Homefront Review

[hawktale]

The Homefront, directed by Thomas Ikimi, is a moving and informative exploration of the many issues surrounding the 7/7 bombings in London, from the British government's dismissive treatment of bereaved families, to Islamophobia and the definition of a "terrorist".
Ikimi interviews many different people; respected journalists, London Met officers, his friends, members of his own family, and other families who have lost their loved ones in the "War on Terror."
Ultimately, The Homefront stands out because it is a refreshingly sane and objective endeavour, from a very personal standpoint, to address the important topics of our day, as well as asking what we, as human beings, can do to make the world a better place.

[cmain]

First of all, I have been meaning to add some comments to this forum for a long time but never got round to it, so I apologise for the delay.

I think originally the intention may have been to produce a film with a very clear-cut message, but the outcome was more questions than answers, and perhaps that was one reason for the delay between filming and releasing the film? If so, I think it was still well worth releasing it in its current form. It makes many important points and raises serious questions that do not have clear answers.

I think the point that Iraq suffers the equivalent of a July 7th every day is something we need reminding of, and gives a valuable perspective.

I think the experiment with the rucksack repeating the tube and bus journeys was telling. The fact that any half intelligent terrorist could repeat July 7th, and the fact that it hasn't been repeated, clearly implies that there are nowhere near as many terrorist cells in this country as the security forces would have us believe.

It was interesting that a number of different voices raised the issue of how July 7th helped to further what are supposed to be the aims of the terrorists. Tom Ikimi pointed out that the international popularity of Yasser Arafat decreased the more the PLO became associated with terrorism. Sadiq raised the question of how killing ordinary innocent people helps any cause. The young Muslims made a similar point.

We often hear the complaint that we never hear "the voice of moderate Islam" in the media. Rarely do we hear it pointed out that this is the fault of the media rather than Muslims! This film does give ordinary young Muslims the opportunity to voice their opinions.

I found the choice of Terry Waite interesting. I think one of the ways we can try to overcome the problems we face is by the passing of knowledge from generation to generation.

I hope there will be more documentary films from Thomas Ikimi.