[Mb-civic] "Suicide Killers"--the psychology of Jihadists

[RJ Mac]

July 27, 2005

Interview with Pierre Rehov, documentary filmmaker, on
psychology behindsuicide bombingsOn July 15, I
appeared on MSNBC's "Connected" program to discuss the
7/7London attacks. One of my fellow guests was Pierre
Rehov, a French filmmaker who hasfilmed six
documentaries on the intifada by going undercover in
the Palestinian areas. Pierre's upcoming film,
"Suicide Killers," is based on interviews that he
conducted with the families of suicide bombers and
would-be bombers in an attempt to find out why they do
it. Pierre agreedt o my request for a Q&A interview
here about his work on the new film. Many thanks to
Dean Draznin and Arlyn Riskind for helping to arrange
this special interview.

What inspired you to produce "Suicide Killers," your
seventh film?

I started working with victims of suicide attacks to
make a film on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
when I became fascinated with the personalities of
those who had committed those crimes, as they
weredescribed again and again by their victims.
Especially the fact thatsuicide bombers are all
smiling one second before they blow themselves up.

Why is this film especially important? People don't
understand the devastating culture behind this
unbelievable phenomenon. My film is not politically
correct because it addresses the real problem showing
the real face of Islam. It points the finger against a
culture of hatred in which the uneducated are
brainwashed to a level where their only solution in
life becomes to kill themselves and kill others in the
name of a God whose word, as transmitted by other men,
has became their only certitude. 

What insights did you gain from making this film? What
do you know thatother experts do not know?

I came to the conclusion that we are facing a neurosis
at the level of an entire civilization. Most neuroses
have in common a dramatic event, generally linked to
an unacceptable sexual behavior. In this case, weare
talking of kids living all their lives in pure
frustration, with no opportunity to experience sex,
love, tenderness or even understanding from the
opposite sex. The separation between men and women in
Islam is absolute. So is contempt toward women, who
are totally dominated by men.   This leads to a
situation of pure anxiety, in which normal behavior is
not possible. It is no coincidence that suicide
killers are mostly young men dominated subconsciously
by an overwhelming libido that they not only cannot
satisfy but are afraid of, as if it is the work of the
devil. Since Islam describes heaven as a place where
everything on earth will finally be allowed, and
promises 72 virgins to those frustrated kids, killing
others and killing themselves to reach this redemption
becomes their only solution.

What was it like to interview would-be suicide
bombers, their families and survivors of suicide
bombings?

It was a fascinating and a terrifying experience. You
are dealing with seemingly normal people with very
nice manners who have their own logic, which to a
certain extent can make sense since they are so
convincedthat what they say is true. It is like
dealing with pure craziness, like interviewing people
in an asylum, since what they say, is for them, the
absolute truth. I hear a mother saying "Thank God, my
son is dead." Her son had became a shaheed, a martyr,
which for her was a greater source of pride than if he
had became an engineer, a doctor or a winner of the
Nobel Prize. This system of values works completely
backwards since their interpretation of Islam worships
death much more than life. You are facing people whose
only dream, only achievement is to fulfill what they
believe to be their destiny, namely to be a shaheed or
the family of a shaheed. They don't see the innocent
being killed, they only see the impure that they have
to destroy.

You say suicide bombers experience a moment of
absolute power, beyondpunishment. Is death the
ultimate power?

Not death as an end, but death as a door open to the
after life. They are seeking the reward that God has
promised them. They work for God,  the ultimate
authority, above all human laws. They therefore
experience this single delusional second of absolute
power, where nothing bad can ever happen to them,
since they become God's sword.

Is there a suicide bomber personality profile?
Describe the psychopathology.

Generally kids between 15 and 25 bearing a lot of
complexes, generally inferiority complexes. They must
have been fed with religion. They usually have a lack
of developed personality. Usually they arei
mpressionable idealists. In the western world they
would easily have become drug addicts, but not
criminals. Interestingly, they are not criminals since
they don't see good and evil the same way that we do.
If they had been raised in an Occidental culture, they
would have hated violence. But they constantly battle
against their own death anxiety.The only solution to
this deep-seated pathology is to be willing to die and
be rewarded in the after life in Paradise.

Are suicide bombers principally motivated by religious
conviction?

Yes, it is their only conviction. They don't act to
gain a territory or to find freedom or even dignity.
They only follow Allah, the supreme judge, and what He
tells them to do.

