Bloody Thursday
New York, Bali, Jakarta, Madrid, Baghdad, and now London -- our heads drop and hearts wrench upon hearing the news of another barbarous terrorist attack on an innocent people.
No ideology or cause can justify the premeditated murder of members of a civilian population. Even in war there are prohibitions against aggression on unarmed communities.
With great anguish on Thursday we learned, yet again, of another attack, this time on the great city of London. It is with deepest sympathy that we extend our condolences to the families of the bomb victims.
For Indonesians it is not difficult to share the agony felt by Londoners. The Indonesian people, who in recent years have become repeated victims of terrorist attacks, know first-hand the weight of emotions felt -- the feelings of being violated and betrayed, the suffering and the indignation.
The pain is even more searing since it came at a time when the city was celebrating; the day after it was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games.
Pictures of jubilation were replaced by scenes of chaos and horror -- pictures that were rapidly beamed around the world.
It goes without saying that every civilized society deplores and condemns this act of wanton murder. The Indonesian people should extend every assistance needed to help capture the culprits of the attack, which killed at least 37 people and injured up to a thousand more.
Out of every hardship, however, comes tales of heroism, and the heroes of the London attack are the residents of the city.
The way Londoners reacted to the attack will send a message to terrorists that their vile ways will not deter a spirited nation's resolve.
"You do your worst, and we will do our best," the great English lion prime minister Winston Churchill roared many decades ago in defiance of Hitler. No doubt he would have been proud of his countrymen today who stood up to the new criminals of the 21st Century.
We are also confident that British stoutness will prevent them from falling into the trap being sprung by those who perpetrated the attacks: To further pit peoples of different religion and race against one another.
London is one of the greatest cosmopolitan cities of the world. Peoples from all walks of life, religions, ethnicities and creeds make the city their home. This patchwork quilt, which includes one of the biggest Muslim communities in Europe, has made London unique and strong. It is this diversity, we hope, that will work against any misguided attempts to divide the city's humanity based on ideology or faith.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said the determination "to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction ... to impose extremism throughout the world".
We cannot agree more.
The British have a long history of fortitude. One which is perhaps put best by one of the island nation's great writers, Milton, many ages ago: "What though the field be lost? All is not lost ... And courage never to submit or yield".