in the middle, the ones you want to kill, the ones who frankly mostly just want to be left alone to worship or not as we please, to live our lives and go about our daily business in peace, to earn enough to feed our families and raise our kids and care for our sick, our disabled and our elders - we will not let you win.
Ever.
For every angry, disaffected youth you convert there are more youth who you won't, and who will actively work to stop you. For every raving lunatic who fans the flames by threatening to burn books, torch religious places, incite hatred, there are more of us who will oppose them and reach out in peace to try and restore order. For every one of us you kill, military or civilian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Christian or whatever faith or of no faith, there are more of us left living. For every one of us who turns to using your methods in anger, there are more of us who will refrain and who will work together to resolve our differences in as peaceful a fashion as we can.
You will fail. Because we will not let you win.
Ever.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-09-11 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-11 11:03 am (UTC)The attitude of London, the UK and its leaders was so different to what had been said in 2001. Livingstone's speech is ultimately uniting, rather than dividing.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-11 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 02:53 pm (UTC)Well said my dear, I heartily concur :)