Death In Gaza

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Death In Gaza
Death In Gaza DVD cover
Directed by	James Miller
Produced by	Nancy Abraham James Miller Saira Shah
Written by	Saira Shah
Starring	James Miller Saira Shah
Music by	Nick Powell
Cinematography	James Miller
Editing by	Misha Manson-Smith
Distributed by	Channel Four Television Corporation
Release date(s)	February 2004 Berlin International Film Festival
Running time	80 min
Language	Arabic / English / Hebrew
IMDb profile

Death In Gaza is an Emmy-award winning 2004 documentary film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, opening in the West Bank but then moving to Gaza and eventually settling in Rafah where the film spends most of its time. It concentrates on 3 children, Ahmed (age 12), Mohammed (age 12) and Najla (age 16).

1 Topics
- 1.1 Humanity
2 James Miller's Death
- 2.1 Documentary Completion
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Topics

[edit] Humanity

The film tells the story of the lives of the people who live with such a conflict everyday, and how it affects their lives. Mainly, the film focuses on seven children of the conflict and their families. After a graphic and intense scene in which an Israeli sponsored car-bombing of a suspected conspiring Palestinian suicide bomber, a witness comments that it is the next generation of the people in that area that will determine whether there is peace or war. The film follows the children in different aspects of their lives: following them to school, what they learn in school, time spent with family, activities with para-military resistance fighters, making and using homemade explosives against Israeli soldiers, and the mourning of the death of friends and family members.

For a short while the film concentrates on martyrdom and the opinions of the people there about dying for Palestine and Islam. It briefly tells the story of a young boy who was shot while attacking Israeli forces much like the main boys Ahmed and Mohammed, as well as numerous other un-named boys. The film follows the boy from being brought into the medical center and the initial treatment, to his death and public reaction, to the parade and his burial, and celebration at his success in becoming a martyr.

[edit] James Miller's Death

While filming this movie, Producer / Director James Miller perished as a result of gunfire from an Israeli army soldier. Miller's death came about after he and fellow crew members were attempting to pass an Israeli APC, audibly and visibly suggesting their neutrality as journalists by wearing helmets and flak vests marked "TV", waving an illuminated white flag and walking slowly in the open. A first shot was fired by Israeli soldiers, and a crew member reaffirmed their neutrality by yelling "We are British journalists". Seconds later, another shot was fired and hit Miller in the neck, killing him instantly. This occurred while the crew was filming military activity from one of the children's homes in Rafah.

[edit] Documentary Completion

James Miller and crew had intended on illustrating this struggle from the Israeli children's point of view also, but James was killed before even the completion of the Palestinian segment of this film. His death was incorporated as a major part of the film, with an explanation by the narrator, Saira Shah, at the beginning of the film, and the full story and reactions at the end. It is mentioned that Palestinian militants made posters declaring that Miller was a martyr.