I’m sure you’ve heard of it… the tragedy that was Grenfell Towers – the inferno of destruction weighing down on an estimated 500+ individuals (unconfirmed). Men, women, and children lost their lives, while others who narrowly escaped were forced to witness the screaming and suffering from their fellow neighbours.
It was a massacre and a landmark in recent acts of terror to come from the U.K., but was it as simple as an unfortunate incident? Or can it be considered an act of terrorism from the council who neglected those people? My quarry recently has been with not just the neglectful council of Kensington, but with its more financially secure residents who seem to show little to no empathy for the victims. One resident even stated, “If anyone from Grenfell moves to this area I will move out. I paid to be here and they have no right.” This sort of attitude has been the result of a chain reaction brought on by complaints from the upper class.
As the everlasting divide between races takes its role in the incident, some have claimed that they would like Britain to go back to its “original” state of white supremacists. Protestors have been caught on camera making statements such as, “WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING OR ELSE IT’S (Kensington) GOING TO TURN INTO EAST LONDON.” Many of these hateful acts began shortly after the now infamous Manchester bombings at the Ariana Grande concert earlier this summer. Since said bombings, I’ve taken to social media (particularly Facebook) and have noticed many racists revealing their true colours. The pattern consists of white males blaming Muslims and acting as if it is done out of fear for their own safety. These events have sparked an unnecessary retaliation to the point where people have been attacked after praying at mosque. However, when one man who happened to be driving the van at Finsbury Park got caught, he pleaded with the men holding him down, repeatedly saying, “KILL ME!” Because Imam Mahmoud prevented him from being harmed until the police arrived, this brings me to the big question: how would it have looked had they decided to kill that man? Would it be regarded as self defence? Would we hear all sides of the story? Or just the part they want us to hear… the part where a Muslim kills a non-Muslim?
It appears that terrorism has a face in the news, and that face wears a hijab. But where do the lines get blurred between an “incident” and terrorism? According to the media, Grenfell was anything but an act of terrorism. See, terrorism has many forms, and I believe that ignoring residential complaints about the fire hazards a tower provides is an act of terror on its own. It is an act of terror against the poor working class from the supreme council who only look after their own. In these times of unfair, biased allegations and straight-up murder, we as a community must fight back.

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