When in doubt, blame Israel:
A case of mistaken identity might be delaying the release of Fadi Fadel, a Canadian aid worker held hostage in Iraq, his brother said Monday.
Ghayas Fadel said Arab television is reporting the aid worker is an Israeli agent, which would make him a valuable target for insurgents. “(The tape) shows him giving a different name and saying he’s Israeli and this is what we’ve been trying to correct,” Fadel said in an interview from the family home near Montreal.
“He has never been to Israel and has never had any contact with any Israeli organization.”
It has not been established why Fadi Fadel would have said such a thing.
Ghayas Fadel said the Canadian ambassador in Jordan will help to confirm his brother’s real identity at a news conference in Amman on Tuesday.
Fadi Fadel, a Syrian-born Canadian, was kidnapped by local militia in southern Iraq last Wednesday while working for the New York City-based International Rescue Committee.
The real story isn’t why the Iraqis would force Fadel to claim to be an Israeli agent. That one’s obvious, and a pretty standard tactic in the Middle East, where a simple suggestion that someone is Jewish or in some way connected to Israel is enough to make them out to be the devil incarnate. It’s a convenient way of erasing any sympathy that the public in the Mideast might have had for Fadel.
No, the real story is the Canadian reaction… and how eager Canadian authorities are to state over and over again that Fadel has nothing to do with Israel, that this is false. It’s almost as though they’re validating the Iraqi rebel group’s demonization of Israel.
As Canada negotiates for Fadal’s release, I of course hope he makes it safely and unharmed. No humanitarian worker deserves this fate.
But at the same time, I almost wish that Canada was reacting more like the USA or Japan for their policies: “We will not negotiate with terrorists”.
Kidnapping of aid workers is a form of terrorism. Allowing it to succeed means ensuring it will repeat.
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such moral clarity from Canada.
Actually, I also felt kinda icky about the whole “he’s not Israeli, really!” bit. I mean, I know why they are saying that, but I almost feel like there is a subtext that goes something like “if he was Israeli, then it would be ok if he was kidnapped”.
…and I don’t like it.
Joke:
why weren’t there any Palestinians in “the passion of christ”? Because there weren’t any Palestinians in the time of christ.
Indeginous people My Ass.
Time to start tossing ‘Muslim Agents’ in the Big House; tit for tat so to speak.
at least it’d be a start.