London pride defies the terrorists

If Adolf Hitler’s bombers couldn’t beat the British parliament to its knees, the Islamic State hasn’t a chance.

The terrorist group has proudly claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s rampage in the heart of London that left five people dead and dozens seriously hurt.

Undoubtedly the Islamic State is experiencing a perverse satisfaction that this atrocity disrupted a nation and left it, for a few hours at least, reeling in fear and confusion.

But despite the grisly human toll from the assault — the dead include a young teacher, a 15-year police veteran, a 75year-old man and an American tourist celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary— it was a total defeat for Khalid Masood, who died carrying it out, and ISIS.

That’s because it has not stopped the British parliament from continuing the work of British democracy.

Nor has it cowed the British people. We doubt even the most cruel and diabolical terrorists could ever achieve these things.

The Houses of Parliament are an attractive target for terrorists. They are a cradle of democracy, not only for the United Kingdom but for dozens of countries around the world, including Canada, whose parliamentary system of government is modelled after the original in London.

ISIS hates all this. Individual freedom and self-determination are anathema to it. Even so, it would never dare to challenge the military might of Britain in open conflict.

But attacking parliament, and nearby Westminster Bridge where the assailant left a trail of carnage behind his rented car, is another matter.

Strike hard in the centre of a teeming metropolis. Leave bloodied bodies on the ground. Create chaos in a seat of government.

Frighten the people who live in London and who come from around the world to see one of its most famous cities. Sow seeds of suspicion, hatred and conflict in a multicultural country.

This is the terrorist’s strategy. It has been tried in Europe, the United States and Canada, which in 2014 witnessed a similar assault on its parliament. It has scarred our era.

This week’s battleground, however, has known conflict and trouble many times in a history stretching back more than a millennium.

German bombs destroyed the House of Commons chamber in the Second World War. Parliament convened elsewhere. And when the House was rebuilt, one archway, at the urging of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, was left unrepaired as a lasting reminder of what British democracy could endure.

Before that, in 1834, fire razed most of the old Palace of Westminster, the official name of the Houses of Parliament. The British rebuilt.

Extremists of another era tried to blow up parliament in 1605. They failed, too.

The latest attack on parliament, which was committed by an English-born terrorist, is being taken in similar stride by the British government and the British people.

As much as they love the Palace of Westminster, they know it is a building of brick, stone and iron. Democracy is different. It’s an idea, a belief, a way of life.

Some day, terrorists might physically damage Britain’s parliament.

But they can never touch democracy as long as the people hold fast to this magnificent idea.