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Who Are the Palestinian Suicide Bombers?

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/095465590899740

1556-1836

Shaul Kimhi, Shemuel Even,

Health and Conflict Studies

Abstract The current study uses the content analysis method while focusing on identification of repeated patterns of behavior by suicide terrorists and the society within which they grow and develop. The present study presents a typology—a classification into categories, each represented by a prototype, of suicide terrorists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also identifies prerequisite factors (as without these factors, there is little opportunity for a particular prototype to emerge) and supporting factors (which may assist in the emergence of the prototype, but are not essential) for each of the suicide terrorist prototypes. The suggested typology is based on a convenient sample: details which have been published in the literature describing suicide terrorists. The typology suggests four categories of suicide bombers: religious fanatic, exploited, avenger, and nationalist fanatic. This typology is based on the main motive of the perpetrator, and different trajectories which each suicide bomber undergoes from recruitment to detonating the bomb. The major difference among the four categories lies in the prerequisite factors and their relative importance in comparison to the supporting factors. This project has been supported by the Project for the Promotion of Higher Education in the Eastern Galilee, the Jewish Agency for Israel & the United Israel Appeal of Canada, and the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. Notes 1 See historical review: Christoph Reuter, My Life is a Weapon: A Modern History of Suicide Bombing (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004). 2 Bernard Lewis, The Assassins (New York: Basic, 2002). 3 Stephen F. Dale, "Religious Suicide in Islamic Asia," Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32 (1988), pp.37–59. 4 See also Shaul Shay, "The Shahids: Islam and Suicide Attacks" (Herzliya: The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 2003) (Hebrew); Adam Dolnik, "Die and Let Die: Exploring Links Between Suicide Terrorism and Terrorist Use of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Weapons," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 26 (2003), pp.17–35. 5 Yoram Schweitzer, "Suicide Terrorism: Development and Main Characteristics" in: Countering Suicide Terrorism. (Herzliya: The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 2000), pp.75–84. 6 James F. Hoge & Gideon Rose (Eds.), How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War (New York: Public Affairs, 2001). 7 Scott Atran, "Mishandling Suicide Terrorism," The Washington Quarterly 27/3 (2004), pp.67–90; Michael Gips, "Confronting the Suicide-Bomber Threat," Security Management 47/11 (2003), pp.16–17; Jane's Intelligence Review, "Suicide Terrorism: A Global Threat." Jane's Intelligence Review (20 October; 2000); Don Van Natta, "Terror's Ultimate Weapon," New York Times Upfront. 1363 (Oct. 13, 2003), p.18; James M. Poland "Suicide Bomber: A Global Problem," Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 27/2 (2002), pp.100–135. 8 See also: Scott Atran, "Genesis of Suicide Terrorism," Science 299 (2003) pp.1534–1539; Christopher D. Kondaki, "Suicide Terrorism, an Age-Old Weapon, Adds Technology," Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy 29 (2001) pp.8–10. 9 Gal Luft, "The Palestinian H-Bomb—Terror's Winning Strategy," Foreign Affairs 81 (2002), pp.2–8; Shay (note 4). 10 Schweitzer (note 5); Luft (note 9). 11 Shay (note 4). 12 See the use of suicide terrorism by the Hamas organization in: Adam Dolnik & Anjali Bhattacharjee, "Hamas: Suicide Bombings, Rockets, or WMD?" Terrorism & Political Violence 14/3 (2002), pp.109–128. 13 See the chain of activity and stages in preparing suicide attacks in Shay (note 4, p. 42); see also Ehud Sprinzak, "Rational Fanatics." Foreign Policy, September/October/120 (2000), pp.66–73; Ehud Sprinzak, "Outsmarting Suicide Terrorists," Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 92/232 (2000). 