The seductive simplicity of "Us and Them" - 10 years on -7/7 anniversary

On the 10th Anniversary of 7/7, we join the nation in our solidarity with the victims and the relatives of those injured and killed. Many moving tributes and reflections have been published in the past few days but we were particularly touched by the challenging words of Dr Laura Zahra McDonald, Director at ConnectJustice. The original piece can be found on ConnectJustice's blog:  http://www.connectjustice.org/blog.php  The seductive simplicity of "Us and Them" - 10 Years on - 7/7 anniversary Ten years ago today, 52 Londoners were brutally murdered in Britain's first homegrown suicide bombings, triggering a wake of reaction: fear, outrage, action. The impact is still felt today - for those who lost their loved ones, or whose bodies were maimed, and for our society at large, which has seen a heightened security response permeate our public spaces and private lives. Yet the threat of terrorism has morphed and grown, with the current colonising blood lust of so-called Islamic State attracting recruits from around our unstable world.The demand for solutions, to 'cure' extremism, is at an all time high. A trend for narrative work, in which the world views of groups such as so-called IS are countered by 'our' narratives, has created a new battleground, one in which we compete for hearts and minds, and in which the messiness of human experience and perspectives is quickly squeezed out in the assertion of righteousness by all 'sides'.But on this anniversary the words of Mohammad Sidique Khan, who murdered for 'his' people remain horribly relevant: terrorism and its division of our societies relies on the creation of Us and Them - dehumanising the other is the justification of brutality. By playing the narrative game we reinforce the framework, that you 'are with us or against us'. Research tells us that violent extremism thrives on grievance, a lack of critical and complex thinking, and the creation and sustaining of 'in' and 'out' groups.At ConnectJustice we seek community-led solutions to the challenges of injustice, violent extremism and exploitation. At this moment, we call for reflection and partnership across our social and political divides, to create a new framework, one which we can all embrace, and which rejects the seductive simplicity of Us and Them.