Anwar Sadat's Daughter Ruqaya: "Zionist Filmmakers" Responsible for Humiliating the Memory of the Late President

Following are excerpts from an interview with Ruqaya Sadat, daughter of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, which aired on ON TV on November 27 2009.

Excerpt from the movie “I Love You, Man,” in which Sydney (played by Jason Segel) says that he named his dog after Anwar Sadat, not because he agreed with his policies but because they looked alike¹

Interviewer: Are you prepared to forgive the film producers, because of the great cultural differences between...

Ruqaya Sadat: No, they are very familiar with our culture, our values, our principles, and our society. They know them very well. This was 100% intentional – in order to humiliate Anwar Sadat and the Egyptian people, because from what I have heard, the filmmakers are Zionists. All this will come out later on. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse.

Interviewer: So the Americans were...

Ruqaya Sadat: No, Zionist Americans...

Interviewer: Even the Jews... After all, he’s the president who made peace with the Jews.

Ruqaya Sadat: There is a difference between a Jew and a Zionist. Jews belong to the Jewish religion, which we respect and recognize, and we revere Moses, but the Zionists are an entirely different matter. They have different goals and aspirations [including] humiliating the Egyptians. But the Jews are not like that. In Israel, Anwar Sadat is more respected than in his own country.

Interviewer: Fine, so why are they humiliating him?

Ruqaya Sadat: We have said that there is a difference between those living in Israel and between the Zionist lobby in the US, which harbors great hatred towards the Arabs and Islam. I am not talking about the Jewish religion or people.

¹ In August, Ruqaya Sadat filed a complaint against the filmmakers, and her lawyer demanded an apology from the US embassy in Cairo.