14 Avishai Margalit, "The Suicide Bombers." The New York Review of Books 50/1 16 (January 2003). 15 For example: Jeffrey Bartholet, "A Granted Trip to Heaven," Newsweek. 125/17 (1995) p.42; John Battersby, "A Boy Bomber Changes His Mind," Christian Science Monitor 87/97 (14 April, 1995) p.1; Christopher Dickey, Dan Ephron, John Barry, Mark Hosenball, and Michael Isikoff, "Inside Suicide, Inc.," Newsweek 139/15 (15 April, 2002), pp.26–33. 16 See descriptions of some in: Barbara Victor, Army of Roses: Inside the World of Palestinian Women Suicide Bombers (Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Inc., 2003). 17 Smadar Perry, "We Have Lost the Fear of Dying," Yediot Aharonot, (19 December, 2003) pp.16–17 (in Hebrew). 18 Oron Meiri, Gal Meital, & Roni Shaked, "Mother Is a Suicide Terrorist," Yediot Aharonot (16 April, 2004), p.13 (in Hebrew). 19 Dan Radlauer, "An Engineered Tragedy—Statistical Analysis of Casualties in the Palestinian-Israel Conflict," The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. August 8, 2002. Retrieved from: http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=439. 20 Mia Bloom, "Palestinian Suicide Bombing: Public Support, Market Share and Outbidding," Political Science Quarterly 119/1 (2004), pp.61–88. 21 See poll results on the Internet website of "The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research: www.pcpsr.org. 22 Daphne Burdman, "Education, Indoctrination, and Incitement: Palestinian Children on Their Way to Martyrdom," Terrorism and Political Violence, 15/1 (2003), pp.96–123. 23 Luft (note 9). 24 Amira Hass, "Floating to Heaven," Ha'aretz, April 4 (2003), pp.26–32 (in Hebrew). 25 Joyce M. Davis, Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance and Despair in the Middle East (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003). 26 For example, Michael Scott Doran, "Somebody Else's Civil War," In: J. F. Hoge & G. Rose (Eds.). How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War (New York: Public Affairs, 2001) pp.31–52. 27 For example, Ariel Merari and Ehud Sprinzak at the Conference on the Psychology of Terror, Jerusalem, 26 May 2002; see also Michael Bond, "The Making of a Suicide Bomber," New Scientist 182 (2004), pp.34–37; Martha Crenshaw, "Suicide Terrorism in Comparative Perspective," in: Countering Suicide Terrorism..(Herzliya: The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 2000), pp.21–30. 28 Dickey et al. (note 15); Margalit (note 12); Eyad El-Sarraj, "Why Blow Ourselves Up," Time Atlantic, (April 8, 2002) p.28; Eyad El-Sarraj, "Suicide Bombers: Dignity, Despair, and the Need for Hope," Journal of Palestine Studies, (June 1, 2002) pp.71–76; Yaakov Vinkler, "Exploding from Frustration," Ha'aretz, (March 18, 1997), p.4 (in Hebrew); Vamik Volkan, "September 11 and Societal Regression," Group-Analysis, 35/4 (2002), pp.456–483. 29 Harvey Gordon, "The Suicide Bomber: Is It a Psychiatric Phenomenon?" Psychiatric Bulletin 26 (2002), pp.285–287; Kaja Perina, "Suicide Terrorism—Seeking Motives Beyond Mental Illness," Psychology Today, (January 9, 2002), p.15; Jerrold M. Post, "Killing in the Name of God: Osama Bin Laden and Radical Islam," Paper presented at the International Society of Political Psychology, 25th Annual Scientific Meeting, Berlin, Germany, (July 16–19, 2002); Jerrold M. Post, "Interview with Dr. Post," (2001). Retrieved from: http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~jpost/jmpost.htm; Volkan (note 27). 30 Middle East Media & Research Institute, "Liberal Arab Columnist: Why the Palestinians Miss Opportunities," Special Dispatch Series - No. 404, (July 29, 2002). Retrieved From: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&id=SP40402; Joseph Rosenberger, "Discerning the Behavior of the Suicide Bomber," Journal of Religion & Health 42 (2003), pp.13–20; Emad Salib, "Suicide Terrorism," British Journal of Psychiatry 182 (2003), pp.475–476; See also Gordon Harvey, Bethlem Royal Hosp, Kent England, "The 'Suicide' Bomber: Is It a Psychiatric Phenomenon?," Psychiatric Bulletin 26/8 (Aug, 2002) pp.285–287. 