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."
Can you imagine the international caterwauling that would erupt if the US had made the Gitmo guys read the Bible, much less make them confess to be converts to Christianity? Yet, there's not a peep about this gross attack on human rights by the Muslim mafia in Palistine.
Then don't go on TV! Say very little. But don't go talking about how in your "heart" you are sympathetic. What junk.
Exactly.
Well we can know by his own words that he is on the side of the Palis NO MATTER WHAT TERRIBLE THINGS THEY DO TO HIM. He has made this clear. He is fair game for criticism.
I heard a mention on one of the Fox News shows the other day about "He and his wife" in regards to Steve Centanni.
I think he intentionally keeps his marriage status out of the news to protect her.
I don't know about any kids.
...gee , I'm not an American..so I'm not going to die.... I guess that's the "funny" bit... gee, I'm just busting a gut. ...cause I'd really like to respect the Palestinians and I'm a little sympathetic to their cause.... gee
I guess if he was really curious he'd be a little journalist and ask the Pai thugs.."what if I'm Jewish, but not an American...can I live?"
The little of I saw of Olaf leads me to believe this is a CYA comment to help ensure his future safety due to his desire to go back to GAZA again to work.
Thank you for the correction, I knew it was some place over there. Thanks to x42 the gate has been opened and horde is coming through it.
sw
"So you're saying his job is more important than moral clarity between right and wrong?"
ha ha. exactly what I'm saying. things become very complex when your unemployed, or your head is cut off. Especially when your head is cut off, that is for the terrorist when your trying to video and keep the head from rolling out of the scene. Very complex stuff. But interestingly, you lose your complexion when your head loses all the blood.
They are afraid their enemies know where they live and know the names of their families and pets.
Yet there is nothing to fear...Religion of Peace.
Remember Queen Isabella...she sent missionaires to the New World to ensure her subjects were committed catholics.
The european world advanced beyond her, but not the arab world.
"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."
Granted, if by "Palestinian cause," one means the cause of the destruction of Israel, as a state that Jews can live in in safety, and live the good life, the decent life, that we all want and are entitled to, if we work at it, than that is execrable.
If he means more not the Palestinian "cause," but rather the Palestinian "plight," albeit a plight largely of their own making, as to their lives being a veritable living hell on earth, as seen through Western eyes, than yes, that is simply a factual statement. Newsmen are not lawyers. They often do not choose the best words to express themselves. The don't make a living with the subtle meaning of words the way lawyers, particularly diplomatic lawyers, in this context, do.
In short, I would need to know more, before passing judgment. I tend to be rather cautious about passing judgment, unless and until, I have what I think is a solid knowledge of the facts, and a solid knowledge of the merits.
I ping Sabra for his comments, if he cares to make any. I am always interested in his comments, even when we don't agree.
I don't know...the first test will be this Friday...whether they attend Friday services at their local mosques.
Where I have seem him, he hasn't struck me as being very bright. While called a journalist, he is not. I don't think of cameramen, as distinct from photographers, as journalists.
His wife, Anita McNaught, who seems to be the dominant in the relationship works for the BBC. The BBC's bias and hatred of Israel are well documented. If Olaf has any opinions, I would bet they are his wife's.
When he was still captured his wife's appeal to release him was an appeal to release not an innocent but an ally.
This all occurred in Gaza. What is the Palestinian" cause in Gaza? Is it to appeal to venture capitalists to recreate a newer and better Hong Kong on prime beach property? There are no Israelis in Gaza to form a cause.
For Olaf, the "Palestinian" cause in the end of the rainbow. It's the holy grail to peace on earth. Belonging to "that cause" is de rigueur for the that group of hip "newspeople".
It is very likely they know very little of the history or the day to day reality of the situation.
But the bad news is that when you belong to a cause you psychologically have to justify your belonging. So any pro Israel argument would be met automatically with excuse and derision. Ultimately the end of Israel is a possible aim if you are wedded to that "Palestinian" cause.
The fact remains that you would never hear anyone having anything to do with FOX or any other major Western news networks say that they are in Northern Ireland because the sympathize with the Catholics, or Iraq because the sympathize with the Americans, or cover the riots in France because they sympathize with the "youths", they will always claim that they are there, neutral, to cover the story. Yet, the bias is so ingrained, that they see no issue with saying the sympathize with one side's, "the Palestinians", murderous aims vis a vis Israel.
And the result? Just watch the usual coverage of Israel- who is always at fault- and, Torie, always disproportionate in response.
We could ask Daniel Pearls wife that question.
Thank you for correcting that....I was just going to post it but saw that you did! It was and is the brave Serbs
It seems liberals don't mind their relatives, or anyone else apparently, being beheaded if it will further understanding between cultures /s
But Anita ..'I've never met a microphone/camera I didn't love' ...tried to interrupt even her...(Greta's show)
I feel sorry for Olaf.....he's blinded by whatever assets she has, and doesn't seem to see the control freak she is.
Trying to rescue your husband is one thing....
..but hogging the story/camera tells me a whole other thing.
Oh...that is so sweet. Olaf almost sounds European. (Sarc.)
If they'd decapitated his genitalia I wonder if he would feel the same.
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