Swedish Minister Urges Jacob To See Rape Of Dina As Cultural Misunderstanding

The societal norm in Shechem is to kidnap, imprison, and rape girls whom one desires.

Stockholm, December 14 – Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström suggested to Hebrew patriarch Jacob today that he and his family alter their perspective on the violation of his daughter Dina by a local Canaanite prince, and view the violent incident merely as an outcome of clashing cultural values and assumptions, in an effort to reduce tensions and make the locals more comfortable.

Wallström made a public statement today urging Jacob’s clan not to overreact to the behavior of Shechem, who desired the girl, took her captive, and raped her in brutal fashion. The prince, for whom his father named the eponymous town, confessed his attraction to Dina after the forced liaison, and now seeks to gain Jacob’s family’s assent to their marriage. Dina remains in Shechem’s custody, but the minister advised her enraged father and brothers not to jump to conclusions about the malice of the act, since the societal norm in Shechem is to kidnap, imprison, and rape girls whom one desires, and they could not be expected to adjust instantly to the mores that Jacob and his family introduced.

“I urge Jacob and his household to take a more accepting approach to the behavior of the prince of Shechem,” declared Wallström. “The violation of Dina, as unpleasant as it may have been, cannot be allowed to poison the potential for good neighborly relations between the two populations. Coexistence is a value to pursue, and it is not meant to be easy.”

Leaders of the city-state of Shechem welcomed Ms. Wallström’s remarks. “As our recent overtures have indicated, we seek friendly, mutually prosperous relations with our new neighbors,” asserted Hamor, the father of the accused prince and the chieftain of the locality. “We cannot let this one incident undermine what could be a deep and fruitful partnership. All it takes is a little bit of understanding and flexibility as to the way we have always done things around here, and that partnership can move beyond mere business into alliances by marriage and the like.”

Dina remained unavailable for comment, but Shechem assured reporters that she would not object to a mutually beneficial arrangement between her family and the prince’s. “She’ll do what she’s told by the most powerful male in her environment,” he predicted. “That’s how women are. They respect a tough man who stops at nothing to get what he wants. Of course she’ll go along whatever we say.”

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