LONDON: Survivors of terrorist attacks in the UK and bereaved relatives have formed an action group to press for more effective anti-terrorism policies and more support for victims.
The founders of Survivors Against Terror include Travis Frain, who was hit by the car in the attack on Westminster Bridge in London, Dan Hett, whose brother Martin was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing last May, and Sajda Mughal and Martine Wiltshire, who both survived the 7/7 Tube and bus bombings in London in 2005.
But the founders are by no means restricted to those affected by terror attacks by Islamist extremists. Jo Berry’s father was killed when the Irish Republican Army bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984 and Brendan Cox is the widower of member of parliament Jo Cox, who was stabbed to death by white supremacist Thomas Mair in June 2016.
Mr Cox said the group’s aim was to try “to defeat terrorism at its source” by uniting to not only support the police and security services but also to influence government policy and tackle inflammatory “hate speech,” especially on social media.
“What terrorists want is for us to turn against each other, to hate each other,” he said. Educating the public in how not to give in to hate would be a “central mission” of Survivors Against Terror.
“At its heart, it will be trying to make sure that we don’t just respond to terror but that we get ahed of it, defeat it at its core, at its source,” he said.
Other founders of the group include the widow of British soldier Lee Rigby, who was beheaded in a London street by extremists who filmed the murder, Mike Haines, whose brother David was held captive and beheaded by Daesh, and Yassin Hersi, who was injured in the attack on Finsbury Park mosque in London.
The group will meet regularly to lobby for effective policies, including better integration and more inclusiveness in communities. The support for survivors and bereaved relatives has been “mixed,” varying from “exemplary” to none.
“We will be reaching out to other survivors and bereaved families to build a better picture of what is and isn’t working and will be talking to the government and other service providers about the gaps we identify,” the group said.
Survivors and relatives form group to ‘defeat terror at source’
Survivors and relatives form group to ‘defeat terror at source’
Mideast war will reinforce nuclear ambitions of Kim Jong Un
- Just a few days before the attack, Kim had pledged to build more nuclear weapons at a ruling party congress last week, though he left the door open for more talks, depending on Washington’s attitude
SEOUL: US and Israeli military strikes on Iran will reinforce the nuclear ambitions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, say experts and former officials, as attention focuses on whether he might return to negotiations with President Donald Trump.
Talks to tackle Pyongyang’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, subject to heavy international sanctions, broke down despite summits between Kim and Trump in 2018 and 2019, but the attacks on Iran could spur it to reconsider.
“Kim must have thought Iran was attacked like that because it didn’t have nuclear weapons,” said Song Seong-jong, a professor at Daejeon University and a former official of South Korea’s Defense Ministry.
The military operation was inevitable, given the “hegemonic and rogue” nature of the US, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Just a few days before the attack, Kim had pledged to build more nuclear weapons at a ruling party congress last week, though he left the door open for more talks, depending on Washington’s attitude.
“If the US withdraws its policy of confrontation with North Korea by respecting our country’s current status ... there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the US,” state news agency KCNA cited Kim as saying.
