Drs. Ragda Izar and Afaf Moustafa caused a controversy recently at UCLA medical school after publicly rationalizing the self-immolation in front of Israel’s embassy of airman Aaron Bushnell in February to protest Israeli policies. Dr. Izar is listed as part of the UCLA staff. It was, according to one of the doctors, a “revolutionary suicide.” We recently discussed a mandatory lecture at the UCLA medical school of one of the university’s “activists-in-residence” replete with anti-Semitic postings and racist rhetoric.
The professors made their comments as part of a panel on “Depathologizing Resistance” as reported previously by The Washington Free Beacon.
Dr. Izar stated that Bushnell “carried a lot of distress…but does that mean that the actions he engaged in are any less valid?” She suggested that it is “normal to be distressed when you’re seeing this level of carnage [in Gaza].”
Dr. Moustafa is quoted as saying “Psychiatry pathologizes non-pathological … reactions to a pathological environment or pathological society. It’s considered illness to choose to die in protest of the violence of war but perfectly sane to choose to die in service of the violence of war.”
Neither doctor ever evaluated or examined Bushnell. At the end of the discussion, Dr. Izar acknowledged that psychiatrists should not comment on people they have not evaluated.
There have been a few self-immolations in history as a form of protest, particularly the famous case of Thich Quang Duc who burned himself alive to protest the Vietnam War in 1963.
However, as a lay person, I would venture to say that it is not “normal” or “valid” to set yourself on fire in a protest. If self-immolation is the new normal, this could make the “publish or perish” culture of the faculty a bit more precarious at UCLA.
Between racist lectures from “activists-in-residence” and self-immolation rationalizations, it is not clear when UCLA medical students hunker down on such tangential matters like the central nervous system.
Jonathan: A lot of “normal” people get “distressed”. But few resort to self-immolation to express to express their opposition to official policy. As you mention in 1963 a Buddhist monk set himself on fire in Saigon to protest the US backed Diem regime’s repression of the Buddhist religion. That one act did not change Diem’s policies.
In similar fashion, airman Bushnell’s self-immolation was an act to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Who is to say this was the reaction of otherwise a “normal” person who received many awards during his military service? Like the monk in Vietnam, Bushnell’s isolated act will not change Israel’s policies–or the Biden administration’s support for those policies. Mass protests are the only way to change official policy. Nixon ended the Vietnam War only because of mass protests around the country that made the continuation of the war impossible. Biden is already feeling the heat from mass protests over his support for Israel and he has been forced to make changes in response to those protests because he knows a lot of voters, especially among younger voters, are not happy with his continued support for Israel.
War does a lot of bad things to otherwise “normal” people. During the Vietnam war a lot of young drafted men decided they had no quarrel with the Vietnamese people who were fighting for their independence. So what did they do? They went to prison, fled to Canada or went underground. That was their “rational” response to a war they opposed. Those who agreed to be drafted went to Vietnam where they were told to burn down villages, engage in using napalm and defoliants –killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Vietnamese civilians. And their response to such atrocities? They smoked a lot of pot and took other drugs to block out the “distress” they experienced. If they survived they came back with PTST–requiring medication and stays in veteran hospitals under psychiatric care. They suffered the rest of their lives. Some even committed suicide because they could not deal with their “distress”. That’s what war does to otherwise “normal” people.
The pathology of war is well known to psychiatrists like Profs. Izar and Moustafa. War requires the forced dragoon of young men who have no personal animosity with people thousands of miles away. So governments have to resort to propaganda to convince young men, at least today in the US, to volunteer for military service. That means convincing the volunteer that the “other” is “evil” and must be destroyed. Bushnell apparently decided that the killing of over 33,000 innocent Gazan Palestinians was not what he signed up for.
So I think Dr. Moustafa got it right–even though he had not personally examined Bushnell. That’s because Bushnell is now dead. Bushnell’s act of immolation was a “non-pathological” response to the “pathology” of Israel’s policy of trying to wipe out any semblance normal life in Gaza. That means destroying hospitals, the infrastructure, housing and reducing the Gaza population to a level that can be controlled by the IDF. That is the “pathology” that needs to examined!
While there is alot of absurdity – this is almost normal for you.
No suicide by immolation is not normal. It is the sign of a deeply disturbed person.
We can debate israel’s policies – I suspect we can agree that Israel has made mistakes – as has the US and every other nation in the world.
But the left’s pretence there is some kind of partity between Israel and terrorists – absurd.
One of the horrors of war is that even when your cause is just there are going to be absolutely horrific things that good people are going to do. That is why we avoid war where possible.
It is also why when we are at war – where possible we WIN.
\There is no substitute for victory.
Whether those on the left like it or not – Israel is not going anywhere.
And as a nation it has a commitment to the security of its own people above all else.
If necessary Israel would kill all Palestinians to secure the safety of its own people.
Most of us do not believe that is necessary – and hopefully we are correct.
Regardless, innocent people get killed in wars – even just wars.
The US killed far more innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan than Israel has in Gaza.
I would further note that the protesters of today are NOT anti-war. They are anti-Israel.
