The Psychology Behind. . .

 

 The Psychology Behind Suicide Bombings

 By - Pierre Rehov, documentary filmmaker

On July 15, MSNBC's "Connected" program discussed the
July 7th 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.

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

A - 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.

Q - Why is this film especially important?

A - 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 become their only certitude.

Q - What insights did you gain from making this film?
What do you know that other experts do not know?

A - 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 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.

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

A - 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 goal is to fulfill what they believe
to be their de stiny, 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.

Q - You say suicide bombers experience a moment of
absolute power, beyond punishment. Is death the
ultimate power?

A - Not death as an end, but death as a door opener 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.

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

A - Generally kids between 15 and 25 bearing a lot of
complexes, generally inferiority comp lexes. 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 afterlife in Paradise.

Q - Are suicide bombers principally motivated by
religious conviction?

A - 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.

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

A - 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 lifetime, 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.

Q - Describe the culture that manufactures suicide
bombers.

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

A - 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).

Q - 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?

A - 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.

Q - Why are so many suicide bombers young men?

A - 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?

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

A - The U.N. is in the hands of Arab countries and
third world or ex-communist countries. Their hands are
tied. The U.N. 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 U.N. leaves a door open by not openly condemning
terrorist organizations. In addition, through UNRWA,
the U.N. 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 U.N. has maintained
Palestinians in camps with the hope to "return" into
Israel for more than 5 0 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").

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

A - 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.

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

A - 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 Naziism.
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.
Q - 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?
A - Every successful terror attack is considered a
victory by the radical Islamists. Everywhere Islam
expands there is regional conflict. Right now, there
are thousands of candidates for martyrdom lining up in
training camps in Bosnia, Afghanistan and 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.