Dr. ‘Adel Sadeq, chairman of the Arab Psychiatrists Association and head of the Department of Psychiatry at ‘Ein Shams University in Cairo, recently published an article entitled “Class Isn’t Over Yet, Stupid!” in the Egyptian newspaper Hadith Al-Madina, which took the form of an open letter to President Bush. Dr. Sadeq, a recipient of the 1990 Egyptian State Prize, was also interviewed by Iqraa, a Saudi-Egyptian satellite television channel. MEMRI (www.memri.org) translated the article and interview, from which we include the following excerpts:

From the newspaper article:
“Although you [President Bush] invest a lot of effort in proving yourself, you are not successful in doing so because you are stupid and understand nothing about what is happening in the world. ‘Stupidity’ and ‘idiocy’ are synonyms, and if you don’t like the word ’stupid,’ you are an evil person with an ugly soul. I equate your stupidity with mercilessness and inhumanity, and swear that I knew you were stupid long before it became known to the entire world, and before your cronies admitted it.
“Your stupidity is reflected in your facial features. Your face reminds me of the face of those who frequent a clinic for the mentally retarded. Your gaze is mindless and unfocused. Your eyes are misleading. Your facial expressions are incompatible with the matter [being discussed], and your tone of voice is completely disconnected from the content of your words - a salient characteristic of the mentally retarded.
“…Don’t you understand, stupid, that Sharon is a criminal murderer? Don’t you understand, stupid, that the interests of your country are in great danger because of your complete bias in favor of Israel? Don’t you understand, stupid, that the entire world is now standing against you and the policy of your administration? Don’t you understand, stupid, that anyone who dies for the liberation of his homeland is a martyr? Don’t you understand, stupid, that when a girl of 18 springs blows herself up, this means that her cause is right, and that her people will be victorious sooner or later?”
“I don’t imagine, stupid, that you understood anything from my article, as your advisors hide things and thoughts of this kind from you so you will go on thinking you are smart. This means that class isn’t over yet, you stupid idiot, you basest man in the world.”

From the Iqraa Interview:
“…The psychological structure [of the perpetrator of a suicide attack] is that of an individual who loves life…
“When the martyr dies a martyr’s death, he attains the height of bliss. As a professional psychiatrist, I say that the height of bliss comes with the end of the countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. And then, you press the button to blow yourself up. When the martyr reaches ‘one,’ and then ‘boom,’ he explodes, and senses himself flying, because he knows for certain that he is not dead. It is a transition to another, more beautiful world, because he knows very well that within seconds he will see the light of the Creator. He will be at the closest possible point to Allah…
“…The message to Israel is that we will not cease… It is very important to convey this message… The child who threw a stone in 1993 today wraps himself in an explosive belt… As long as there is even a single Palestinian left, the war will not end. What is happening now indicates one thing: Israel will not exist forever. We as Arabs must know that this war will not end. The conflict will continue… Either we will exist or we will not exist. Either the Israelis or the Palestinians - there is no third option…”
“On the strategic level, there must be a pan-Arab plan in order to reach our goal. The goal of all of us is to liberate Palestine from the Israeli aggressors. To use words that some people no longer like to use today: ‘We will throw Israel into the sea.’ This phrase, by the way, is the truth. Either they will throw us into the sea, or we will throw them into the sea. There is no middle ground. Coexistence is total nonsense…”

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 5th, 2002 and is filed under arabpress.