Former Iraq Hostage Kember Speaks of Ordeal, Renews Call for Peace

Christian peace activist, Norman Kember, who was held hostage in Iraq for four months, has offered an insight into his experiences during that time with members of the Middle East Forum of Global Mission Network, which is a part of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

|TOP|Kember recalled, “It’s a sad country. Iraqis are being kidnapped all the time, and do not receive all the publicity that we had.”

He gave an example that one Iraqi family had 27 members kidnapped. Although all have been released now, five have died as a result of the harsh ordeals they went through.

Norman Kember, James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden and Tom Fox were captured in Baghdad on 26 November 2005. Tom Fox was killed on 10 March, two weeks before the other three were released.

Kember had gone to Iraq with Harmeet to accompany a Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT), which works to reduce violence in areas of conflict, as delegates.

Testifying how whilst in captivity he had heard hardly any news from the outside world, but he had always felt aware of friends and family praying for them throughout the 118 day ordeal.

Yet when finally gaining his freedom, he explained how overwhelming it had been for him to find out about the huge international concern about his kidnapping.

|AD|In particular, he told how he was encouraged by the way that Christians and Muslims had worked together to keep the hostages in the public eye.

Thousands of leaflets handed out at weekly prayer vigils had encouraged prayers for Iraqi detainees and for the four missing men.

When asked about what churches should be doing now, Kember said, “The best thing the Churches can do is to embrace non-violence and to encourage the government to embrace non-violence.”

Encouraged by the way that campaigning for his release had brought together peace movements and faith groups in unity, he asked for the Churches to continue to speak out for non-violence.

He said, “The Churches praise Martin Luther King, but they don’t put what he said into practice.”

In the days after Kember was freed, a CTBI Church Representatives’ Meeting sent the Baptist a greeting that commended his determination to fight violence in all its forms.

The letter stated: “You went to Iraq as a living testimony to a better way than violence. We respect your courage in going to be with the people in their suffering and to be there as witnesses to the plight of Iraqi detainees.

“We cannot imagine what you and your family have endured. Throughout your captivity people of many faith communities came together to pray and stand in silent vigils together, for your release, and for Iraqi detainees and for their families. We commit ourselves to the cause of peace for all people in the region.”