Reader Kagame Visit

A movie could be made about Rwanda based on the story of Paul Kagame's life.
It would give people an example of heroism at its highest level
- instead of low level bureaucratic heroes
depicted in the movies so far.

RPF A PT-109 MOVIE

In his lifetime there was a movie made about President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
It's a classic and everyone who watches it enjoys it
and learns things about JFK's heroism
that his enemies wish to bury.

Just like other well wishers congratulated you I would like to thank you for the commendable job you realized in London.

It is always a joy to meet someone you appreciate and chat with Him even for 1 or 5 minutes. Your story is fascinating and building and for sure you made a right choice.

I do feel regenerated when someone like you tries to recognise that something positive is being undertaken by nowadays Leaders, no matter various problems encountered.

We staggered through the Valley of Death, and now We are trying to extract a message of meaning and we are again trying to renew a purpose for our People, all people of Rwanda,...Africa...Yes a message of Humanity, human Decency and human Dignity!!

That's how a real generation marks the difference and that's different from what Genocidaires did and that's why they don't understand a Man like H.E Paul KAGAME! They think He can't tell them they foul themselves.

You know, when you take Power from zero (when others, UN included, have declared your Country as Stateless and some have even started thinking the Country should be under UN Mandate); when you've stopped a horrific event like Genocide; when you have Control and command over an Army capable to revenge and it does not do so; when you repatriate over 3,000,000 of refugees - among them genocidaires or collaborators - when UN has failed to do so; when you solve a problem of having over 150,000 Prisoners suspected to have commited Genocide and install a way of making something like Justice within a short time when others have said it may take 100 years to sort out that Problem,.....

People can say whatever they feel like Jackie, but H.E Kagame will always be the Same Man, Good Man after all.

I understand you plan to visit Rwanda though you're not yet sure. I'd like to see you face to face the same way you saw your hero Kagame. I am a simple Kigali Citizen and not really well known as such and therefore or maybe I may not deserve to meet you and at least say Hi, but if you agree it will be a Joyful Day for me and if you don't, no problem I'll always continue to appreciate you and your articles.

Thank you so much for your kind comments about my visit to His Excellency President Paul Kagame in London where it was a joyful event for all, Rwandese and non-Rwandese.

I have discovered, through talking to Canadians in day to day life, that most people in North America are unaware of Paul Kagame's role in Rwanda, but when they are told the truth, they are happy and inspired that such a hero exists in our present day world. Everyone knows about Rwanda, because of the movies, and they want to believe that good things are happening there and are very happy when they learn that good things ARE happening there.

I have said in the past that I wish a movie would be made about Rwanda based on the story of Paul Kagame's life. It would encompass Rwanda's recent history (from his birth in 1957 onwards) and up to the present day and in doing so it would give people an example of heroism at its highest level - instead of low level bureaucratic heroes depicted in the movies so far.

There have been books written about Paul Kagame and the Rwandese Patriotic Front/Army (RPF & RPA) which could form the basis of the movie about Rwanda's heroes. I am actually about to begin reading the book PAUL KAGAME AND RWANDA: POWER, GENOCIDE AND THE RWANDAN PATRIOTIC FRONT, by Colin Waugh which arrived in yesterday's mail (I heard about its existence by chance after the London event).

In his lifetime there was a movie made about President John Fitzgerald Kennedy entilted PT-109. Its script was based on an original well-researched magazine article "SURVIVAL" by John Hersey that came out in 1944 and on the book "PT-109" by Robert Donovan which came out in 1961. The movie is a classic and everyone who watches it enjoys it and learns things about JFK's heroism that his enemies wish to bury.

When I come to Rwanda I would very much like to meet you face-to-face and will contact you by email when I get there. What I am looking forward to most during my visit to Rwanda is meeting the people in Kigali and in the towns and villages all over the country. That's where I'll get my regeneration.

Rwanda president scoffs Hotel Rwanda. Reuters, May 31, 2006
"It has nothing to do with Rusesabagina," Kagame told reporters during a visit to Washington. "He just happened to be there accidentally, and he happened to be surviving because he was not in the category of those being hunted." Kagame said people in the hotel were saved in part because U.N. forces occupied the hotel and because the killers wanted to keep it as a place where they could drink beer after a long day of killing and discuss whom to kill the following day. Kagame, a Tutsi, said another reason lives were spared is that talks had been underway between his rebel group and the then-interim government to exchange Tutsis in the hotel for Hutu soldiers captured by his group. "Someone is trying to rewrite the history of Rwanda and we cannot accept it," he said....Some survivors of the genocide also have been critical of movies about the slaughter, saying Hollywood got their story wrong. Amid international inaction, the genocide was finally ended by Kagame, who led a rebel army from Uganda to seize power. Rusesabagina, awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom last year, has recently been critical of the Kigali government, accusing it of continued human rights violations and oppression of political opponents.