31 Adrian Mirvish, "Suicide Bombers, Authoritarian Minds, and the Denial of Others," Judaism (January 10, 2001), p.387. 32 James Oliver, "What Turns a Man into a Terrorist"? New Statesman 130/4568 (December 17, 2001). 33 Michael Myslobodsky, "The Herostratus Syndrome: An Analysis of the Suicide Bomber," Jewish Frontier LXVIII/1 (2003). Retrieved From: http://www.laborzionist.org./frontier/jf_winter-03_myslobodsky1.html. 34 Joan Lachkar, "The Psychological Make-Up of a Suicide Bomber," Journal of Psychohistory 20 (2004), pp.349–367. 35 Atran (note 8); Sharon Begley, "Likely Suicide Bombers Include Profiles You'd Never Suspect," The Wall Street Journal, (April 4, 2003); Cass R. Sunstein, "Why They Hate Us? The Role of Social Dynamics," Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 25 (2002) pp.429–441; Volkan (note 28) ; Vamik Volkan, Bloodlines: From Ethnic Pride to Ethnic Terrorism (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997); Ronald Wintrobe, "Can Suicide Bombers Be Rational"? (2003). Retrieved from: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/cpolit/papers/suicide.pdf 36 For example, Kyle B. Olson, "Aum Shinrikyo: Once and Future Threat?" Emerging Infectious Diseases, Jul/Aug, 5/4 (1999), pp.513–517; Lita L. Schwartz, "The Cult Phenomenon: A Turn of the Century Update," American Journal of Family Therapy 29/1 (2001), pp.13–22. 37 Naim Ateek, "Suicide Bombers: A Palestinian Christian Perspective," Cornerstone, (July 1, 2002); Jerrold M. Post & Laurita M. Denny, "The Terrorists in Their Own Words: Interviews with 35 Incarcerated Middle Eastern Terrorists," Terrorism and Political Violence 15 (2003), pp.171–184; Sarraj (note 27); Shibley Telhami, "Why Suicide Terrorism Takes Root," The New York Times, (April 4, 2002) p.20. 38 Tudge Colin, "Natural Born Killers," New Scientist, 174/2342 (2002), pp.36–40. 39 David Hubbard, "The Psychodynamics of Terrorism." In: Y. Alexander, T. Adeniran, and R.A. Kilmarx, (eds.), International Violence (New York: Praeger, 1983) pp.45–53; Kent Oots, and Thomas Wiegele, "Terrorist and Victim: Psychiatric and Physiological Approaches from a Social Science Perspective," Terrorism: An International Journal 8/1 (1985), pp.1–32. 40 Eitan Colberg, "Death of Martyrs and Self-Sacrifice in Classic Islam," Pa'amim 75 (1998), pp.4–26 (in Hebrew). 41 Quoted in: Amnon Barzilai, "Dead While Alive, Murderers in Their Death," Ha'aretz, (April 3, 2002), p.3 (in Hebrew). 42 Harvey W. Kushner, "Suicide Bombers: Business as Usual," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 19 (1996), pp.329–337. 43 See also: Karin Andriolo, "Murder by Suicide: Episodes from Muslim History," American Anthropologist 104/3 (2002), pp.736–742; Euben L Roxanne, "Killing (for) Politics: Jihad, Martyrdom, and Political Action," Political Theory 30/1 (2002), pp.4–36. 44 Reuven Paz, "The Islamic Legitimacy of Suicide Terrorism," In: Countering Suicide Terrorism. (Herzliya: The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 2001), pp.86–94. 45 Nasra Hassan, "An Arsenal of Believers," The New Yorker (November 19, 2001), pp.36–41. 46 David Pryce-Jones, "Priests of Killing," National Review (April 22, 2002), pp.19–20. 47 John Kelsay, "Suicide Bombers," Christian Century (August 14, 2002), pp.22–26. 48 Middle East Media & Research Institute, "The Joy of the Mothers of Palestinian Martyrs," Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 61, (June 25, 2001). Retrieved From: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&id=IA6101. 49 e.g., Ateek (note 37). 50 Unni Wikan, "My Son—A Terrorist? He Was Such a Gentle Boy," Anthropological Quarterly 75/1 (2001), pp.17–128. 51 See examples: Tim Blair, "The Blair Files—Poverty Causes Terrorism?" Review (2002), pp.19–20; Daniel Pipes, "God and Mammon—Does Poverty Cause Militant Islam?" The National Interest (Winter, 2001) pp.14–21; Atran (note 8). 52 Alan, B. Krueger & Jitka Maleckova, "Does Poverty Cause Terrorism?" New Republic 226 (2002), pp.27–34. 53 Pipes (note 51). 54 See also: Alan M. Dershowitz, "Does Oppression Cause Suicide Bombings?" The Jerusalem Post (May 20, 2004), p.17; Kushner (note 42). 