Putin is killing far more people that Israel. More people than were killed in 2 decades of US fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yet there are no marhes in the US to end Putins attacks against Ukraine.
Progressives have no actual principles – only often conflicting values.
I would also suggest that you think about the real significance of mass protests.
The Pentagon papers did more to end the vietnam war than all protests.
The Pentagon papers revealed that the governemnt was lying to people.
It has no strategy to win the Vietnam war, and it had no idea what it was doing and what we were actualy fighting for.
That impacted middle aged and middle class VOTERS – far more than protests.
Those on the left forget that Nixon ended the vietnam War – and he did not give a crap about young protesters.
He did so because of middle class and middle aged voters. Nixon Bomber North Vietnam back to the bargaining table and negotiated a deal that give the US a fig leaf of leaving with Dignity. Not much different from What Trump did with the Taliban. With very similar results.
Neither the vietnam war nor the Afghan war ended as the consequence of the protests of young left wing nuts.
They ended because the very same people that showed up for J6 were disillusioned with their government.
Even today – Democrats care about these Anti-Israel protestors – But only because this is an election year and they can not even a tiny part of their base to sit. Democrats are in a bind – because they need both the Jewish vote and the anti-Israel vote
And they are having difficulty getting enough votes. Republicans have similar problems on different issues – but not nearly as devisive.
Liz Chenney may not vote for Trump, But Bill Barr will, DeSantis, Will, even Halley will.
Worse still while we do not know how this lawfare will play out with respect to the election – it is Unifying Republican leaders behind Trump.
Republican leaders are both aware there is nothing in these prosecutions, AND that there is nothing being done to Trump tht can not be done to ANY politician.
Bushnell appears to have had serious mental health issues. As did Allezeo who Imolated himself over some bizarre conspiracy theory yesterday.
We have serious and worsening mental health issues in the US today – and these CLEARLY all fall at the feet of the left.
The left is an active driver of chaos in government and in public life, and while some chaos is a necesity – to much chaos drives anxiety and depression. The interplay between social media and the cancel culture of the left drives mental health problems.
There is an order of magnitude difference in the rates of anxiety and depression between young progressive women and old conservative men.
It is the left that has convinced its own that one wrong word and they could be cancelled – shunned.
It is the left that seeks to make the abnormal normal while concurrently making nearly all conduct – especially normal conduct risky.
The left has simultaneously made it more acceptable to have sax without intamacy, while concurrently making even casual “hookups” riskier and less common. We have a generation that is not only not having intimate relationships, not forming families, but not even having casual relationships.
You can identify as attracted to zebra’s. But you can not act – even int he most shallow ways towards forming a relationship with another person without significant risk.
Need one wonder why 79% of young adult progressive women self identify as suffering from anxiety and depression ?
We have a generation that not only can not define what a woman is – not because they are stupid, but because they are afraid, because any answer at all is dangerous – risky, but that is having enormous difficulty with social relationships.
When words are violence, trying to form a relationship with another is the equivalent of mugging or even rape.
Everybody wants to talk about Darwin, but nobody wants to give him room to work.
Lol! Good one!! So true!
The Constitution and Bill of Rights do.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights facilitate and enhance endeavor, success, and the survival of the fittest, nay, supremacy generated of competition.
Individuals are provided maximal freedom while the government is SEVERELY limited and restricted.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court, the charge of which is simply to assure that actions comport with statutory and fundamental law.
The judicial branch and Supreme Court do not; they “legislate and amend from the bench,” which constitutes actionable and egregious crimes of high office.
Well, if it is normal to be that distressed, probably should be normal you should not be allowed access to sharp objects, not allowed access to common household chemicals and not allowed to operate heavy machinery or an automobile.
And not allowed to reproduce.
I would encourage these professors to practice what they preach. I will even donate a gallon of gasoline and a fire starter of their choice!
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We can but hope that Drs. Ragda Izar and Afaf Moustafa follow this path.
Somebody famous said this, once:
Why, anybody can have a brain. That’s a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven’t got: a diploma.
Floyd: You must be a Wizard of Oz aficionado. 👍
It’s my favourite film. That, and Frankenstein. When I was young, I had nightmares about Frankenstein and Tornados.
Personally I have zero problems with vile antisemites killing themselves. I just wish they would pick a less environmentally damaging method.
Yes, with climate progress a global threat, activists should be aware of their carbon footprint, and should have Planned to choose a Net-Zero form of expression (e.g. sequestration).
Sammy,
For once, we agree.
between trans sterilization, “normal distressed” suicide, childlessness to save the earth,… eventually the problem will solve itself
Not one commenter here, thus far, appears to have an ounce of compassion nor any knowledge of the (on going) ethnic cleaning of Palestine. I suggest you read Israeli authors Prof. Ilan Pappé, or Gideon Levy of Ha’aretz or Chris Hedges.
Cleansing
don’t start wars.
simple.
Realize that wars have consequences. For everyone.
In my opinion, some ethnics need to be cleansed. Ethnics who want to commit genocide are those kind of ethnics, and what else is meant by “from the river to the sea.” I have zero compassion for those kind of ethnics.
