Goodness prevails over evil
When my nephew told me that he was going to spend his summer holiday in Tunisia, I just couldn’t believe my ears. It was only two years ago that he and his partner narrowly escaped a suicide bomb attack on their hotel in Sousse. As I wrote in my column 'Holiday from Hell', Brett, my nephew, was forced to stay in his hotel room after suffering a slipped disc while getting off the coach. Suddenly, he heard a huge commotion at the reception as police managed to chase the suicide bomber out of the hotel and onto the beach, where the young terrorist blew himself up. I asked myself: who in their right mind would want to go back there again? But my younger sister, my nephew and their family love Tunisia, especially the people. They have made many friends there and, as they told me; lightning never strikes twice in the same place. How wrong could they be?
Fortunately, they didn’t choose Sousse this time otherwise they would surely have been involved in the terrible massacre that took place only two weeks ago. We were all frantic at home because we weren’t sure which hotel they were staying at and were so relieved when my sister called, five hours later, completely oblivious to what had happened. This massacre, where 38 holiday makers were murdered – 30 of them British – was especially horrific as we could all imagine the scene: innocent tourists just lying on their sun beds, reading a book, doing a crossword or contemplating another swim, when the unbelievable happened.
I honestly can’t understand what could have driven this young man to perform such a terrible act and what do Isis expect to gain from senseless attacks such as these? If anything they only bring us closer together, when we hear about the selfless bravery of some of the survivors. There was the man who threw himself over his fiancé and was then shot, and the Tunisian hotel staff who made a human shield by joining hands to protect the other tourists. Then there was the young man who had watched as his brother, uncle and grandfather were shot dead right in front of him, but still had the strength to try and stop the bleeding from a young woman’s leg, until the ambulance came.
How sad that we must relive these terrible terrorist attacks – again and again. The poor people of Tunisia will now lose their livelihoods as tourists will no longer go there – not even my nephew – and what have the terrorists gained? Absolutely nothing!
Last Tuesday, Britain remembered the 7/7 bomb attacks in London, where 52 innocent people died and 700 were injured. There were many services held around the country and London came to a standstill as a one-minute’s-silence took place and David Cameron and the London mayor, Boris Johnson, laid wreaths at the memorial. Ten years on, those who were there relived the worst terrorist attack on British soil since the Lockerbie plane bombing. Many survivors had horrific stories to tell about what happened when four suicide bombers blew up trains in the underground and a double-decker bus. However, almost all of them recalled the bravery and kindness of others, who risked their own lives by helping the wounded without caring about who they were, what colour their skin was or which faith they belonged to.
Many lives were lost in this attack, which happened the day after London had won the bid for the Olympic Games, but the resilience of the British people was never broken. Commuters went to work the following day and took the underground as usual, and today London is a more welcoming, dynamic, cosmopolitan city than ever before. Love and kindness will always prevail over evil.