Page 370 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

S-Kushner.qxd 28-10-02 11:28 AM Page 350

350———Suicide Terrorism

building on 4th Avenue, near the Gowanus section claimed that Khalil knew nothing of the planned
of Park Slope. When the officers entered a bedroom, attack.
24-year-old Gazi Ibrahim Abu Maizar tried to deto- On July 23, 1998, Maizar was found guilty; in
nate a nearby pipe bomb. Before the bomb could be March 1999, he was sentenced to life in prison.
fully armed, an officer shot him twice in the leg. Khalil, who was acquitted of conspiracy charges, was
Another man, who allegedly reached for an officer’s sentenced to three years in prison in December 1998
gun, was shot five times before being subdued. for immigration fraud.
Both were taken to the hospital. The bombs in the
See also HAMAS; SHEIK OMAR ABDEL RAHMAN; WORLD
apartment, which were fashioned from four lengths
TRADE CENTER BOMBING (1993); RAMZI AHMED YOUSEF
of pipe, were dismantled and taken to the police
range in Rodman’s Neck, in the Bronx. (Investigators
suggested that any of the bombs could have killed Further Reading
within a 25-foot radius.) Police also found anti- Barry, Dan. “Bombs in Brooklyn. The Overview/Bomb
Semitic materials, bomb-making instructions, immi- Suspect Was Detained by U.S. but Released.” New York
gration papers for Abu Maizar, which stated he was Times, August 2, 1997, 1.
accused of being a terrorist in Israel and that he was Macfarquhar, Neil. “Bombs in Brooklyn. The Suspects/
seeking political asylum, as well as what was deemed Little Interest in Politics or Religion, Families Say.”
New York Times, August 2, 1997, 24.
an unsigned suicide note. The note called for the
McFadden, Robert D. “Suspects in Bomb Plot Took Two
release of several jailed Islamic militants, including
Paths From the West Bank.” New York Times, August 3,
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and Eyad Ismoil, who were
1997, 29.
about to go to trial for the 1993 World Trade Center
Morrison, Dan. “Subways Were a Target/Feds—2 Planned
bombing, as well as the jailed cleric Sheik Omar Suicide Attack on City.” Newsday (New York), August 1,
Abdel Rahman. Police also found detonators and 1997, A5.
harnesses, but no timing device. The bomb was
designed to detonate when its four switches were
flipped. All evidence indicted that a suicide bombing SUICIDE TERRORISM
was planned.
Initially, investigators looked for links between the
two men and other Middle Eastern terrorist organiza- Suicide terrorism involves the intentional sacrifice
tions. The arrests came two days after a double suicide of one’s life to facilitate an act of terror. Most 20th-
bombing in Jerusalem that was claimed by the mili- century terrorists took advantage of technological
tant Islamic organization Hamas. Hamas denied any developments that allowed them to kill from afar.
connection with the two men, stating that its enemies However, suicide terrorism has been on the increase in
were Israeli Zionists, not Americans. One man, Lafi the past decade for a number of reasons. A suicide
Khalil, had the name of a known member of a terror- attacker can effectively commit large-scale damage
ist organization in his address book; however, no links without the need for expensive technologies. A single
were ever discovered. suicide terrorist can easily and cheaply place himself
Maizar and Khalil were both arraigned in their hos- or herself deep inside enemy territory; the person’s
pital beds. On August 19, 1997, they were indicted on body delivers the payload directly to the source. Most
federal conspiracy and weapons charges. important, the dramatic and, to most people, perverse
A year later, during the opening remarks of the trial, nature of suicide terrorism is so extreme that the mere
Maizar’s defense claimed that Maizar and his associ- thought of a suicide attack is enough to instill fear in
ates were actually trying to defraud the government of the general populace.
reward money offered by the U.S. State Department Terrorists have long understood that their lives
for information related to terrorist bombings, not kill were at risk: for example, the Russian anarchists and
innocent people. A copy of the “suicide note” that had revolutionaries of the 19th century understood that
been mailed to the State Department on July 29 was their makeshift bombs might explode in their hands,
the defense’s main evidence. However, Maizar later and many penned farewell notes to friends and loved
testified that he planned to kill as many Jews as possi- ones. During World War II, Japanese pilots flew
ble in a suicide attack—but not on a subway. He also kamikaze missions against U.S. military assets in the