Manufacturing Human Bombs: The Making of Palestinian Suicide Bombers. Mohammed M. Hafez. 124 pages. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace. 2006. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Palestinian Suicide Terrorism in the Second Intifada: Motivations and Organizational Aspects
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2003
Suicide terrorism has developed into a widely used tactic, and arguably one of the major strateigc threats facing some countries. This article explores various issues related to Palestinian suicide terrorism by presenting a two-phase model to explain the processes and factors underlying the development of Palestinian suicide bombers, and the execution of suicide bombing attacks. The model is applied to the case of suicide attacks that have occurred in the course of the first 21 months of the Second Intifada, from September 2000. The assumptions of the model are tested by taking an in-depth look into the various motives leading individual Palestinians to volunteer for suicide missions, and by discussing the activities and major functions of the organizations that have employed this modus operandi in the specified time frame. It will be concluded that while a counter-terrorism strategy aimed at targeting terrorist organizations may offer short-term gains, in the long run Israel will need to identify ways of removing or reducing the incentives that lead some Palestinians to volunteer for suicide missions.
Suicide Bombing as a Strategic Weapon: An Empirical Investigation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad
Terrorism and Political Violence, 2005
Using twice-yearly data from 1991 to 2003, we analyze the incidents of suicide attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad within Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Given the exploratory nature of the question, we have first estimated the relevant coefficients by using a Quasi-Maximum Likelihood Ratio and then checked their robustness by reestimating the model with the help of a Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) as an interrelated system. The results indicate that the two groups deliberately use suicide bombings as strategic weapons within the larger Israeli-Palestinian political milieu. With the Western world locked in an armed struggle with the militant extremists of Islam based on millenarian ideologies, this study emphasizes the need to develop appropriate analytical capabilities to distinguish among terrorist groups and their motivations, ideologies, and tactics. 573 desperate acts. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stressed the need for preemptive military action since ''those who would commit suicide in their assault on the free world are not rational.'' 3 The purpose of this study is to empirically demonstrate that-contrary to popular belief-suicide attacks are carefully orchestrated, politically motivated events, reflecting the perpetrating group's strategic goals and objectives. With the exceptions of Sri Lanka in the 1980s and 1990s 4 and Iraq after the U.S. invasion, no country in the world has suffered more from a sustained campaign of suicide attacks than Israel. Therefore we have chosen to examine attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad within its political boundaries and those administered by the Palestinian Authorities (PA).
Understanding Suicide Bombers: An Interdisciplinary Approach
On September 11th, the west experienced firsthand the horrific reality of the suicide attacks that plague the Middle East. This phenomenon has sparked a flood of interest in both the region and the underlying causes behind such attacks. What motivates a usually young man to end his life prematurely in an act of mass murder? The predominant theory is that this is an effect of their theology. Their faith in Islam is what makes these people able to destroy their own lives, usually for rewards in the afterlife. Given the rhetoric of these attackers, and the politicians in the region this is the first guess one might make as to this perplexing mystery. This, however, does not stand up to scrutiny. Scholars have studied the mystery of the suicide attacker in many fields, and while they brought forward a plethora of explanations, none seem to point to religion as a major cause. This paper will investigate different theories as to the real motivations behind their attacks, and attempt to begin an interdisciplinary explanation which has so far been locked away in different intellectual silos. The political scientists, economists, military theorists, psychologists, and sociologists have all put forward valid motivating factors for suicide attackers that need to be assembled into a complete picture.
Vol 75 : No 2 : Summer 2008 395 much of the scholarly discourse on "suicide terrorism" focuses on the political strategies of these acts of violence and fails to consider their cultural dimensions, which are key to understanding how these acts gain popular support and become potential individual motivations. These forms of violence are conceived in cultural forms related to local knowledge and historical memory that are poorly understood by
The Phenomenon of Suicide Bombing
Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 2006
This article reviews the literature on the phenomenon of suicide bombing. It addresses the question of just how much a psychological understanding of the individuals involved can aid in prevention. The article looks at historical, epidemiological, and cultural perspectives and compares the nonpsychological and psychological approaches to suicide bombing. On the basis of the material available it seems that social processes such as group-dynamic indoctrination and political factors are decisive in analyzing this problem. Cultural, nationalistic, and religious factors are important. The conclusion is that in suicidal bombing, suicide is instrumental in the context of war, not in the context of psychopathology. Suicide bombing is instrumental in realizing fatalities, and it is only one of many weapons. The act of killing in warfare is more important to understanding suicidal terrorism than the act of suicide. This explains why psychological profiling of suicidal terrorists has to date not been successful.