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Jack Engelhard is the author of the novel "Indecent Proposal" and the award-winning memoir of his experiences as a Jewish refugee from Europe, "Escape From Mount Moriah." His novel "The Days of the Bitter End" is being prepared for movie production. He receives e-mail at:
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By Jack Engelhard
January 9, 2006
That spree of kidnappings in gun-tootin' Gaza has some of us wondering what we're doing wrong. Why not us?
Apparently, honeymooners and other vacationers who don't include a Gaza kidnapping on their itinerary, well, they just don't know what they're missing.
Kate Burton, a British "human rights" worker, was recently abducted and then freed by her Palestinian Arab captors and her first response, to the press, was that she was treated wonderfully. This is more than I can say for myself in my own home. I am never treated wonderfully around this place.
At the same time that Kate Burton and her parents were kidnapped in Gaza, someone else was kidnapped in Gaza. This is Alessandro Bernardini, an aide in the European Parliament, who later (when he was freed) "told reporters that he had been treated well in captivity, receiving tea and cigarettes," as reported by the Associated Press.
So? When is the last time anyone offered you tea and cigarettes just for showing up? I can remember this happening to me just once when I was selling magazines door to door and this lady in a skimpy - oh never mind. That's another story. We're talking about Gaza, and if you want tea and sympathy, this is the place.
Chances are better that you will get your head chopped off, but, with the right hostage-takers, you could get lucky. Kate Burton, for example, is lucky, and confused. To one reporter she says she had a marvelous time, to another reporter she concedes that she feels guilty for bringing her parents along on her Rafah Vacation. They were also abducted. (Next time, Disneyland maybe?)
All these liberated captives feel that the Palestinian Arabs have been misrepresented by the press. Gosh, go figure. This goes for all the people who've been kidnapped and released, and there are quite a few that never make the papers. They all want to go back. Can you blame them?
Who wouldn't want to be in Gaza now that the Israelis have left and the weather is changing, along with the leaves and the neighborhood? Getting kidnapped and being treated wonderfully by your hooded abductors is a big plus, rounds out any vacation. Abduction Chic!
Also romping in Gaza, where it's every man for himself, were the parents of Rachel Corrie, an ISM (International Solidarity Movement) activist who died so that the intifada might live. Craig and Cindy Corrie were staying with friends in Rafah. They came this close to being abducted by rifle-toting strangers, the Corries did. Masked men on the hunt for "internationals" desired to "relocate" them. They managed to escape, and are still grateful to their hosts, all those "good people" in Gaza. (Fascinating how these types hate Israel, yet this is where they scamper for comfort and safety.)
They are already booked for their Gaza return, Mr. and Mrs. Corrie, but "when it is safer." They never felt threatened, insists Mr. Corrie, as those rifles were never trained directly at them. That certainly is reason for gratitude and jubilation. Who wouldn't register with the local travel agency for a trip right back to Rafah?
Those of us who've seen all those "vacation" movies with Chevy Chase (National Lampoon's "Vegas Vacation" my favorite) will understand why humanitarians regularly seek out Gaza to find Wallyworld. Now that the place is under new management, all Arab, this is your terrorist theme park if you are a true humanitarian.
Gaza Syndrome is different from Stockholm Syndrome. Gaza revelers know, or should know, that this place is no picnic. Bullets are flying. That should be a hint. So these humanitarian frolickers know what's up, but still they go "to help these poor misunderstood people."
Stockholm was another story. Those captives who turned loyal to their captors, going back to 1973, were bank employees. They were not humanitarians. A man named Nils Bejerot, a psychologist, came up with the phrase "Stockholm Syndrome" to identify people who become attached to their captors.
In a world where terrorists are given equal justification, in this world full of dhimmis, that pretty much identifies most of us.
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Special Note: Jack's Engelhard's political newsroom thriller, "The Bathsheba Deadline," is running as an exclusive online serial on Amazon.com for digital download. Parts 1, 2 and 3 are available now, or just visit Amazon.com and write "The Bathsheba Deadline" in the Search bar. And, once you're up to speed, the just-released Part 4 awaits. The rest of "The Bathsheba Deadline" will be featured on Amazon.com in monthly installments.
Views expressed by the author do not
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