Q:What was the purpose of my compilation of these War Crimes?
A:Many years ago, in my early 20s, I was offered à job working for an Arms Dealing Firm based in Regent Street, Central London.
The pay was ridiculous. On an average arms contract of £10m my commission, as a junior consultant, was to start at 0.5 of 1%.
I went to see my Primary School Teacher, Sister Mary Paul (at that time in her late 70s maybe a little older?)
She said this to me:
"Someday you will have to face God and account for everything."
"Are you going to tell him you sold weapons?
Your hand will be on each contract you make money from.
Your hands will be covered in blood.
I know it is a lot of money.
Your mother and aunt are good people.
You will be able to buy them everything you ever wanted for them - and they will be so pleased to see you successful.
But will you tell them where your wealth comes from? From others losing their lives with the weapons you have contracted for your company? From wars and conflicts.
Real people die in wars. It does not matter who is right or who is wrong. Ordinary peoples lives are changed forever and you cannot, like Jesus, raise the dead as He raised Lazarus - to tell them how sorry you are that you supplied the weapons and bombs which destroyed their lives.
If you take this job you will break my heart.
Also, we have been friends since you were 8 and so I say this frankly to you: never come to see me again if you take this path in your life."
I did not take that job - and we remained friends until she passed away some 7 years later.
War Correspondents and War Journalism are two of the most dangerous professions in the world.
What you see today - embedded journalists who go around with security protection teams (which you never see in their filed TV reports) is a huge improvement on the lone (unarmed) journalist and researcher, entirely alone, in a hostile environment, where your life was in the hands of ,say, Tribal Warlords, whose patronage was a matter of your life or death.
So I know, from experience, what these not embedded brave Photojournalists - local Houthi Photojournalists; other Arab and non-Arab Journalists; those from Germany, Austria, Italy, Denmark and Scandanavia, all operating in The Yemen War Zone, have endured to get this data to the world.
My objective was attempt to ensure this (and more) is preserved so that this Holocaust of the Houthi People is remembered - and that those War Criminals of Yemen's Holocaust, are also not forgotten.
Patrick Emek
February 5, 2021