55 Assaf Moghadam, "Palestinian Suicide Terrorism in the Second Intifada: Motivations and Organizational Aspects," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 26/2 (2003); Ami Pedahzur, Arie Perliger, & Leonard Weinberg, "Altruism and Fatalism: The Characteristics of Palestinian Suicide Terrorists," Deviant Behavior 24/4 (2003), pp.405–423. 56 Helena Norberg-Hodge, "Globalization and Terror," Ecologist 31 (2001), pp.36–40. 57 See, for example: Telhami (note 37). 58 Chronicle of Higher Education, "Selfish Selflessness?" Chronicle of Higher Education (April 19, 2002), p.B4. 59 Wendy Pearlman, "Suicide Bombers not the Only Martyrs…Israel Creates Many More," Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (May 1, 2002), p. 14. 60 Robert A. Pape, "The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," American Political Science Review 97/3 (2003), pp.343–361. 61 Bruce Hoffman & Gordon, H. McCormick. "Terrorism, Signaling, and Suicide Attack," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 27 (2004), pp.243–281. 62 Bloom (note 20). 63 Dale (note 3). 64 John L. Esposito, Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). 65 Walter Laqueur, "Reflections on Terrorism," Foreign Affairs 65 (1986), pp.86–100. 66 For example: Ayla Schbley, "Defining Religious Terrorism: A Causal and Anthological Profile," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 26 (2003), pp.105–134. 67 For a different view see: David Lester, Bijou Yang, & Mark Lindsay, "Suicide Bombers: Are Psychological Profiles Possible"? Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 27 (2004), pp.283–295. 68 Dolnik (note 4). 69 Antoon A. Leenaars, (Ed.), Suicidology (New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1993). 70 Oron, quoted in: Nurit Wergaft, "Suicide but Wants to Live," Ha'aretz, (April 22, 2003) p.11b (in Hebrew). 71 See Shaul Kimhi & Shemuel Even, "Yasir Arafat—Psychological Profile and Strategic Analysis.' (Herzliya: The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 2002). 72 Hassan (note 45). 73 See Colberg (note 40); Kushner (note 42). 74 Atran (note 8); Sunstein (note 35); Volkan (note 28); Wintrobe (note 35). 75 For example: Smadar Perry, "My Son, The Suicide Terrorist," Yediot Aharonot (September 10, 2002), p.7 (in Hebrew). 76 See also Burdman (note 22). 77 Efrat Weiss, "The Boy Who Was Captured with an Explosive Belt to the Soldiers: I Came to Explode", Y-net, (March 24, 2004). Retrieved from: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2893762,00.html (in Hebrew). 78 Roni Shaked, "Men Get Virgins—What Do Women Get?" Yediot Aharonot (October 7, 2002) p.5 (in Hebrew). 79 Atran (note 8). 80 Volkan (note 28). 81 e.g., Atran (note 8); Sunstein (note 35). 82 Vered Levi-Barzilai, "Ticking Bomb," Ha'aretz, (October 17, 2003) pp.28–32 (in Hebrew). 83 Ibid. 84 Dickey et al. (note 15); Sarraj (note 27). 85 Hen Kuts-Bar, "I Dreamed About Killing More than a Hundred," Ma'ariv (January 21, 2004), pp.15–20 (in Hebrew). 86 See also David Brooks, "The Culture of Martyrdom," The Atlantic Monthly, June 289/6 (2002), p. 18. 87 For example: Dickey et al. (note 15). 88 For example: Zvi Zinger, "73% of Palestinian Children Want to become Shahid," Yediot Aharonot, (March 10, 2002), p.2 (in Hebrew). 89 For example: Kushner (note 42). 90 Middle East Media & Research Institute. Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 74, (October 30, 2001). Retrieved From: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&id=IA7401 91 Middle East Media & Research Institute. Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 25, (February 24, 2000). Retrieved From: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&id=IA2500 92 Middle East Media & Research Institute. Special Dispatch Series - No. 318, "Palestinian Poem on Martyrdom." (December 21, 2001).Retrieved From: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=palestinian&id=SP31801 93 See also Raphael Israeli, Islamikaze - Manifestations of Islamic Martyrology (London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003) pp.155–168. 94 e.g., Atran (note 8).