Hate mail came after false media charges, says Norman Kember
-15/04/06
In an emotional
Hate mail came after false media charges, says Norman Kember
-15/04/06
In an emotionally honest and very raw account of an ordinary man finding himself in extraordinary circumstances, Christian Peacemaker Dr Norman Kember has spoken at length to the BBC about the circumstances surrounding his kidnapping along with three colleagues in Iraq last November.
Revealing among other things that fellow captor Jim Loney tried to stop one of the kidnappers from becoming a suicide bomber, Dr Kember breaks down several times in the interview (repeated on Easter Sunday, 8-8.30 PM, UK time), and admits to not remembering much about his time as a hostage.
Following false media allegations that he was not grateful to his rescuers, which he refutes in the interview, Dr Kember and his family received what he calls ìa pile of hate mailî after he arrived back in Britain.
As reported previously on Ekklesia, the army has since conceded that its head, General Sir Mike Jackson, had not seen the response of Christian Peacemaker Teams on the day of the release when he criticized their apparent ìingratitudeî on Channel 4 TV a day later.
Speaking to journalist Feargal Keane on BBC Radio 4ís Taking A Stand programme, Dr Kember says that in order to cope with his trauma he has had to ìemotionally shut downî, to the point of ìwhat psychologists call denial.î
Faced with repeated accusations of naivetÈ by interviewer Fergeal Keane, Dr Kember acknowledges that he may have underestimated the risk of kidnap in Iraq. But he stresses that the men ëtook careí from the outset on their intended ten-day tip ñ and that that nine Christian Peacemaker Teams groups had been to Iraq previously without any problems.
This fact may have led him, he says, to thinking that kidnapping was reasonably unlikely. With hindsight he identifies the one ìmistakeî as the decision to go to an isolated Baghdad mosque for dialogue with Sunnis – from outside which the abduction took place.
Dr Kember points out that Christian peacemaker are still there in Baghdad, outside the safety of the green zone, continuing to work with Iraqi people. (CPT has worked in Iraq, without incident, for the past three years, with over 100 short-term and long-term volunteers.)
At one point in the interview Dr Kember talks about the guilt brought on by realization of the full impact of his kidnap on his wife and family. He says that for this reason he would not, given the choice, make the same decision to go to Iraq again.
But towards the end he says that he might do it again, though ìwithout the mistakeî of going to the isolated mosque.
He once again thanks the SAS for freeing him and admitted to the irony of a peacemaker being freed by soldiers ñ though in the end, nonviolently. He also spoke of travelling home with one of the soldiers and of the fact that they enjoyed conversation together.
Speaking of his personal faith and motivation, Dr Kember says: ìTo me Jesusí teaching is essentially pacifistÖ the Gospel is a message of nonviolence.î
He says that his decision to go to Iraq was spurred by the realization that peacemakers, while protesting against war, do not often take the risks soldiers do.
In the course of the BBC interview, Dr Kember reveals that Canadian hostage Jim Loney argued back to his captors when they behaved badly towards the kidnapped men, and that he sought at length to dissuade the youngest from becoming a suicide bomber.
Accused of continued unrealism about the use of armed force, Dr Kember responds by saying that the military have in recent years shown an increasing interesting conflict resolution techniques, and in innovative programmes run by institutions such as the School of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford.
Asked about his captors, who he describes as ìmen of violenceî, Dr Kember says that they showed humanity towards the men ìfrom time-to-timeî ñ as in the provision of his heart pills and the ìrather extraordinaryî decision to procure an Iraqi-made DVD depicting the life of Jesus.
But he says they also told the men ìmany liesî ñ the worst of which concerned the killing of American Tom Fox.
Dr Kember emphasizes that he does not wish his captors to be harmed or executed, and says that they may have initially thought the four were spies because Tom Fox was carrying ex-army papers ñ from before the time he renounced violence.
But the CPTers also carried with them a statement of the aims of the group in English and Arabic. And Kember says that they were ìaware of people praying for themî around the world and knew of some of the appeals made on their behalf ñ including those by his wife, Pat. They did not see the TV broadcasts directly, however.
Christian Peacemaker Teams are currently re-evaluating their operations in the light of the kidnap experience, and have not taken any firm longer term decision on their continued presence.
Their 28-day preparation programme for workers who go into conflict situations to engage in reconciliation, violence reduction and human rights work is highly regarded by other agencies.
Short-term delegations, such as the one in which Norman Kember was a member, receive extensive orientation before leaving home in both written materials and verbal briefings. They have security briefings in both Amman and Baghdad upon arrival.
Senior CPT coordinator Peggy Gish wrote on the Ekkesia website recently: ìWe find courage and hope when our friends warn us, challenge our assumptions, or push us to be clear. Because as they do so, they also offer their continued support…î
Dr Kember has spent a time in hospital in Britain, but says that he would find it ìtoo traumaticî to be reunited with his fellow captives in Chicago in May, where Christian Peacemaker Teams have offered post-trauma counselling and debriefing.
Those close to the 74-year-old former biophysics professor say that because he found it emotionally exhausting he will not be doing any further interviews for the time being ñ and indeed, may not choose to do further interviews at all.
The BBC interview with Norman Kember will be available for a week on their internet webcast ‘listen again’ service.
[Also on Ekklesia: Kember notes irony of non-violent release by soldiers 15/04/06; Kember still evaluating Christian peacemaker’s role in Iraq 15/04/06; Christian peacemaker Norman Kember to give first major interview tomorrow 14/04/06; CPT in Iraq: What now? 04/04/06 – Peggy Gish reflects on the future of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. Briefing on media accusations against Christian Peacemaker Teams – detailed background; Contending the logic of violence – Ekklesia’s Simon Barrow says that true Christian peacemaking cannot afford naivete]
Hate mail came after false media charges, says Norman Kember
-15/04/06
In an emotionally honest and very raw account of an ordinary man finding himself in extraordinary circumstances, Christian Peacemaker Dr Norman Kember has spoken at length to the BBC about the circumstances surrounding his kidnapping along with three colleagues in Iraq last November.
