Gaza Syndrome

I’ve known political activists like Kate Burton all my life, and although she has my deep sympathy for the ordeal she suffered in Gaza so too do her terrorist captors.
With a campaigner in the Burton mould, it is no good thinking you can shut her up by pointing to flaws in her argument – or pointing a gun at her head.
When the kidnappers abducted her and her parents, she bellowed, “I came here to work with the Palestinians people, and now I feel I have been stabbed in the back.”
When the kidnappers said she should thank them for treating her well, she exploded, “I can’t believe you are doing this! Do you want me to get down on my knees and say thank you, thank you, thank you?’
After hearing much more in this vein the kidnappers gave up and freed the family
Since the Seventies, we have known about the “Stockholm Syndrome” where hostages are so terrified by their kidnappers they go over to their side. Now we have the “Gaza Syndrome” where the kidnappers are so terrified by their hostages they let them go. [Nick Cohen]