That is because there is no ethnic cleansing. Taking into account that Hamas hides in civilian population, and the best estimate of combatant to civilian casualties, Israel is doing an amazing job.
Yes, Fatah, Hamas et al, at times aided and abetted by German socialists, have attempted to push Jews, and other lives deemed unworthy of life, into the sea for nearly a century, and to cleanse the territory since the establishment of the Palestine mandate with renewed vigor in a Jewish Spring.
What a strange way of “ethnic cleansing”- Israel is facilitating massive amounts of humanitarian assistance to Gaza — including food, water, medicine, fuel, and shelter supplies.
Donna,
One simple question for you. Where was Hamas’ compassion on October 7th?
If Izar and Moustafa feel that strongly about the issue, I would encourage them to follow Bushnell’s example. I’d even be willing to chip in for the gasoline if they cannot afford California pump prices.
Thich Quang Duc killed himself to protest South Vietnam’s president Diem’s persecution of Buddhists not the war.
Excellent point!
The so called protesters, I doubt, have a clue about what they are “protesting.” I further doubt they could find these countries on a map much less answer a few questions on the topic.
They get an email or a text telling them to show up to a location. They are being played, just like the Manson Family and the Jonestown Kool-Aide drinkers. Mindless radicalized lemmings, mindlessly following orders.
This is part of a coordinated attack against society as a whole by Marxist radicals (many of whom appear to be faculty). Their goal is to disrupt socials perpetrate chaos.
Disrupt society
E.M.
The Democrat party has become the party of the mindless mob.
“. . . a ‘revolutionary suicide.’”
More, please.
OK; First on the list is the condemnation and then dismisal of deranged people such as this so that they have no impact on young people’s minds. Second, hunt down those who hired this certifiable nut job and run them out of town on a rail – and some tarring and feathering on the way out would be a nice touch.
It is a known fact in the medical world that the psychiatrists have the had the highest rate’s of suicide of all the medical specialties.The salient point is whether they were always profoundly depressed and suicidal or if they just became that way dealing with depressed and mentally ill people. I must admit if you spend all day seeing people with delusions (where what they see is real they just misinterpret the content), hallucinations (where what they see is not real but they don’t know it and can’t separate from what is real), severe bipolar disorder (where people become suicidal often because they fear a manic episode or get profoundly depressed) , anorexia nervosa (where people become suicidal if they gain weight faster than you clear their misconceptions of their body image), schizophrenia, psychopathic (some are suicidal and some are not). Be kind to these poor psychiatric fools named above. They have just been in the trenches too long and are suffering combat fatigue. They need to get out of their offices for a long sabbatical, maybe forever. I would suggest a trip to Refah in Gaza or Tehran.
No. It’s not the job. I remember noticing in college that all the crazies were Psych majors!
Geb said: “The salient point is whether they were always profoundly depressed and suicidal or if they just became that way dealing with depressed and mentally ill people.”
There is a third possibility. Being a whack job might be a prerequisite to aspiring to become a wtich doctor in the first place.
Most, if not all, states require that medical practitioners display their licenses in their office or some other place where patients can examine them. They usually accompany the scholastic credentials (diplomas) of the practitioners. The free market can take of this problem with UCLA by checking to see oif their medical professionals attended and/or graduated from UCLA medical school. If so, patients can vote with their feet and find another practitioner. Only a few need to exercise this franchise and these sorts of abominations might cease.
I had the identical thought, most any medical professional newly graduated from the West Coast or Ivy League med school should be avoided at all costs!
@JJC
I have walked out of medical appointments for a variety of these reasons. These days, when they suggest you get a computer generated analysis, I don’t know what the point of showing up is anyway; I can do my own google searches and extrapolate the same information (people really, really misunderstand what it is algorithms actually do).
Medicine in America is a travesty, by and large, to be sure. The covid response pretty much put the final nail in, for me. It’s a terrible thing for all of the good medical professionals still trying to do a job.
The wanton destruction of society by the modern left has been and is something to behold.
James said: “Medicine in America is a travesty, by and large,”
100% agree, particularly general practice. Those once were our “family doctors”. Now they appear to exist almost solely for the purpose of referring patients to specialists, testing laboratories, and pharamacies. Those, then, are their real customers. To the extent that the GPs still do any actual practice of medicine, it is oriented to treating diseases, not patients (to me that is a very important distinction).
I give him credit for not taking innocent people with him.
That poor boy nevver had a chance! 😔
Maybe these shrinks are trying brainwash more protesters to take their actions far beyond holding signs and banging pot lids?
Anti-semitism is hating the blood of those who persecute and torment the weak and the innocent….it is the will of God. And you are fighting God when you take the side of the Jews over those stupid stupid goyim. And don’t get me started on the Irish, wannabe Jews too stupid to know they have betrayed Christ.
Most burn units have a patient who tried to commit suicide by immolation. They get transferred to a locked psychiatric ward when they have recovered from their burns. I’ve worked in both situations. The people who attempt self immolation are always seriously mentally ill. I suspect Drs. Izar and Mustafa are on the psychopathic spectrum.