Tom Hurndall's birthday party outside the Foreign Office

ISM London | 29.11.2003 00:11 | Repression | Social Struggles | London

Tom Hurndall's family and friends gathered outside the Foreign Office on Thursday evening to celebrate his 22nd birthday. He is unlikely to live for us to mark his 23rd.

Birthday Blessings for Tom

"No thanks."

The party carries on anyway

Tom's mother accepts an award for Tom from LSE Student Union

Tom was shot through the head in Rafah, Gaza, by an Israeli sniper as he bent down to pick up a small child to take her to safety away from unprovoked sniper fire. When the sniper started shooting into the crowded area most of the children who had been playing there fled, along with the adults, but three small children were left, frozen with fear. Tom had already carried one boy to safety and had returned to help the two girls who remained.

Tom has been on life support since the shooting and will not recover.

Balloons and party banners decorated the railings outside the Foreign Office as his family blew out candles on the cake and the crowd sang Happy Birthday. Staff from the Foreign Office were offered pieces of cake as they left work and invited to join in the celebration of Tom's courage and humanity. Sadly, most declined the offer. Catherine Hussain, a family friend, commented:
”They're a tough crowd ... the builders from across the road were actually much more interested than the people who are supposed to be running the foreign affairs here."

The party-goers did not allow the all-too-familiar lack of interest from the Foreign Office to dampen their spirits, on a day when we had gathered to show our respect and love for Tom. Sophie, Tom's older sister, said:
"It's nice to be doing something, something positive. I'm really happy about it, it shows the tremendous amount of care and respect people have for Tom. Of all days, today is the day it's amazing to see how much every one cares."

Tom's younger brother, Freddy aged 13, added:
"I'm not really upset about today. I'm kind of happy. It seems kind of strange and I've been thinking about why, but I'm not too sure."

Tom was working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) when he was shot. His colleagues from ISM had made the cake and decorated it with ’Birthday Blessings for Tom’.

Jocelyn Hurndall, Tom's mother, said:
"I'm extremely touched, more touched than I can say. ISM today have given Tom an extremely special Birthday Blessing day. I'm full of admiration for ISM anyway, but I can't thank them enough for this tremendous act of kindness. It's a very warm gesture and I know that Tom would be very chuffed. Thank you all very much for making this day for the family a slightly more bearable day."

ISM is full of admiration for the Hurndall family, and we will fight with them for justice for Tom, and for the thousands of Palestinians and Israelis who have died so cruelly in this unnecessary conflict.
Raphael Cohen was with Tom when he was shot:
"We really have to think how we can pressure our government and the Israeli government to end the madness which is going on as a direct result of occupation. It is really good to see today all these people who have come out ... he did a really really fantastic thing and it's sad that he's had to pay in such a terrible way. What happened to him is actually a minute part of the suffering and pain which is going on continually ... we really have to think, collectively, about how we're going to end this."

After the party was over, the revellers moved on to the New Theatre at the London School of Economics and joined more friends and students from LSE towatch two documentaries. The first, 'Human Shields', from SBC Australia, follows the experiences of ISM in Rafah and in Tulkarem, in the weeks following the killing of Rachel Corrie and the shooting of Tom Hurndall. The second,'The Killing Zone', by reporter Sandra Jordan (who was at the screening) and producer Rodrigo Vasquez, was filmed in Rafah before and after Tom was shot. The film exposes the extreme violence meted out on a daily basis to the population of Rafah, and covers the aftermath of Rachel's death and then Tom's shooting.

The films were followed by an informed and lively panel discussion chaired by Carl Arrindell which included contributions from Tom’s sister Sophie Hurndall, Charlotte Carson (ISM Tulkarem) who featured extensively in ‘The Human Shields Documentary, Raphael Cohen (ISM Rafah) an eye witnesses to the shooting of Tom and who also featured in ‘Killing Zone’ and Imran Khan – currently spearheading the legal process in the UK in the fight for justice for Tom.

Jocelyn Hurndall then accepted a presentation from the LSE Student Union to mark the appointment of her son Tom as Honarary Vice-President of the Union. Also present was Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen will share the platform with Tom as Honorary President. A formal ceremony for the families will be held in February/March next year.

"The tragedy that has befallen Tom and our family is a microcosm of the wide-scale terror felt by thousands of other families in the occupied territories.I am in ineffable distress after the loss of a son. But I have a regular income, food, running water, electricity, an intact roof over my head, access to a hospital, the knowledge that gunfire is unlikely to endanger my other children on their journey to school and that my sleep is unlikely to be broken by gunfire or the sound of tanks. I have a decent life."

Jocelyn Hurndall, editorial for the Guardian, October 20th, 2003

Links for more information:

The Thomas Hurndall Fund: