The Inner World of Female Suicide Bombers
February 13, 2007
On January 28, 2002, Wafa Idris walked down one of the busiest streets in Jerusalem and blew herself up. While Idris wasn't the first female suicide bomber in history, she was the first one in Israel. One man died and more than 100 were wounded in her attack.
Suddenly, the Palestinian uprising called the "intifada" took on a new and even more sinister terror twist. Sadly, many other females followed Idris into the deadly world of the "human bomb."
Few people know this inner world of female suicide bombers like Anat Berko. Berko is the author of The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers. For information about the book, click here. It offers a rare view into a new phenomenon in the world today, women being used as "human bombs."
While Israel has borne the brunt of this phenomenon for the past several years, it's a threat that reaches far beyond Israel's borders. It threatens our fragile global security, especially in the West, where we can be more deferential toward women.
Berko has met face-to-face with dozens of female and male suicide bombers who set out to kill but, for a variety of reasons, never consummated their deadly mission. Berko served as a lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, holds a Ph.D. in criminology, and is now a research fellow at the International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism.
Here are some excerpts of an article Berko co-authored with Prof. Edna Erez, which offer insights about this grisly phenomenon:
The Beginning of this Phenomenon
"Since September 2000, when the insurrection the Palestinians call the "al-Aqsa intifada" broke out, women have played an increasingly active role in various aspects of Palestinian terrorism. The reasons usually given for the inclusion of women in terrorist activities are that they can pass unsuspected and undetected, and they attract a great deal of media attention."
The Role of Women in Terrorism
"In the world of terrorism, as in the society of which it is a part, women usually play a subordinate role. However, while some of them do become suicide bombers or knife-wielding attackers, most of them merely serve the male terrorists in supporting roles. They provide information, choose well-populated targets to affect the greatest number of victims, conduct observations, accompany males to the site of an attack to detract suspicion, smuggle and hide weapons, provide hiding places for other women, provide temptation, attach explosive belts to the bodies of female suicide bombers, etc."
Their Belief in Paradise
"Paradise, they believe, will enable them to divest themselves of the restrictions and limitations placed on women in this world, including sexual relations. That belief is also an incentive for engaging in terrorist activities because they perceive paradise as something real.
One of the prisoners, who was responsible for the murder of a young Jewish boy, said in that context that in paradise she would meet mythological male figures from the Islamic past. Some of the prisoners hinted shyly that 'in paradise even women have sexual relations' and could marry heroes from the past, would never be tired, would eat good food, and would even be one of the 72 beautiful black-eyed virgins who were the companions of the shaheeds.
They also believed that an ugly woman, who reached paradise after having carried out a terrorist attack, would become beautiful. They added that they would see Allah, Muhammad and his companions, and the shaheeds. In addition, especially if they were shaheeds, in reward for their actions they would save 70 of their family members from the tortures of the grave before their souls rose to heaven."
Profit and Loss for Women Involved in Terroism
"The data indicate that the price paid by women involved in terrorism is far greater than the profit they expect to gain. In the first place, despite the rhetoric honoring women who take part in terrorism and the pronouncements of the importance of enlisting women in the armed struggle, in reality it is all smoke.
At the personal family level, a woman who has turned to terrorism is unacceptable since she failed to fulfill a woman's traditional roles, i.e., keeping house, raising children and taking care of her husband's needs. The question of what led the woman to choose the path of terrorism remains forever open, as one of those interviewed, an Islamic cleric, said, "Such a woman was not properly brought up. Even if people say she is heroic, I wouldn't let my son or brother marry such a woman."
The Tragic Summary
"The study revealed that the gender oppression from which Palestinian women suffer, which includes forced marriage, multiple wives, restrictions on movement and contacts with members of the opposite sex, and their being considered child-bearing machines, has turned women into rebels and that rebellion is exploited by the terrorist-operatives who recruit them.
The fondest wish of such women is to make themselves more valuable and feel that they belong and contribute to the national effort, and it cannot, in reality, be achieved. The result is that such women, according to the standards of the society in which they live, cannot be both terrorists and 'good women.'"
While woman are the losers in this grisly terrorist equation, it's still a phenomenon that might reach the United States or the Western world as part of Islam's global jihad. It seems more timely than ever to pray for deliverance from this modern-day scourge for both the perpetrators and their intended victims.
Be sure also to see our featured story on female suicide bombers, "Women of Terror: Dying to Kill."
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
