EXTRA MINUTES | 'The Survivor' (Extended interview with Gill Hicks) — Transcript

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1. 0:01have you had any negative reactions from
2. 0:04the families of people who died that day
3. 0:08that you are prepared to sit down and
4. 0:09break bread with people who would still
5. 0:12like to kill people who are not of their
6. 0:15faith not from the families I've had
7. 0:17some amazing contact with the families
8. 0:20um because I think they're all everyone
9. 0:22can see what it is I've been trying to
10. 0:24do um and there was one wife who lost
11. 0:28her husband and her husband
12. 0:30was um between myself and the
13. 0:33bomber
14. 0:35and she was the most incredible person
15. 0:38because her grace in saying to me if
16. 0:42this is the last thing that my husband's
17. 0:44done which is to Shield you then what a
18. 0:46wonderful thing he's done and I met his
19. 0:49two little children um we did a walk
20. 0:52from leads down to
21. 0:54London and they came on this walk and
22. 0:57the two kids were there and and it was
23. 0:59about Muslims and non-muslims and black
24. 1:03and white and gay and straight and
25. 1:06anyone who felt that they were opposing
26. 1:08each other in views joined each other
27. 1:10and walked and they were his two
28. 1:12children and I met his mother and it was
29. 1:16extraordinary um and it's looking at the
30. 1:20emptiness of that
31. 1:22family and that's a such a clear
32. 1:24reminder of it's not okay whatever
33. 1:28justification terroris is M has behind
34. 1:30it it's not okay to to to have an eye
35. 1:33for an eye um because it's never ever
36. 1:36going to solve anything and to take a
37. 1:38father away from his family isn't going
38. 1:41to solve the problems in the Middle East
39. 1:43but you haven't had any sort of
40. 1:45reactions where people perhaps have
41. 1:47misunderstood what you're trying to do
42. 1:49that they're offended that you would sit
43. 1:50down with these people yeah they've
44. 1:52mainly come from the states and from um
45. 1:57particular Jewish communities um who
46. 2:00have felt that I'm
47. 2:02betraying the fight and that how dare I
48. 2:06be so forgiving so once again it's been
49. 2:09quite misconstrued of of my nature of
50. 2:13how can I open my arms and sit with
51. 2:16someone who was so vile and wanting
52. 2:20death and destruction um I personally
53. 2:24don't see another way I don't see
54. 2:26another way other than how important it
55. 2:28is to have the conversation
56. 2:30we have got to keep talking to each
57. 2:31other um because it's only then that we
58. 2:35can understand perhaps where there's a
59. 2:38common ground so 7 years on do you think
60. 2:42the world has changed yes and no I think
61. 2:45I think innocence and naivity has
62. 2:47changed I think people are more aware
63. 2:50but that also brings its own problems
64. 2:52because I think with an
65. 2:54awareness comes also a bit of a jumpy um
66. 2:58reaction to certain things that you you
67. 3:01just try and backtrack and use hindsight
68. 3:04to say now if there was an innocence and
69. 3:06a naivity would that have would that
70. 3:08reaction have been different um I think
71. 3:12um for particularly um the Islamic um
72. 3:16part of our societies being feeling so
73. 3:20divided after these acts must be
74. 3:23incredibly difficult for them to to feel
75. 3:27accepted um wholeheartedly embraced
76. 3:30within our whole Community do you feel
77. 3:33that it's a more secure place is it a
78. 3:35safer place now 7 years on no I don't I
79. 3:38don't think anything's you know what
80. 3:40I've really learned the hard way is how
81. 3:46fragile actually our lives are and
82. 3:49whether that's an attack from outside or
83. 3:52whether that's just something that can
84. 3:55happen as a tragic event in your own
85. 3:57life um it's it's fragile it's all very
86. 4:00fragile and I think it's
87. 4:02um we're fooling ourselves if we think
88. 4:06that the world is a cozy place to to be