These have included hijackings, hostage takings, kidnappings, car bombings and frequently, suicide bombings.We all have seen these accounts in the news and witnessed (some first hand) the destruction that these bombers have caused, but have you have ever stopped to wonder what makes a person become or agree to be a suicide bomber? Or ask why a person would want to give their life to kill innocent people? Are they that dedicated to their cause or are there other reasons that make people participate in such heinous acts? What about the impact of illiteracy and unemployment as their motivation? Or could it be something else?Times Gone By The 1st recorded use of suicide bombers goes all the way back to the Crusades when Nights Templar destroyed one of their own ships and 140 Christians to kill 1400 Muslims. Suicide bombers were rarely heard about in history until the 20th century when, during World War II, the Japanese Air Force rigged their planes and pilots with explosives and crashed them into US Navy ships and aircraft carriers. The Japanese use of these kamikaze pilots was very successful and the United States had a hard time combating them.
After World War II, suicide bombings were rarely heard of until April of 1983 when the terrorist organization of Hezbollah had a suicide bomber drive a truck filled with explosives into the US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The attack killed many marines and started the current trend in the Middle East. Many terrorists groups then started using suicide bombers in their fight but none of these groups used the suicide bomber as effectively as the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Wikipedia, 2006). The Current IssueWhen the nation of Israel was created and the Palestinian people were uprooted from their homes this caused hatred of the Israeli people by many of the displaced Palestinians. The Palestinians wanted their homeland back and the only way to get that was to get rid of the Israelis. Many terrorist organizations grew out from this hatred.
The most powerful were the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Both these terrorists groups perfected the use of the suicide bomber. (Oliver & Steinberg, 2005). In the early 1980’s recruiting a suicide bomber was a challenge.Leaders for the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad would seek out devoted men in mosques in rioting crowds. The leaders would then train the bombers with intense spiritual indoctrination and terrorist training and those who didn’t fit the bill were dropped from the program.
(Ripley, Rees, August, Baghdadi, Hamad, Klein, MacLeod, & Mustafa, 2002) Suicide bombers were hard to find. This all changed with the current Intifada (Palestinian uprising). The current Intifada started in September of 2000 when the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians fell apart.Promises made to the Palestinians about becoming a separate state and having a recognized government was not realized and the terrorists’ organizations found themselves with an over-abundance of people wanting to become martyrs for the cause. They no longer had to recruit bombers, they had more then they could have ever hoped for.
They were also not your typical bombers. In the past the typical suicide bomber was a single male, in his 20-30’s, with just a high school education. Now the recruiters were dealing with females, children, family men, and highly educated individuals.With this many volunteers the bombings also became more lethal. At least 3 times as many people have been killed in the last 6 years as in the previous ten. The violence has left the world stunned and asking the question why these people want to turn themselves into human bombs (Ives-Halperin, 2002).
The Attraction There are many theories as to why people agree to become suicide bombers. Some feel that it is a culture that encourages martyrdom and violence. Among many Palestinians it has become noble to kill themselves in the pursuit of revenge and it is accompanied with a great feeling of dignity.Families send out death notices (not unlike wedding announcements) declaring that their loved one has given his or her life for the cause.
They hold memorials for the deceased and make signs and statues declaring that they had a suicide bomber in the family. For lots of Palestinians it is an honor to have a loved one become a suicide bomber and he is praised and prayed for. In Islam martyrdom has a very high appeal because it is said to wash away all past sins and guarantees the bomber places in heaven for 70 of his relatives (Krueger & Maleckova, 2003) .Suicide bombers also have to take into affect the well being of their family and make no mistake the families of the suicide bombers are well taken care of.
There is a high monetary incentive in becoming a suicide bomber. The terrorist organizations pay for the bombers’ funeral and pay the bombers’ family a permanent pension of $300 to $600 a month. If the bomber was a family man, then the organization also pays for the family’s health care and education. In the past, Saddam Hussein has also been said to pay a one-time amount of $20,000 to each family that had a loved one become a suicide bomber.
That is enough money for a Palestinian family to live in comfort for some time. A man who is having trouble taking care of his family could become a hero overnight if he were to sacrifice himself in the name of Allah (Ripley, et al. , 2002). There are also cases of suicide bombers who feel that the hopelessness of the Palestinian cause is the reason they are willing to join.
One teenager who was illiterate and unable to find steady work jumped at the chance to become a suicide bomber. He was convinced that he was wasting his time playing pool and selling newspapers.He stated that as a human being he should live like the others in Israel, enjoying life. He didn’t live in that situation and he didn’t feel secure to he succumbed to the pull of the suicide bomber. This teenager was captured when his bomb failed to go off.
He now is spending life in an Israeli prison (Ives-Halperin, 2002). Conclusion Although there are many reasons that might entice a person to be a suicide bomber there is little evidence that states there is a direct link between poverty or education and participation in terrorism.There is much evidence to suggest that many of the more recent suicide bombers were from families that were economically advantaged and had a relatively high education level. It is also thought that poverty at the national level may indirectly affect terrorism through the apparent connection between economic conditions and the tendency for countries to undergo civil wars (Krueger & Maleckova, 2003).
Terrorism resembles a violent form of political involvement.People who are higher educated are more likely to participate in politics, therefore it goes without saying that those who participate in terrorism could be intelligent or at least literate. Most of the evidence shows this to be true. Also, many of the terrorist organizations prefer to use the intelligent and respected person as a bomber because it gives their cause creditability and bolster even more support for their fight (Krueger & Maleckova, 2003). Beyond the thought processes of a suicide bomber is this: an even scarier thought, that these bombings most likely will not stop, why, because they are working.
The goal of the suicide bomber is to empower the powerless and shake the foundations of the oppressors. This most certainly is happening all over the world where the bombings have happened. Studies can not agree as to a main reason on why a person would want to become a suicide bomber. It all depends on the personal situation for each individual.
What they do know is this: these bombings most likely will not stop, why, because they are working. The goal of the suicide bomber is to empower the powerless and shake the foundations of the oppressors and that is exactly what they are doing.
