Hostage psychology
Whether or not you think the hostage deals are a good thing for Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas, I don’t think anyone here doesn’t take joy in the family reunions and in particular the release of the children. I’ve watched many YouTube videos and read many articles and find the stories highly moving.
Of course, Hamas would like people to think the hostages they forced to wave goodbye to their captors for the cameras were well-treated, but of course they were not. They were only well-treated in that they are still alive, and were kept that way because they were worth a lot to Hamas. Three terrorists for every hostage; not a bad deal for Hamas, and more to come.
I was especially struck with 13- and 16-year-old siblings Noam and Alma Or. The left holding hands, and they were held hostage together; a photo of them holding hands can be found here, although copying it is blocked. It’s pretty clear to me that whatever their relationship might have been before they were kidnapped, their bond is now extraordinarily deep and strong.
They will need that bond, because on their return there were no parents to greet them. Their mother was murdered and their father is assumed to have been kidnapped, and the children were unaware of those things while in captivity. It’s just as well they didn’t know till now; they had enough to contend with: being in a “safe” room when their house was set on fire, jumping out the window, being found by terrorists and taken to Gaza, being imprisoned – just the two of them, plus a woman unnamed by the press but who helped mother them and has now been left as a hostage. They will need every ounce of strength they can muster, and every relative who is still alive to comfort them. But the hostages may find it hard – for a time, anyway – to relate to anyone who has not shared their experience. That’s why siblings are so very important.
I wonder whether psychologists have any plans to get some of the child hostages together in groups to talk to each other, even if they have never met before. It might be a good idea. But whatever happens, recovering from trauma can take a long time. These children have multiple traumas, and they are just finding out some of it after being returned home (“home” being Israel; for most of them, their original homes are no more).
The other day I mocked the Irish prime minister for his statement about a hostage child having been “lost” and now “found.” I wrote: “‘Lost’ – like Hansel and Gretel, lost in the forest and captured by the Witch who wants to eat them?” But having seen the photo of the siblings Noam and Alma Or holding hands, I thought of Hansel and Gretel again, only this time in a non-mocking way.
I’ve written previously about Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel which differs slightly from the original fairy tale and which Humperdinck wrote with his sister, who composed the libretto. It’s considered a fairly light work, very suitable for children. But I have always found much of it deeply, deeply moving. Among other things, it shows the change in the relationship of siblings – an older boy and younger girl – over time, moving from light-hearted bickering, teasing, and high spirits; to confusion and attempts to compfort (lost in the forest); to teamwork under pressure in defeating an evil force who holds them prisoner and who would dearly love to kill and eat them. I think you can see the connection to the hostage story.
I love the opera, but the most relevant part here is the ending. Hansel and Gretel – played always by two women – find other children who have been put under a spell by the same witch that Hansel and Gretel have just vanquished by pushing her into her own oven, they same oven in which she was planning to cook Hansel and then Gretel. These other children had been turned into gingerbread cookies and now they are being transformed back into children, but their eyes are still closed at first (reminding me of the fact that some of the Hamas hostages had been kept in the dark and had to be re-accustomed to the light). After the gingerbread children are transformed back into themselves, Hansel and Gretel’s parents appear. The parents have been searching for them all this time, and the family is happily united again. Would that were true of all the children held hostage by Hamas, but many will not see that particular reunion in this lifetime.
Here’s a version of the finale that I’ve just described, with English subtitles. Note the religious aspects. (This is not a great version, but the voices are nice and it has the requisite translation):
I do fear for the hostages, I hope and pray the siblings find peace in the future
The deeper the depth of evil, the greater the sacrifice good must make to defeat it.
There has never been a greater evil than Islam. It is completely totalitarian in nature.
Not that all Muslims are evil or even perhaps the majority but Islam itself is evil incarnate.
It is in it’s fundamental tenets, utterly incompatible with the proposition that, all men are endowed by their creator with [the right to] life, liberty and the [individual] pursuit of happiness.
Compounding the incompatibility are Islam’s approval of ‘Taqiyya’ and “Muruna’ when dealing with the infidel. So when a Muslim claims to hold no animosity toward Non-Muslims, there’s no way to be sure of it.
}}} a photo of them holding hands can be found here, although copying it is blocked.
