Read an interview with Tom's mother, Jocelyn Hurndall.
What discussions did you have with the film-makers?
From the outset there was a feeling that they wanted to tell the true story. Charles Furneaux saw this as a way of putting into the public eye a very current debate through telling Tom's story. Then when Simon (Block) was taken on as a writer, he really was spot-on with his understanding of all of the concepts, and he managed to extract from the medical and legal information what was needed for a script.
What sort of control did you have over the script?
I'm not sure I'd use the word control – I had influence. They took our views and feelings into account. We needed to understand the concept of literary license. Having just been in the process of writing a book I did understand that as long as it's true to the spirit of the story that is what counts.
What do you think of the film?
I thought it was absolutely outstanding – the integrity of it shines out. I know that Simon was utterly painstaking about everything. The research that he put in to it - the research beforehand - was truly impressive. He's not just understood all of the issues in great depth, he's then translated them into an effective screenplay.
Really the only criticism I have of the film – and I'm actually very glad of it – was that they didn't portray how very terrible the sight was of Tom in hospital. It was infinitely worse than comes across and I'm very glad they didn't. I think it would have been terribly painful, and I wonder whether Tom would want to be portrayed like that. For Tom, the main issue would have been not what he looked like, because people might have gone away just remembering that. What Tom would want to have people remember was the way the Hurdnall family were treated in trying to get justice for their son, and that the way that many, many Palestinians are treated is infinitely worse than how we were treated.
How did you feel about the drama's portrayal of Taysir Hayb, the Israeli soldier?
I think it's right that the drama encourages the viewer to empathise with his story as well. Firstly, to have not done that would have brought about criticism of being one-sided or not the whole picture and brought up anti-Semitic arguments. Therefore, part of the population would have dismissed it. Also, this soldier was a pawn in a much larger, more evil game. That's what the drama exposes. My anger is with the Israeli government and the IDF, way more than with him. I feel far greater contempt for the chain of command: they were dishonest with us and we still get a sense – we had a meeting with the Israeli ambassador the other day – of their not expecting us to challenge them, not expecting us to continue to ask these questions and to ask for an apology from the State of Israel. It's an apology that we've never received.
If a film in Tom's name can help to provoke a broader, more truthful debate for the Jewish people and the Palestinian people then it will have done something really important.
Is the depiction of your relationship with Anthony fair?
Yes it is - fair and accurate. We had a wonderful son, and we had Tom together, and his life was worth celebrating. It was our love for Tom and our care for the rest of the family that compelled us to use whatever it was that we each had to give together in order to pursue justice. We were very aware that Anthony had his skills and I had a different set of skills and that we would use both to find out what happened. Anthony used the more legal jargon and the more rational debate concerned with facts and so on whereas I was absolutely convinced that the Israelis were not used to being confronted in this way. I wanted to use our son's death to portray the language of empathy – it's not a language they're used to hearing.
How has Tom's death and what followed changed you?
I feel an infinitely broader person. The loss of Tom has opened windows that I would not have begun to look through. Tom was a risk taker who wanted to see the truth for himself and wanted to make a difference. When you get such people they can inspire so much, and you can learn so much from them. It's been a life-changing tragedy from which I have come out stronger. I'm now development director for a Middle East charity that raises funds in the UK for the education of Palestinian students at university on the West Bank (www.fobzu.org). Palestine needs strong leadership now more than ever, and I feel very strongly that education is one way to build them up.
It's what happens it seems – if a family suffers a terrible tragedy you either go in on yourself or you come right out with enormous energy. I've felt incredibly fierce at times, and angry, and have wanted something good to come of it.
