Jane McCallion:

A bright, sunny summer day.  By the end of the day, seven people will be dead and 500 injured in a terrorist attack.  Almost nine months to the day later, at rush hour, a similar attack on the underground system injures over 5,500 people. Of those 5,500, 12 died, 1,077 were seriously injured and 47 were left permanently disabled.  60% of the remaining 4364 were left with milder vision problems and post traumatic stress disorder. This was the worst disaster to hit the country since World War II, carried out by religious fanatics trying to remove the government and install themselves as rulers.

I am, of course, talking about the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo Metro, perpetrated by the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan, an internationally recognised terrorist organisation that worships its leader, Shoko Asahara.

With fewer injuries but more deaths, a bombing in 1998 killed 29 and injured over 300.  Carried out by a terrorist group that pursued a complete change in governance, amongst the dead was a woman pregnant with twins.  This is the Omagh bombing, carried out by the Real IRA.

What is the point of illustrating these attacks?

Attacks by Al-Qaeda and other extremist Muslim groups stick in our mind for two reasons – because they’re recent, and because they are spectacular.  If you think of the 9/11 attacks, it’s not the rubble that was left at the end you think of – it’s the bright red flames of the kerosene exploding against a clear blue sky.  You probably don’t even think about the missing side of the Pentagon.  Thinking about the July 7th bombings in London, the image is the eviscerated red bus, its roof gone and insides exposed.  Other attacks have left behind grey and brown rubble, if they leave anything at all.  These two attacks leave vivid, emotional images that will stay with us for decades –and that is exactly what the perpetrators want.

Terrorism isn’t called terrorism for nothing.  The attacks are comparatively small scale, but the impact is lasting, breeding suspicion and fear.  If you wonder if that guy wearing a kamize is planning your demise, if you fear to take public transport, if you worry about the future of your country, they are winning.  There have been Muslims living in this country since the 13th century, and the history of Islam in Europe goes back even further.  Through a couple of isolated, photogenic attacks, this brand of terrorist has convinced us that they are a real threat to our way of life.  We forget groups that have been carrying out attacks for decades, like ETA, the Continuity IRA or the Orange Volunteers – all of which are still active.

‘Divide and rule’ is an old maxim, but it still holds true.  Suspicion divides us, and terror rules us, until we tear ourselves apart, but only if we let it. Standing united, whomever we are, is the only way to defeat terror and save ourselves.