Page 372 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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352———Suicide Terrorism

a transition that will put him or her alongside the other two Israeli soldiers and himself. Witnesses to other
heroes of Islam. bombings have told the authorities that they never
Members of such groups as the Arous Ad-Damm, suspected the bomber on the bus was a suicide terror-
the Brides of Blood, are sworn to avenge the death of ist on a mission.
Husayn through their own martyrdom, but they do not It is important to understand the role religious
actively pursue suicide. The choice is not theirs, just inspiration plays in precipitating the actions of suicide
as it was not Husayn’s: Allah selected Husayn for terrorists. It would be naive to think of these suicide
martyrdom. Here is the intimate link between practice terrorists as mere religious fanatics blindly following
of martyrdom in Islam—expressed in the act of a spiritual leader. However, it would be equally fool-
suicide—and the official structure of Islam as a political ish to dismiss the impact of incendiary clerics on the
entity. Given no distinction between church and state minds of impressionable youngsters, as well as people
in Islam, an act of religious devotion, such as suicide, of all ages.
can become an instrument of state policy for militant
Muslims. PROFILE OF A SUICIDE BOMBER
Viewing suicide as a form of religious devotion can
help Westerners make sense of the apparently bizarre Before the attacks of September 11, the stereotype of
actions of these suicide bombers. Consider, for exam- a suicide bomber was that of an angry young Islamic
ple, the affable smile worn on the face of the bomber male driven by visions of paradise to kill infidels. On
as he made his way into the compound to blow up the his way to heaven, this zealot, who had few oppor-
U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983. This smile, known as tunities on earth, provides economic support for his
the “bassamat al-Farah,” or smile of joy, symbolizes family though an annuity commonly paid to the
the joy of martyrdom. The notion of joy in the act of families of suicide terrorism by supporting organiza-
suicide is also evident in the videotape left behind by a tions or countries. The suicide bomber’s own personal
17-year-old female suicide bomber, San’ah Muheidli, reward is said to include the services of 72 virgins that
who in 1983 drove her yellow Mercedes Benz laden await his arrival in a glorious afterlife filed with
with explosives into an Israeli military convoy in golden houses and clear-running streams.
southern Lebanon, killing two soldiers and herself. On The events of September 11 awakened the world to
the tape, San’ah instructs her mother not to mourn her a new type of suicide bomber. Mohamed Atta, who is
untimely death but, “Be merry, to let your joy explode believed to have flown American Airlines Flight 11
as if it were my wedding day.” A suicide bomber’s into the north tower of the World Trade Center, was an
death is described by Islamic militants as “the martyr’s educated young man from a well-to-do family. Atta
wedding,” an occasion of joy and celebration. and the other 18 suicide hijackers rendered past pro-
Religious fervor may also explain, at least in part, files inaccurate: some were highly educated, others
the spate of more than 75 suicide bombings that had the wherewithal to achieve, and still others were
rocked Israel after the start of the second intifada. married with children. Clearly, their ages, educational
Some of these suicide bombers are inspired to commit levels, and marital statuses were well outside the pre-
the ultimate sacrifice by the prodding of their spiritual vious experience with suicide terrorists.
handlers. These suicide bombers leave for their mis- The typical suicide bomber has historically been
sions directly from their mosques, after completing male, but this stereotype was shattered by events of
many days of mental preparation, such as chanting 2002. According to Hamas, women could not be sui-
aloud the relevant scriptures from the Koran. A cide bombers because traveling outside the home
favorite verse reads: “Think not of those who are slain without male accompaniment violated Islamic law.
in Allah’s way as dead. No, they live on and find But Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual
sustenance in the presence of the Lord.” leader of Hamas, did state: “We will start using
So strong is their belief that bombers are able to women when we have run out of men.” As the vio-
walk among the enemy without exhibiting the slightest lence of the second intifada intensified, Palestinian
anxiety. In 1996, Israeli television reported that a sui- nationalism became as strong a motivation for martyr-
cide bomber dressed in an Israeli Army uniform min- dom as Islamic radicalism.
gled with soldiers at a bus stop and hitchhiking post in Supposedly driven by nationalist fervor, a Fatah
costal Ashkelon before setting off an explosion, killing spin-off, the secular Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,