Activist sympathizes with abductors (Canadian who was kidnapped in Iraq)

[Barrett808]

Activist sympathizes with abductors
By gurpreet singh
Publish Date: 27-Apr-2006

Canadian peace activist Harmeet Singh Sooden, who was kidnapped in Iraq, says he feels sympathy for his abductors. Sooden, a member of the Christian Peacemakers Teams, told the Straight from his New Zealand home that the kidnappers seemed to be politically motivated and were genuinely fighting against the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

“They were aware of what they were doing—that is, violently resisting the illegal occupation,” Sooden said. “We were sympathetic to their resistance to the occupation. The only difference is that we believe in nonviolence, whereas they don’t have this choice.”

The Iraqi militants abducted Sooden and three other members of the Christian Peacemakers Teams from Baghdad last November. Sooden, James Loney (another Canadian citizen), and Norman Kember, a Briton, were rescued by Coalition troops last month. The fourth hostage, Tom Fox, an American, was shot dead before their release.

Sooden claimed that he is still sympathetic toward the abductors despite the murder of Fox. “This is what Tom would have wanted me to say,” Sooden said.

(more)

http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=17447

[Dolomite]

1. Honestly, I couldn't be that forgiving.

"One of my close friends spent, I think, eighteen years in Chinese prison and labor camps. In the early '80s they allowed him to come to India. On occasion he and I discuss his experiences in various Chinese labor camps. And he told me that during those periods, on a few occasions he really faced some danger. I asked what kind of danger, and his response was, 'Oh, danger of losing compassion for the Chinese.' That kind of mental attitude is, I think, a key factor to sustain peace of mind."
--The Dali Lama

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Forgiveness is the key

and I do believe Tom Fox would agree.

[applegrove]

3. Our ancestors didn't survive by hating their captors. For we were once

all slaves at some point. That being said... I think this person is very religious and perhaps there is some beyond human strength in forgiveness. Now that he feels safe. I wonder how he will feel in a bit - once he has been through all the stages of grief?

Then again - perhaps he will have survived relatively unscathed for all his "love".

Much better person than me.