UK Woman Reporter captured by Taliban converts to Islam

Guardian ^ | 8.2.002 | Emily Wilson

[swarthyguy]

Yvonne Ridley is the burka-clad Express reporter who was captured donkey-riding on the wrong side of the Afghan border shortly before the US bombing began last October. She was banged up for 11 days before being set free by her "courteous and respectful" Taliban captors.

Ridley wrote a few hundred thousand words on the subject in her paper on her return, but it was only in her subsequent book that one really got a sense of how long and truly terrifying those 11 days were, although of course, as she never fails to point out, the Taliban were very polite. And, as a comrade who has read her book points out, nothing very exciting actually happened once she'd been wrestled from her donkey.

But the Ridley story does not end there. First, there was her return to Kabul and a "highly-charged" reunion with the two men who guided her into Afghanistan and who were captured alongside her but were not treated with respect - in fact, they were beaten and tortured by Ridley's courteous hosts.

Now Ridley is converting to Islam. This week she told the BBC that one of the conditions of her release was that she read up on "the faith". This she did, and now she is ready to put her drinking days behind her. So, the BBC reporter asked, as a Muslim-to-be, did Ridley have any problems with working for a paper owned by a pornographer? "No," replied Ridley, quick as a flash.

[spetznaz]

Yes, probably a mixture of Stockholm syndrome plus the need to live in an encapsulated life of subjection to some demagogue telling her what to do, when to do it and how to do it. It is weird how a woman raised in the west (or in any free society) can convert to a faitht hat strips that very freedom from her and complies her to live under conditions made by patriachal chauvanistic men centuries ago!

Who knows why really? Maybe she needed her life to be mapped out for her. Or it could be some weird stunt meant to generate renewed interest in her book.

Although personally i think the reason is the same as that of people who joined communes and other such societies. The need to exist in a world where all independent thought is stripped away and you can just 'go with the flow' and 'leave all your worries behind.' In essence total submission.

Mix that with the Stockholm sysndrome where she develops an afinity for her captors and their belief systems and you have a lady willing to drop all and go back to a way of life that was incepted centuries ago!

It's her choice i guess .....but any choice that destroys your ability to choose is not a very good choice at all! In my opinion.

[livius]

I think Islam and the left are made for each other. They attract the same type of folks: people who want an authoritarian system that tells them exactly what to think and monitors every aspect of their lives. And wants to subject everyone else around it, of course. Watch for more lefties converting.

[dennisw]

Islam asks: Where all de white women at?

[knighthawk]

From www.rawa.org: These photos are caught from a video film that has been filmed by RAWA on August 26, 2001 in Kabul using a hidden camera. It shows two Taliban from department of Amro bil mahroof (Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Taliban religious police) beating a woman in public because she has dared to remove her burqa in public.

ZARMINA'S STORY

[swarthyguy]

>almost ALL Muslim women are subjected

I don't know about that. Some are, but news to me that almost all are. I kinda tend to doubt that.

[habs4ever]

Was she not a plaything of a PLO PR flack or even Arafat minion from yrs gone by? Even had a little bastard with him?

She's long been a convert to terrorism chic.

[swarthyguy]

Thanks. I remember reading that. Surprised she didn't have to convert to marry the Palestinian in the first place, but back then they were known as some of the most secular arabs around, next to the Iraqis.

My feeling is now she possible did it for her daughter; talk about misguided, now the young girl is going to be forcefed islam. Perhaps she's been threatened by jihadis in England, who called her on her promises to the Taliban made during her captivity.

She could've just attended AA or some other drink detox program.

It's a shame that educated women in the west choose this path. She could reaffirm her Christianity, or consider an alternative like Buddhism, but to opt for an autocratic ideology is beyond me.

Of course, this will reinforce the worst stereoptype of Western women that the islamists have.

Beat up the *****, and she converts to Islam! See, this is how we need to treat them.

[swarthyguy]

Looks OK in this shot. Taken a few years ago it seems.
Watch that cleavage, girl....

[Publius6961]

She was banged up for 11 days before being set free by her...

I was puzzled by this provocative phrase and thought about speculating on its meaning...

Naaaaah.

[swarthyguy]

A ditty from the 80's comes to mind - by Nick Lowe of Rockpile -- "you gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure, Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign, Cruel to be kind means that i love you, baaaaaaaaaaby! You gotta be cruel to be kind....."

I think Nick LOwe married a Nashville singer. Rosanne Cash or Crystal Gayle, i forget....

[piasa]

I can see that some faces were meant for the burka...

[piasa]

Looks like a real hoot to me, but you'd think that if western women really want some of that excitement, they could just take up bungee jumping, skydiving, LSD , bull-riding or Russian roulette.

In fact, bull-riding is pretty good since the Brahman or Longhorn male is a better breed hygenically and behaviorally than what what the reporter-woman has chosen.

[Alouette]

Taken captive by the Slap-a-ho tribe.

[SkyPilot]

knighthawk,

Thanks for those pictures--disturbing as they are.

Any news in your press lately about Fatema (sp?)--the girl in Sweden murdered by her father for becoming Westernized?

[knighthawk]

No, the press in the Netherlands never mentioned it in the headlines. It could they placed it somewhere in a paper, but it not of relevance in the Netherlands.

We had a somewhat simular case:

Daughter killed for not being a virgin anymore (Holland)

And neither did this raise any concern.

[knighthawk]

Being a muslim woman is like Russian roulette in those areas. You never know when you husband shoots you when he is tired of you.

And showing your face in the open can also be dangerous, they might cut of your nose or throw acid in your face.

[Kozak]

Maybe with a good muslim man she might end up like this:

(From the National Geographic special on last night about honor killing in Pakistan)

Zahida's husband brutally attacked her because he alleged she had been unfaithful and brought shame to the family. He cut off her ears, tongue, and nose, gouged out her eyes, and left her for dead.

O, I forgot, this had NOTHING to do with Islam, as the National Geographic reporter kept repeating, it's just an ancient custom they have mixed up with Islam

[swarthyguy]

Geeze....what can anyone say......