Revealing among other things that fellow captor Jim Loney tried to stop one of the kidnappers from becoming a suicide bomber, Dr Kember breaks down several times in the interview (repeated on Easter Sunday, 8-8.30 PM, UK time), and admits to not remembering much about his time as a hostage.
Following false media allegations that he was not grateful to his rescuers, which he refutes in the interview, Dr Kember and his family received what he calls ìa pile of hate mailî after he arrived back in Britain.
As reported previously on Ekklesia, the army has since conceded that its head, General Sir Mike Jackson, had not seen the response of Christian Peacemaker Teams on the day of the release when he criticized their apparent ìingratitudeî on Channel 4 TV a day later.
Speaking to journalist Feargal Keane on BBC Radio 4ís Taking A Stand programme, Dr Kember says that in order to cope with his trauma he has had to ìemotionally shut downî, to the point of ìwhat psychologists call denial.î
Faced with repeated accusations of naivetÈ by interviewer Fergeal Keane, Dr Kember acknowledges that he may have underestimated the risk of kidnap in Iraq. But he stresses that the men ëtook careí from the outset on their intended ten-day tip ñ and that that nine Christian Peacemaker Teams groups had been to Iraq previously without any problems.
This fact may have led him, he says, to thinking that kidnapping was reasonably unlikely. With hindsight he identifies the one ìmistakeî as the decision to go to an isolated Baghdad mosque for dialogue with Sunnis – from outside which the abduction took place.
Dr Kember points out that Christian peacemaker are still there in Baghdad, outside the safety of the green zone, continuing to work with Iraqi people. (CPT has worked in Iraq, without incident, for the past three years, with over 100 short-term and long-term volunteers.)
At one point in the interview Dr Kember talks about the guilt brought on by realization of the full impact of his kidnap on his wife and family. He says that for this reason he would not, given the choice, make the same decision to go to Iraq again.
But towards the end he says that he might do it again, though ìwithout the mistakeî of going to the isolated mosque.
He once again thanks the SAS for freeing him and admitted to the irony of a peacemaker being freed by soldiers ñ though in the end, nonviolently. He also spoke of travelling home with one of the soldiers and of the fact that they enjoyed conversation together.
Speaking of his personal faith and motivation, Dr Kember says: ìTo me Jesusí teaching is essentially pacifistÖ the Gospel is a message of nonviolence.î
He says that his decision to go to Iraq was spurred by the realization that peacemakers, while protesting against war, do not often take the risks soldiers do.
In the course of the BBC interview, Dr Kember reveals that Canadian hostage Jim Loney argued back to his captors when they behaved badly towards the kidnapped men, and that he sought at length to dissuade the youngest from becoming a suicide bomber.
Accused of continued unrealism about the use of armed force, Dr Kember responds by saying that the military have in recent years shown an increasing interesting conflict resolution techniques, and in innovative programmes run by institutions such as the School of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford.
Asked about his captors, who he describes as ìmen of violenceî, Dr Kember says that they showed humanity towards the men ìfrom time-to-timeî ñ as in the provision of his heart pills and the ìrather extraordinaryî decision to procure an Iraqi-made DVD depicting the life of Jesus.
But he says they also told the men ìmany liesî ñ the worst of which concerned the killing of American Tom Fox.
Dr Kember emphasizes that he does not wish his captors to be harmed or executed, and says that they may have initially thought the four were spies because Tom Fox was carrying ex-army papers ñ from before the time he renounced violence.
But the CPTers also carried with them a statement of the aims of the group in English and Arabic. And Kember says that they were ìaware of people praying for themî around the world and knew of some of the appeals made on their behalf ñ including those by his wife, Pat. They did not see the TV broadcasts directly, however.
Christian Peacemaker Teams are currently re-evaluating their operations in the light of the kidnap experience, and have not taken any firm longer term decision on their continued presence.
Their 28-day preparation programme for workers who go into conflict situations to engage in reconciliation, violence reduction and human rights work is highly regarded by other agencies.
Short-term delegations, such as the one in which Norman Kember was a member, receive extensive orientation before leaving home in both written materials and verbal briefings. They have security briefings in both Amman and Baghdad upon arrival.
Senior CPT coordinator Peggy Gish wrote on the Ekkesia website recently: ìWe find courage and hope when our friends warn us, challenge our assumptions, or push us to be clear. Because as they do so, they also offer their continued support…î
Dr Kember has spent a time in hospital in Britain, but says that he would find it ìtoo traumaticî to be reunited with his fellow captives in Chicago in May, where Christian Peacemaker Teams have offered post-trauma counselling and debriefing.
Those close to the 74-year-old former biophysics professor say that because he found it emotionally exhausting he will not be doing any further interviews for the time being ñ and indeed, may not choose to do further interviews at all.
The BBC interview with Norman Kember will be available for a week on their internet webcast ‘listen again’ service.
[Also on Ekklesia: Kember notes irony of non-violent release by soldiers 15/04/06; Kember still evaluating Christian peacemaker’s role in Iraq 15/04/06; Christian peacemaker Norman Kember to give first major interview tomorrow 14/04/06; CPT in Iraq: What now? 04/04/06 – Peggy Gish reflects on the future of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. Briefing on media accusations against Christian Peacemaker Teams – detailed background; Contending the logic of violence – Ekklesia’s Simon Barrow says that true Christian peacemaking cannot afford naivete]