Victims of terrorism in the spotlight as UN screens award-winning documentary

The survivors of heinous acts of terrorism were the focus today as the United Nations hosted the screening of an award-winning documentary on a man whose wedding in Amman, Jordan, was transformed into a bloody massacre by an Al-Qaida suicide bomber.

“All too often, the voices of the terrorists have drowned out the voices of the victims,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the screening of ‘Killing in the Name.’ “Now, I am glad to say, that is changing.”

Ashraf Al-Khaled was celebrating the happiest day of his life when the bomber walked into his 2005 wedding and killed his father and 26 other family members. After rising from that horrific tragedy, Mr. Al-Khaled has been active to give voice to victims of terrorism and the film, which won Best Documentary Film at the LA Shorts Fest 2010 in Los Angeles, follows his quest to speak with victims and perpetrators and expose the true cost of terrorism.

From an Al-Qaida recruiter, to a militant behind one of the world’s worst terrorist attacks, to a madrassa full of boys ready to follow, Mr. Al-Khaled journeys around the world to see if one man can speak truth to terror, and begin to turn the tide.

Participating in a post-screening panel discussion were two other victims of terrorist attacks, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Senior Programme Advisor Carla Khammar, who survived the attack on the UN compound in Algiers in 2007, but not without trauma and suffering, and the film’s Executive Producer Carie Lemack, who lost her mother during the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. Ms. Lemack and Mr. Al-Khaled are co-founders of the Global Survivors Network.

“The survivors who stand in front of you today are themselves an exemplary group,” Mr. Ban said, noting that they took part two years ago at the UN in the first-ever international Symposium on Supporting Victims of Terrorism.

“And they are here again today to tell their stories, to bear witness to the appalling costs of terrorism, and to push us all to do more to put an end to actions that cannot be justified by any end, in any form, in any place, for any reason, ever.

“As hard as it is to re-live their stories and expose their pain, they are not afraid to do so if it means helping others to avoid a similar fate. We all have a lot to learn from them,” he added, stressing how the powerful documentary shows not only what happened to Mr. Al-Khaled, but how he transformed his personal horror into a mission of change.

“Even though we weep each time, we must also wipe away our tears and maintain our focus – on our efforts to put an end to this suffering and our work to rid the world of this scourge. We must each, whether government, international civil servant or individual citizen, uphold our obligations to the victims,” Mr. Ban concluded.