Do all Muslims interpret jihad and martyrdom in the
same way?

All Muslim believers believe that, ultimately, Islam
will prevail on earth. They believe this is the only
true religion and their is no room, in their mind, for
interpretation. The main difference between moderate
Muslims and extremists is that moderate Muslims don't
think they will see the absolute victory of Islam
during their life time, therefore they respect other
beliefs. The extremists believe that the fulfillment
of the Prophecy of Islam and ruling the entire world
as described in the Koran, is for today. Each victory
of Bin Laden convinces 20 million moderate Muslims to
become extremists.

Describe the culture that manufactures suicide
bombers.

Oppression, lack of freedom, brain washing, organized
poverty, placing God in charge of daily life, total
separation between men and women, forbidding sex,
giving women no power whatsoever, and placing men in
charge of family honor, which is mainly connected to
their women's behavior.

What socio-economic forces support the perpetuation of
suicide bombings?

Muslim charity is usually a cover for supporting
terrorist organizations. But one has also to look at
countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, which
are also supporting the same organizations through
different networks. The ironic thing in the case of
Palestinian suicide bombers is that most of the money
comes through financial support from the Occidental
world, donated to a culture that utterly hates and
rejects the West (mainly symbolized by Israel).

Is there a financial support network for the families
of the suicide bombers? If so, who is paying them and
how does that affect the decision?

There used to be a financial incentive in the days of
Saddam Hussein ($25,000 per family) and Yasser Arafat
(smaller amounts), but these days are gone. It is a
mistake to believe that these families would sacrifice
their children for money. Although, the children
themselves who are very attached to their families,
might find in this financial support another reason to
become suicide bombers. It is like buying a life
insurance policy and then committing suicide.

Why are so many suicide bombers young men?

As discussed above, libido is paramount. Also ego,
because this is asure way to become a hero. The
shaheeds are the cowboys or the firemen of Islam.
Shaheed is a positively reinforced value in this
culture. And what kid has never dreamed of becoming a
cowboy or a fireman?

What role does the U.N. play in the terrorist
equation?

The UN is in the hands of Arab countries and third
world or ex-communists countries. Their hands are
tied. The UN has condemned Israel more than any other
country in the world, including the regime of Castro,
Idi Amin or Kaddahfi. By behaving this way, the UN
leaves a door open by not openly condemning terrorist
organizations. In addition, through UNRWA, the UN is
directly tied to terror organizations such as Hamas,
representing 65 percent of their apparatus in the
so-called Palestinian refugee camps. As a support to
Arab countries, the UN has maintained Palestinians in
camps with the hope to "return" into Israel for more
than 50 years, therefore making it impossible to
settle those populations, which still live in
deplorable conditions. Four-hundred million dollars
are spent every year, mainly financed by U.S. taxes,
to support 23,000 employees of UNRWA, many of whom
belong to terroristorganizations (see Congressman Eric
Cantor on this subject, and in my film "Hostages of
Hatred").

You say that a suicide bomber is a 'stupid bomb and a
smart bomb'simultaneously. Explain what you mean.

Unlike an electronic device, a suicide killer has
until the last second the capacity to change his mind.
In reality, he is nothing but a platform representing
interests which are not his, but he doesn't know it.

How can we put an end to the madness of suicide
bombings and terrorism in general?

Stop being politically correct and stop believe that
this culture is a victim of ours. Radical Islamism
today is nothing but a new form of Nazism. Nobody was
trying to justify or excuse Hitler in the 1930s. We
had to defeat him in order to make peace one day with
the German people.

Are these men traveling outside their native areas in
large numbers?  Based on your research, would you
predict that we are beginning to see a new wave of
suicide bombings outside the Middle East?

Every successful terror attack is considered a victory
by the radical Islamists. Everywhere Islam is expands
there is regional conflict. Right now, their are
thousands of candidates for martyrdom lining up in
training camps in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
Inside Europe, hundreds of illegal mosques are
preparing the next step of brain washing to lost young
men who cannot find a satisfying identity in the
Occidental world.  Israel is much more prepared for
this than the rest of the world will ever be. Yes,
there will be more suicide killings in Europe and the
U.S. Sadly, this is only the beginning.

Posted by Andrew Cochran at The CounterTerrorism Blog


		
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