THE QUESTION

Does the latest car bombing in the UK make you feel unsafe where you live? Or is this just London's problem?

Posted by Natalie Ahn on July 2, 2007 10:00 AM

FROM THE PANEL

Miklós Vámos is a Hungarian novelist, screenwriter and talk show host. He is one of the most read and respected writers in his native Hungary. He has taught at Yale University on a Fulbright fellowship, served as The Nation’s East European correspondent, worked as consultant on the Oscar-winning film Mephisto, and presented Hungary’s most-watched cultural television show. Vámos has received numerous awards for his plays, screenplays, novels and short stories, including the Hungarian Merit Award for lifetime achievement. The Book of Fathers is considered his most accomplished novel and has sold 200,000 copies in Hungary.

I Worry for All of Us

London has no problems that are entirely London’s alone. Neither has New York, Paris, Berlin, Budapest or any other city. My daughter lives in London, so my view of this situation is somewhat emotional. Yet I worry not just for her but for all of us. How can we be so short-sighted to make our own existence so insecure?

Miklos Vamos Budapest, Hungary | 21 COMMENTS
Jul 5, 2007 at 10:00 AM
Bashir Goth is a veteran journalist, freelance writer, the first Somali blogger and editor of a leading news website. He is also a regular contributor to major Middle Eastern and African newspapers and online journals.

Muslims Also Feel Unsafe, But Go AWOL

Anger, frustration and helplessness -- with people in the Middle East starting their summer vacations, many of them dread the harassment, humiliation and abuse waiting for them in Western airports after the latest attacks. But instead of resisting Al Qaeda, they just sit back and let the West continue to fight for them.

Bashir Goth Somalia/UAE | 86 COMMENTS
Jul 2, 2007 at 3:05 PM
Shim Jae Hoon is a Seoul-based journalist and commentator writing for a variety of international publications including YaleGlobal Online, The Straits Times of Singapore, The Taipei Times and Korea Herald. He was a correspondent for Far Eastern Economic Review in Seoul, Taipei and Jakarta.

Iraq Exports Weapons of Desperation

Car bombing has developed as a unique weapon of desperation in the hands, mostly, of Islamic extremists. We have not seen it in East Asian cities, which have more homogeneous populations than London and strict standards of public security. But is this phenomenon a result of Iraq? The bombings do seem to extend outwards from there...

Shim Jae Hoon South Korea | 24 COMMENTS
Jul 2, 2007 at 12:05 PM
Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist. He was born in Jerusalem in 1955. Presently he is a visiting professor at Princeton University in the United States. Mr. Kuttab is the former director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in Ramallah, Palestine and the founder of AmmanNet, the Arab world's first internet radio station. His personal web page is www.daoudkuttab.com

Western Tranquility Won’t Last

The bombs in London make me no less and no more safe where I live. We have had enough violence and bloodshed not to be moved by the discovery of what appear to be amateurish attempts at bomb-making. I am afraid that the tranquility the West has enjoyed will not remain a permanent condition.

Daoud Kuttab Princeton, NJ | 39 COMMENTS
Jul 2, 2007 at 11:13 AM

READER RESPONSE

» Hussein, Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK | Having been involved with the Iraqi issue for many years, I find it interesting how many people have jumped onto the band wagon over the past few year...
» D. Hodara | It is certainly not London's problem only. It is all the western world problem. England had allowed radical islamics to live in England and diffuse th...
» Shiveh | UK came under attack by a group of ideologically driven criminals that have the destruction of Western interests in their agenda. Any sign of their ac...
MORE RESPONSE

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