From Atlas Shrugs:
“could not control his testosterone. I had the impression that afterwards he regretted what had happened. He knew it was wrong.”
The Brussels Journal has a jaw dropping piece on a raped journalist.
Wilders Causes Another Row. Pre-Captivity Stockholm Syndrome
In November 2008 a Dutch journalist, Joanie de Rijke, was abducted by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. She was held captive, raped repeatedly, and released after six days for a ransom of 100,000 euros ($137,000). After her ordeal, she acknowledged that her captors “did horrible things to me,” but added in several media interviews “They also respected me,” and emphasized “They are not monsters.”
In a speech in the Dutch Parliament last Thursday, the Dutch opposition leader Geert Wilders referred to Joanie de Rijke’s case.
“This story” Wilders said,“She was raped, but she was not angry. The journalist who went looking for the Taliban in Afghanistan saw her curiosity end in a cruel ordeal of multiple rape. While this would make others angry or sad, this journalist shows understanding. She says: ‘They also respected me.’ And she was given tea and biscuits.”
“is a perfect illustration of the moral decline of our elites. They are so blinded by their own ideology that they turn a blind eye to the truth. Rape? Well, I would put this into perspective, says the leftist journalist: the Taliban are not monsters. Our elites prefer to deny reality rather than face it. One would expect: a woman is being raped and finds this unbearable. But this journalist is not angry because the Muslim involved also showed respect. Our elites, whether they are politicians, journalists, judges, subsidy gobblers or civil servants, are totally clueless. Plain common sense has been dumped in order to deny reality. It is not just this raped journalist who is suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but the entire Dutch elite. The only moral reference they have is: do not irritate the Muslims – that is the one thing they will condemn.”
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in hostages, where the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which the hostages have been placed.
Wilders’ words caused instant fury on all benches except those of his own party. Parliamentarians and government ministers reacted furiously to his reference to Joanie de Rijke. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” Femke Halsema of the far-left Green Left Party yelled. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, a Christian-Democrat, called Wilders’ statement “extremely painful and tasteless.” The PM said the opposition leader was “shamefully abusing” the journalist by turning her “once again into a victim unable to defend herself.”
The Dutch media, too, attacked Wilders. “Everybody is angry with Wilders” the Amsterdam daily Het Parool wrote. Even the conservative weblog De Dagelijkse Standaardheadlined: “Geert Wilders insults journalist raped by Taliban.”
Wilders’ remark about the European elites’ “Stockholm Syndrome” seems to have hit a nerve. The Dutch elites – from the left to the right, from the Greens to the Conservatives – tried to distract attention from this by focusing on his alleged “insult” of an abused woman.
Before elaborating, let us take a closer look at the Joanie de Rijke case.
Go read the whole thing.
Might not fit the classic definition of Stockholm Syndrome but something is amiss in that head of hers....
ReplyDeleteMight also be a provocative move to sell more books??? Go figure!
Of course the underlying issue is lost and Wilders becomes the narrative.
As far as I'm concerned, Wilders is one of the best narratives out there.
ReplyDelete