Media personality Mona Abdel Wahab hosted the writer and thinker Youssef Zidan, in the second part of his interview on the program “On the stage“, which is broadcast on Al-Hayat channel, as part of a series of programs presented by the channels of the United Media Services Company during the month of Ramadan.
Dr. Youssef Zidan commented on the Writers’ Union accusing him of normalization with Israel, and said: “It did not happen, but someone published news to this effect, but the Writers’ Union denied this matter.”“.
He added during his interview with the program: “I had hope until last year that things would calm down between the Arabs and the Israelis, but after what happened recently, Israel went crazy, and if they had been patient for a while, there would have been a possibility for a solution.”“.
In response to accusations that he was courting Israel in order to be nominated for the Nobel Prize, he said: “Israel does not control the Nobel Prize, and if it controlled it, it would award it to the Israelis. I do not have any direct or indirect relationship with them, and my opinions work to wake people up.”“.
He continued: “I see that generations after generations are being killed in Palestine, for the sake of the idea of historical right, but what matters to me is that the gratuitous death and continuous destruction stop.”
Dr. Youssef Zidan said that some people used to say that men do not cry, but he cried on the day of the death of the thinker Farag Fouda, indicating that he cried for Egypt because the incident was very painful..
He added: “The wish whose time has passed is to find a woman with whom I feel reassured, and this wish, unfortunately, did not happen.”“.
In response to a question, what is the mask that is impossible to wear and the role that he would not accept, he said: “There are many. I do not accept to be bought and sold, I do not accept to be a cog in a political game, and I do not accept to trade ideas.”“.
He continued: “There are some things that I said that upset people. Do you think that I did not know that people were upset? I certainly knew, and I thought that at this time I should say these words so that people would wake up.”
He said that he has a friend, whom he refused to mention his name, who whenever he becomes ill, he fears that he will die, and he described it as a “black calamity.”“.
He added: “I keep telling this friend to calm down and offering him to travel, because I fear for him and I fear for myself. I don’t want to be without friends.”“.
He said: “I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of absence, and with regard to reincarnation, it is a confusing matter, because it is against resurrection, and whoever believes in resurrection does not believe in reincarnation, and I am still confused about this matter.”
Dr. Youssef Zidan directed his speech to the fans who follow him, and said that he came out of this world with many things that he could tell the audience honestly..
He added: “The most important thing that can be said is to give meaning to your existence, meaning that humans and other creatures eat, honor, and die, and there is no animal whose existence has been given meaning, but a small portion of humans are the ones who add meaning to their momentary existence.”“.
He said: “This meaning does not have to be a great meaning or the discovery of a major scientific theory, but rather something real that you do to feel a sense of belonging to life while doing so. The meaning may be as simple as raising children, for example, or it may be a great meaning such as doing good deeds, but The most important thing is understanding, we have to understand and think“.
He continued: “There is no person who comes forward with good intentions and supplications. Rather, whoever wants his existence to have meaning must give his existence meaning.”