Fox News Cameraman 'Sympathetic' to Palestinian Captors

September 1st, 2006 12:57 PM

It could be a sign of the classic Stockholme Syndrome, as New Zealand native and Fox News camerman Olaf Wiig said he was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause after being kidnapped and held by the "Holy Jihad Brigades."

Reports ABCNews.com.

Despite being taken hostage at gunpoint in Gaza by a jihadist group and held captive for 13 days, Fox News cameraman Olaf Wiig says he can't condemn his captors.

"It's really complex," Wiig said on "Good Morning America."

"In some ways, I feel such sympathy for the Palestinian cause. You know, in my heart. You know, I can't hate them for what they did. I resent on behalf of my family what they did. But there's a funny bit of me that's sympathetic to them still"....

The captors told Wiig that he would be released because he was from New Zealand.

However, Wiig said, they told him that his colleague, Centanni, an American, was dangerous and that they were going to kill him.

Wiig said he kept that information from Centanni.

"I just knew that he was under [a] huge strain already, and I thought it was a burden he didn't need to carry for however long," Wiig said.

Centanni said he was grateful for that. "He's a beautiful man and a good friend," he said of Wiig.

How is the rest of the media sympathetic to the Palestinian cause? Have entire news divisions been captured and forced to convert to Islam?