The Psychology Behind Suicide Bombings
Pierre Rehov, French Documentary
Filmmaker
Folks, if you read one interview
this year, let it be this one. Many of my liberal friends simply don't
"get it," that our values are under attack from radical Islamist
extremists. Mired in grossly misguided political correctness and naivete,
they are unable to see a real and growing problem, even as the bombs
explode in front of their faces. It is time we take off the rose-colored
glasses and view the grim reality that confronts us.
On July 15, MSNBC's "Connected" program discussed the 7/7 London
attacks.
One of the guests was Pierre Rehov, a French filmmaker who has filmed 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 agreed to a 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 were
described again and again by their victims. Especially the fact that
suicide 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 that
other 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, we are
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 convinced that
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, beyond
punishment. 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 are impressionable
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 there 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 fo rces 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 a sure
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 terrorist organizations (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 believing 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 Middl e East?
Every successful terror attack is considered a victory by the radical
Islamists. Everywhere Islam is expands there is regional conflict. Right
now, there 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. |