Ummm… How is it blocked? I had no issues saving it — it saves as a webp, which is an oddball kind of image format, but it is an image format. You can tell chrome to open webp’s and it treats them like a jpg.
Here, I converted it to a jpg for you.
(this is a free image filehost)
https://i.postimg.cc/NMwYZm3L/alma-13-noam-17-hostages-72834764.jpg
They have confronted great evil, the powers and principaliirs are like that of eichmann and veesenmayer the interlocutors in hungary
If Hamas had captured civilians with intent to obtain later goodwill by releasing them, obvious scenario would be to treat those hostages particularly well so as to use them for positive propaganda.
Seeing as Hamas does indeed know what it’s talking about when it comes to violating international law…
“Hamas Wants UN To Condemn Wilders for ‘Violating International Law’ “—
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/hamas-wants-un-to-condemn-wilders-for-violating-international-law/
This situation is the largest Overton Window shift in history.
We are dealing with people who kidnap/torture civilians, hold them hostage, and then release a few of them in exchange for 3X the number of combatants, many/most of who violated the laws of war by not being in uniform or by targeting civilians prior to being captured.
Now we are considering extending the ceasefire (indefinitely?) as these hostages are being trickled out.
The world treats Hamas and the supporting Palestinians as equals if not superior to the Israelis.
Israel can no longer pursue its enemies due to their violations of law and decency. Bibi should tell Hamas that we get every hostage out by Friday night, or we will release hell on earth on what remains of the Gaza “refugee camp.”
But he won’t.
“……….I don’t think anyone here doesn’t take joy in the family reunions and in particular the release of the children.,,,,,,”
I bet that all those pro-Hamas college kids here in the USA, their professors, university administrators, “The Squad” and probably a few dozen other demokrat members of Congress – just to cite a few – are really angry that these children were not murdered and their bodies hung by wire in whatever public square there is/was in Gaza.
But then again, these sorts are all leftists – surprise, surprise !! – and there is no price to pay that is too high (as long as they themselves are not paying the price) to destroy the USA, Israel, Jews anywhere in the world, capitalism and individual liberty.
Recall the words of Molotov, one of Stalin’s top ministers and signer of the Hitler-Stalin Pact;”
” Admittedly, I have always said grave mistakes and excesses were committed, but the policy on the whole was correct.”[6]
Yep, 50 million dead as a result of Stalin’s policies, but hey, sacrifices have to be made.
This is the mindset of all leftists.
One communist asks another communist; if you had two cars, would you give me one?
Why yes, is the response.
If you had two homes, would you give me one?
Why yes, is the response.
If you had two chickens, would you give me one?
NO !
Why not?
Because I HAVE two chickens.
This is how evil the press is
https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1729835140484903287
Barry Meislin, great idea of Geert Wilders to relocate all the Palestinians to Jordan.
If I were a Palestinian, would I rather live cooped up in Gaza, or have more range of freedom in Jordan?
But I suspect that the Palestinians’ outrage against such an idea is because they remember Black September and what King Hussein did to them. Which just goes to show that they are incorrigible.
How’s this for idiocy?: https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/11/29/the-lebanon-option-how-qatar-could-end-the-war-by-evacuating-hamas/
Joel Pollak notes, “But there is another option: a ceasefire that involves Hamas’s complete departure from Gaza. That is the solution that helped to end the First Lebanon War in 1982, when the entire Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) left Lebanon for Tunisia.”
So up until that time, the PLO was shelling Israel from Lebanon, the solution was to kick them out of Lebanon,
and now it’s worth considering relocating Hamas to Lebanon???
Up for a Darwin award?
then some ended up in Tunisia, I’m pretty sure since the So called Arab Spring they aren’t keen on this,
Oh, the MOST beautiful piece from Humperdink’s opera is the famous prayer. I hope you will post that one too.
Bill in Tennessee:
Yes, I already did. See this post.
}}} Yep, 50 million dead as a result of Stalin’s policies, but hey, sacrifices have to be made.
Always the OTHER guy, strangely enough.
It’s like paying for their government programs. Always someone ELSE has to pay, which is why they use government rather than an appeal to charity or social conscience.
}}} now it’s worth considering relocating Hamas to Lebanon???
Well, if “Lebanon” is code for “Hell”, I’m damned sure down with it. 😛