| :Otago Daily Times; |
:Dec 2, 2005; |
:GENERAL; |
:3 |
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‘Sensible pacifist’ dedicated to pursuit of peace
Auckland: Harmeet Sooden did not get to spend long in Iraqi before his kidnapping, but he was touched there by the plight of a child who reminded him of his 2-yearold niece in Auckland.
“A little 3-year-old girl, Alaa, ran up to me and gave me a big hug yesterday,” he wrote to a organisation of Palestinian supporters called the International Solidarity Movement, whom he had hoped to join on the West Bank after a two-week visit to Iraq.
“She reminds me of my niece,” he said.
“She, however, does not see as my niece sees. She sustained severe shrapnel injuries to her abdomen and micro fragments peppered her eyes, face and body during a US military attack in May on al Qaim, Iraq. Her mother lost an eye. She lost two brothers and several older relatives.”
The email is a particularly poignant memo to the International Solidarity Movement. One of its members, 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 as she tried to stop the Israeli Army destroying Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.
Mr Sooden spent several weeks with the group in Palestinian territory last summer, and intended rejoining it for another three months after visiting Iraq with the North American pacifist organisation Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The 32-year-old Canadian citizen is being held hostage with three other humanitarian workers by a previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade.
His brother-in-law in Auckland, Mark Brewer, said yesterday Mr Sooden was not religious, “though something like this could make you religious”.
But his sister, Preety Brewer, said he was “passionate” about his causes.
Fervent if confused pleas came yesterday from friends in Auckland.
Daniele Abreau, a PhD student at Auckland University, said she did not know how to help Mr Sooden.
“I know that sometimes when the kidnappers have a better image of those they hold captive, there is a better chance they will free them,” Ms Abreau said in an email to The New Zealand Herald.
“I thought that you should know a little about this brave and sensible pacifist who loves Shakespeare and humanity.”
She said her friend dedicated his life to helping people but never called attention to himself.
“His help could be as simple as in school assignments, or in a serious matter as raising funds for Kashmir earthquake victims. He always fought against prejudice of any kind.
“He knew the risk of this trip and when I asked him if it was worth it to risk a war zone, he said this was the only thing he could do to help.” — New Zealand Herald
