James Miller and all the James Millers of this world..

A few years back when i was still in London, it was one of those rare nights that the boys at the pubs where screaming their lungs out, because Arsenal had won. The people at the Almeida Theatre next to me where utterly annoyed, but being truly English they were just grinning and bearing it.
So i couldnt sleep, it was kind of hot because it was a warm night and the heating was still on. So i stayed in bed , rolling out of bed just to go and smoke a ciggie, feeling the breeze and leaning out of the window..and then on Chanel 4, there was this little movie, with real footage about this journalist in Gaza.

I never heard of him or anything about him or his work..but sleepless as i was i just stayed and watched the documentary about him. The documentary had all the footage from James's project in the Gaza strip, a film he was planning on finishing up soon, the theme being children living in both sides of the strip. I wont elaborate on the film about James, it was called DEATH in Gaza (2004), i will just say i saw in front of my eyes the footage where he is killed in cold blood, by a sniper shot through his neck..mind you he was wearing a helmet with TV written on it and a bulletproof vest also with TV white writing...

Years later every so often i remember him and the footage i saw..i cant explain it but it is one of these things that change your whole life, even if it is for a little. I used to go to work, eat, drink and breathe jombie like for days after i saw that documentary of Chanel 4.
Today i am just reliving this feeling of shame and total powerlessness for those people brutally murdered because they had the guts to do so much more than any of us whimps even dream to do.
They are the ones deserving to be called human beings, since they risk their life for people in need..whether they are activists, journalists or just young people that decide to do humanitarian work in all the suffering places of this world...

bits of the film here








For more information on James Miller-

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0503-03.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Miller_%28filmmaker%29

Lets hope not as many people have died today as we fear...