Kagame's third White House rendezvous. NewTimes, May 30, 2006
...Will Paul Rusesabagina of the acclaimed Hotel Rwanda movie feature in the presidents’ discussions? For minister Murigande, Rusebagina is none of the two countries’ business. “The issue of Rusesabagina and his movie is not a concern of any of these countries; it is an issue of the man himself and those who were at the hotel (Mille Collines) during the genocide,” said Murigande. However reports indicate that the presidents had a brief chat about the film during their previous meeting, and Bush is said to have twice watched the move. While Rusesabagina is regarded as a hero in the US and other Western countries, Kigali and many survivors say the role played by the former manager at the four-star hotel in rescuing people threatened with genocide who had taken refuge there has been hyped...

Rwanda Disowns Hotel Rwanda Movie Hero (portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina is a "falsehood"). KampalaMonitor, May 26, 2006
Rusesabagina did not do anything special to save the lives of people at the Hotel to deserve heroism. Hotel Mille Colline was a UN protected site at the time and the focus of the UN forces in Rwanda. He instead was fulfilling his business interests...Kagame's quotes: "My humble opinion is that the issue of Rusesabagina distorts our history. They (refugees) did not survive because of Rusesabagina. Actually negotiations were going on between the XFAR and RPF. Demands were sent through the UN. We were communicating for a long time because there were people we had in our hands and the XFAR were saying give them to us and we save the Mille Colline people..."

Rwanda is uneasy with Genocide movies. Kampala Monitor, May 21, 2006
Senior government officials in Rwanda have expressed their discomfort over new movies on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide...The movies are Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April. The main actors in the movies are cast as benevolent Hutu men married to Tutsi women...The general thinking in Rwanda is that Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April are mere commercial ventures taking advantage of the horrors of the genocide. "The story of what happened at Hotel des Milles Collines is well known and documented. The scriptwriters of Hotel Rwanda would have won the confidence of Rwandans if they did more research on the story on which their movie is based. Otherwise what you see in the movie is annoying and insensitive to the survivors of the genocide," said a top Rwandan security official, expressing his personal views.

The problem with the movies is not the plots or the narratives. It is the heroes. The new movies seem to be obsessed with the portrayal of a benevolent Hutu man married to a Tutsi woman as a central theme....The psyche of Rwandans does not seem to be ready for a Hutu hero....To make matters worse, the real Rusesabagina is said to be hostile to the current government in Kigali. Plus, the hero status the movie accords him was not the result of a conscious action...To appreciate the complexities of the Rwanda Genocide, there is still a debate on what to call the genocide. IBUKA, the influential lobby group that brings together all genocide survivors, insists that it should be called the Genocide of the Tutsi. Of course, the official name is the Rwanda Genocide. However, IBUKA would not tolerate a Hutu hero.

Rwanda Senator castigates Rusesabagina (also takes swipe at his recently-launched book titled 'An Ordinary Man', saying it is diversionary and an insult to the Rwanda Government. "He is using the film to spread his lies about Rwanda and dislocate unity that has been built amongst Rwandans). May 15, 2006

Sad revisionism over Hotel Rwanda (producer/director of film says Rusesabagina is being denounced by some in his country as a traitor and a criminal). WashingtonPost, May 10, 2006

"Hotel Rwanda" Rusesabagina no hero ("Rusesabagina came in as a businessman who threw out whoever failed to pay for the room. He sacrificed nothing. He was just managing a hotel in a way that did not reflect the presence of a crisis."). AllAfrica, Mar 1, 2006

HOLLYWOOD HUTU HOTEL HERO (...I am not like most North Americans who know only the Hollywood version of the Hutu hotel hero or Senator D'Allaire who they also name a hero, or Nelson Mandela who the government of Canada makes into a super-hero, despite his Corporate Communism...)

ABANDONING RWANDA & MAKING MOVIES (...I wonder what you think about the latest movies about Rwanda, ie "Hotel Rwanda" which is a Hollywood version being heavily promoted all over Canada and USA and "Sometimes in April" which was filmed in Rwanda and aired there this weekend? Also, in Scotland, a computer game of the Rwandan genocide is being distributed to schools. It supports the UN's actions in Rwanda. My opinion of all of these productions, based on reading reviews, is that they were created by the Ministry of Truth (Lies) and don't give credit where credit is due for the starting and the stopping of the genocide. A documentary or movie that should really be made is one focused on Paul Kagame based on Phil Gourevitch's 1998 book WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILES: STORIES FROM RWANDA...)

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

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