It has never been difficult for one group of people to find a reason to kill people in another group but it was easier to understand when the conflict was a military one and even the suicide terrorists limited their activities to killing soldiers. Over the past thirty years, the world has witnessed the rise of suicide terrorists whose preferred target is innocent civilians, preferably women and children. A real effort is being made by psychiatrists, anthropologists, and experts in other fields to understand the forces that drive a young man or woman to such an extreme act but at this point there is no consensus. In reading the articles listed for this assignment it becomes clear that suicide bombers are driven by a potent combination of motives, most of which have been identified; the question now is, which of these is the most consequential? I will argue that it is the true believer who is most likely to resort to suicide bombing.
Some of the myths surrounding suicide bombers have been cleared away. Few people now believe that they are poor, uneducated and dazzled by a view of paradise filled with houris and boys like pearls, or that they are, in ABC’s John Donvan word, crazy. In his report Donvan quotes Bryn Mawr College psychology professor Clark R. McCauley as saying that they are produced by normal group dynamics and should be regarded as rational people deciding to sacrifice their own life for the sake of the greater good while at the same time honoring those who have already laid down their lives. Marc Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist and former CIA officer, agrees, saying that “normal people, given the right circumstances or right set of friends, can become suicide bombers” (qt. in Donovan). It is easier to accept Israeli expert Ariel Merari’s evaluation of suicide bombers as people too sane to have been put in a mental asylum, but there is a qualitative difference between that judgment and McCauley’s or Sageman’s. Most cultures, no matter how extreme the circumstances, do not produce suicide bombers. and while Donvan might pose Lincoln’s soldiers as historical role models for today’s young warriors, those soldiers decided to fight harder against other soldiers; suicide bombers, on the other hand, have to face the prospect of killing women and children and even their countrymen. Such a decision cannot be made without a very strong religious belief to justify their action in this life and the next.
Israeli expert Ellis Shuman is far from calling suicide terrorists normal but his studies show that the Palestinian ones fit into a fairly normal profile. Most are educated, single, under 30 and come from the Gaza Strip, a place where the social dynamic is far from normal. Here the cult of the suicide bomber rivals the adulation of pop stars elsewhere. Within Palestinian society these young men and women have the support of their families, their peers, and political organizations such as Fatah and Hamas. Shuman cites Hamas as admitting that the young bombers undergo months of intense training before they are sent on their mission. In part, that training is designed to overcome any religious scruples the young people may have. As some experts on Islam have pointed out, suicide is forbidden by the Koran, as is killing women and children. However, other religious authorities such as Sheik Yousef al Qaradawi describe suicide operations as “heroic martyrdom operations” (qtd. in Shuman), indicating that the Islamic world is divided on the issue. Terrorist groups take advantage of that ambiguous state to reinforce their interpretation of the Koran and persuade the candidates that “they are sent on a mission from God” to “forge their gateway to heaven” (MSNBC qt. in Shulman). The BBC reports that potential suicide bombers are carefully chosen “from mosques, schools, and religious institutions. They are likely to have shown particular dedication to the principles of Islam… and are taught the rewards that will await them if they sacrifice their lives” (qtd. in Shulman).
Not everyone agrees. Mouin Rabbani, director of the Palestinian American Research Center in Ramallah, argues that “without exception, the suicide bombers have lived their lives on the receiving end of a system designed to trample their rights and crush every hope of a brighter future.” By choosing the path of the suicide bomber these young people experience, if only for a moment, “a semblance of purpose and control previously considered out of reach” (qtd. in Shuman). This fails to take into account that for most young Arab men that is life, even in countries not engaged in a war for survival with another state. Palestine, in spite of the billions of Euros and dollars it receives in aid, offers its young people no prospects for a better life. Many Palestinians are aware of the political maneuvering that goes on behind the scenes, and know that young people are being used by these factions “to bolster their own popularity,” as one young Palestinian says (Allen). Similarly, many Palestinians regard suicide attacks as unnecessary provocations or, worse, as giving Israel yet more pretexts to invade their territory. Poverty and unemployment, according to Allen, stand at 50% due to “ongoing closures and internal sieges” and in this abnormal situation suicide terrorism may appear as a normal phenomenon. However, the vast majority of Palestine’s young people do not become suicide bombers, which means that one more factor must be isolated if this phenomenon is to be understood.
Sheikh Jarrar, a Palestinian cleric, says, “religion is the factor that creates bravery” (qtd. in Allen). This is disputed by professor Robert Pape who says the connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism is greatly overrated. He argues that “the common denominator among the bombers in 95% of the cases is that they’re nationalist insurgents with a secular, strategic goal: ousting the military forces of democratic countries from land the insurgents believe is theirs” (qtd. in Crock). In his view, the bombers are political activists, fully conscious of the effect their attacks will have on the enemy. Religion in his theory is merely a useful recruiting tool.
That is not what Bobby Ghosh discovered in his interview with a prospective suicide bomber in Iraq. This interview is significant in that it goes to the source and represents a real attempt to examine the problem from a Middle Eastern point of view rather than through Western lenses. The twenty-one year old jihadist fighter wants Allah to “bless my mission with a high rate of American casualties” and his second aim is to be reunited with his mujahedin brothers. It is rare for an Iraqi to turn to suicide bombing; most are jihadists from other Arab countries, who have so far (this article was written in 2005) killed 150 Americans and 1,200 Iraqis. The subject was an average student but excelled in Koranic studies, he is unexceptional in any way except in piety, which is what brought him to the organizers’ attention. Separated from his family, he regards jihadists as his new family because they are more religious and, like him, abhor music, dancing and alcohol. Ghosh reports that the young would-be bomber “fights first for Islam, second to become a ‘martyr’ and win acceptance into heaven, and only third for control of his country. ” What worries him most of all is the possibility of killing other Iraqis but he tells himself that “the only person who matters is Allah” and justifies all else accordingly.
It is religion that makes this bomber capable of turning his back on his family and of killing his own people. He cannot imagine a society that would adhere to his personal principles but as a suicide bomber he is not concerned with this world, only the world hereafter where the only question he will be asked is “How many infidels did you kill?” (Ghosh). During the interview, however, he expressed regret at never having come to know Americans, a reminder that for all his dedication and single-mindedness this is still a human being, connected to all other human beings. Only religion can overcome this young man’s innate compassion, love of family and country and his curiosity about other people. The young would-be suicide bomber admits he is a terrorist but justifies it by quoting the Koran which, he says, tells him that “it is the duty of Muslims to bring terror to the enemy, so being a terrorist makes me a good Muslim.”
Works Cited
Allen, Lori. “There are Many Reasons Why: Suicide Bombers and Martyrs in Palestine.” Social Science Research Council.. Web.
Crock, Stan. “What Makes Suicide Bombers Tick?” Business Week, 2005. Web.
Donvan, John. “Experts: Suicide Bombers Not Crazy.”Nightline, 2005. Web.
Ghosh, Bobby. “Inside the Mind of an Iraqi Suicide Bomber.” Time Magazine, 2005. Web.
Shulman, Ellis. “What makes suicide bombers tick?” Israeli Insider, 2001. Web.