At noon BST in London and in other locations across the UK, people paused - many in the streets or simply stopping their cars - for a 2 minute silence in remembrance of the events of one week ago.
During the tribute, the usually thronging hordes of tourists outside Westminster Abbey also fell silent. Vehicles came to a standstill in the usually busy Parliament Square, as taxi drivers and other motorists ignored the green signals on traffic lights.
"As we stand together in silence, let us send a message to the terrorists — you will not defeat us and you will not break us," said George Psaradakis, who was driving the double-decker bus that was bombed, killing 13 passengers.
Trucks, cars and mounted police all paused along the busy Euston Road outside King's Cross station, where a memorial garden has been a focus of the city's grief. Mayor Ken Livingstone laid a wreath there, and hundreds stood silently at the station near the worst of the attacks — a subway train bombing that killed at least 21 people.
At the British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland, an airhorn signaled suspension of play and Tiger Woods took off his hat, closed his eyes and bowed his head at the 14th hole.
British television interrupted normal broadcasting to show photos of the aftermath of the bombings: soot-faced commuters fleeing in fear and paramedics tending to the injured.
And the reaction has been just as strong from British Moslems as any other religious group.
"We condemn these terrorists and what they have done," said Munir Shah, the imam of the Stratford Street mosque near the Leeds neighborhood that police were searching. "We refuse to call them Muslims. They are not. Islam does not agree or teach about the killing of innocent people."
The message that hatred wil not be allowed to divide Britain - yelled out by this two minute silence as no amount of talking ever could - was echoed by comments left by all types of Britons on the BBC's website:
Mark Sullivan
Today I stood on Tower Bridge remembering those who lost their lives. It could have been any of us. The streets filled with office workers and the busy traffic halted. Everybody for those two minutes united and remembered.
Kamal Hussain
This is truly sad! I read the profiles and saw pictures of the victims, it made me cry. This could've been any of us and we all must stand united to root out this evil from our society! I am a muslim and after this incident, I vowed to look for and weed out those extremists from our society!! We are British first and religion should come second or last!
FATIMA LIA STUDENT
Today our school did 2 minutes slicence for the londoners. every single person in our school participated we believe even though muslims did this attack it does not mean the rest should stand behind and hide we should go out there and show that not all muslims are the same and in our religon it is does not say we can do somthing like what happened to the londoners i hope you have all understood what i am trying to say here!!!!!!!
Alex
Let the 2 minute silence be a message to all people involved in terrorism that in our harmonious multi-cultural society there is not and never will be a place for hatred or acts of evil, be it racial or otherwise. We won't back down!
Then again, maybe it's the pictures of people from every segment of the British populace stopping in silent tribute together for two minutes that are most poignant.
I tell you now, the terrorists failed last week. It wasn't just a failure as if their atrocity had no effect - it had the opposite effect! In the main, they drove Britons of all creeds and colours closer together.
I am proud of all those courageous Britons who deny the temptation of bigotry on this day. I am proud of them for they ARE my country.
Lastly, I tell you truly, it's time that the small-minded and hatred-blinded American who writes at USS:Neverdock went home. He is as much a part of the problem as an Imam who preaches jihad.
Maybe he can arrange to take the BNP with him and not only will they feel more at home but they can all join some white-supremacist militia.
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