Posted on 08/31/2006 1:42:03 PM PDT by veronica
'I Can't Hate Them for What They Did,' Olaf Wiig Says
Aug. 31, 2006 — - Despite being taken hostage at gunpoint in Gaza by a jihadist group and held captive for 13 days, Fox News cameraman Olaf Wiig says he can't condemn his captors.
"It's really complex," Wiig said on "Good Morning America."
"In some ways, I feel such sympathy for the Palestinian cause. You know, in my heart. You know, I can't hate them for what they did. I resent on behalf of my family what they did. But there's a funny bit of me that's sympathetic to them still."
Wiig, 36, and Steve Centanni, 60, were abducted by masked gunmen earlier this month.
Centanni, a Fox correspondent, said they were sometimes held facedown in a dark garage, tied up in painful positions, and forced at gunpoint to make videos and say they had converted to Islam.
The two journalists were dropped off Sunday at Gaza City's Beach Hotel by Palestinian security officials.
Centanni said he felt "sheer animal fear" after he and Wiig were taken hostage.
"I was wondering if I was going to die of a heart attack or if the next thing would be a bullet in my head," Centanni said.
According to Wiig, when asked where they were being taken, their captors said, "To hell. You're going to hell."
Pledge Allegiance to Islam
A previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades held the two men in a garage for 13 days, forcing them to pledge allegiance to Islam.
On the day of Centanni's and Wiig's release, their captors delivered a video showing the two men in Arab robes reading from the Koran to indicate their conversion to Islam.
Centanni has said their conversion was forced at gunpoint.
"I have the highest respect for Islam, and I learned a lot of good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the hell was going on," he said in other reports.
Centanni and Wiig were stripped of their possessions and dressed in sweat suits as part of a process of removing their identity.
The journalists said they were not harmed physically during their captivity.
Videotaped messages shown around the world revealed the apparent resignation in their faces.
"You have no choice but to stay calm," Wiig said.
The captors told Wiig that he would be released because he was from New Zealand.
However, Wiig said, they told him that his colleague, Centanni, an American, was dangerous and that they were going to kill him.
Wiig said he kept that information from Centanni.
"I just knew that he was under [a] huge strain already, and I thought it was a burden he didn't need to carry for however long," Wiig said.
Centanni said he was grateful for that. "He's a beautiful man and a good friend," he said of Wiig.
A Force to Be Reckoned With
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, who is also a journalist, was on assignment in Damascus, Syria, when she heard the news of the kidnapping. She rushed to Gaza to put pressure on Palestinian authorities and local Islamist chieftains to save the lives of her "boys."
"The terrorists have not met my wife," Wiig said. "She is a force to be reckoned with."
McNaught said she believed Wiig and Centanni had been released thanks to a team effort on the part of local politicians and journalists, Fox News, her visibility locally and the men themselves.
"It's really crucial to emphasize this," she said. "Now know that a lot of the things I did were visible to the people holding them hostage. They knew I was in Gaza making statements, talking to Palestinian people. That on its own I don't think would have been enough to have got the guys out."
McNaught said it was Wiig and Centanni's "nobility and self-possession" as hostages that played a large role in their release.
"Because they kept, despite the stress they were under, they kept their cool," she said. "They got to know their captors. They behaved with generosity and courtesy. They took them seriously."
Or a pre-arranged piece of theater, as some journalist "kidnappings" in Iraq proved to be.
I certainly understand that there are many fine Kiwis who are dedicated to the bedrock values of western society. But it seems to me that NZ has just about the most leftist government of all the western nations.
> But it seems to me that NZ has just about the most leftist government of all the western nations.
A few Scandanavian countries excepted, you'd probably be right. But our "Government" is a shabby, dodgy minority coalition of dodgy no-hopers held together by a shonky coalition agreement that allows Helen to call the shots.
Most of us didn't vote for Helen or her school-marm governments. Our MMP structure allows her to run the show using "divide-and-conquer". But it's definitely a mistake to interpret that our Labor government represents the majority: it does not by a very long shot.
It only represents a cross-section that can get its act together sufficiently to agree-to-disagree on most important issues if only to stay in power. Scandals, corruption and treachery notwithstanding.
A shocking and disgusting misuse of Democracy and the Parliamentary system.
I was puzzled by that comment from Centanni.
I didn't like it very
much either.
But, then it could very well be a Stockholm Syndrome.
Intelligent and insightful and post, and I agree with it. Thanks.
His wife was a BBC reporter. Nuff said.
Actually I think we need more Jennifer Griffins - telling the news from the free press Israeli side where safety and access are not tied to propaganda reporting.
These back people are why FNC is not all that it could be.
It like listening to CNN.
I read Steve Centanni has two adult children
Well I, for one, certainly wouldn't kick her out! ;-)
I wonder if Olaf is aware that their "cause" is the complete destuction of the state of Israel.
I'd wager he does.
When are you coming back???
Not a word in almost three years.
Not a word in almost 4 1/2 years. I hope that no one held their breath.
I wonder if he knows about Obama, and last November's election, or if time stood still for him.
Sinkspur, you are gone.
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