Film review by Tim King, Salem-News.com
"...I want to look up to myself and when I die, I want to smile because of the things I have done, not cry for the things I haven't done" —Tom Hurndall
I am familiar with his story, as I am with Rachel Corrie's; both were humanitarian activists killed by Israeli military forces while rallying to the aid of Palestinian people.
In the case of Tom Hurndall, I understand this tragedy much more clearly now thanks to Simon Block who wrote the film, and also to the gracious family who made sure Tom's story was told.
Tom was from England; he was 23 years old. His story is tragic as any could be and like many brave people before him, Tom died fulfilling the role of a hero in the most genuine, unarguable way; rescuing young children under fire from a sniper in a guard tower who claimed he was being fired at, when it would later be proven that he was only shooting civilians.
This is life in Gaza.
In the occupied zones Israel views the period following the second Intifada as a war that has never ended. They shoot people nearly every day. Almost all Palestinians have laid down their arms, and it has done them little good. Of course the horror for many is that Americans support these acts that stand in stark violation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, with their tax dollars that are routinely shipped to Israel.
In the film you learn that there are Gaza residents in Rafah whose homes are full of hundreds of bullet holes from Israeli soldiers' rifles.
I know they are part of war, but snipers are people who don't confront their 'enemies'. They just blast their lives to hell through a scope attached, in this case, almost certainly to a weapon provided by US taxpayer revenue.
This movie is extremely well produced, I suspect that had a whole lot to do with Tom's parents, Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall, who are, along with his siblings, among the film's main characters.
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