WASHINGTON, DC--What's wrong with "suicide" bombing? Like tanks, gunships,
bunker-busting bombs, F-16s, and cruise missiles, it kills people. That's what's
wrong.
The reported fatalities between December 1987--the first Palestinian
intifada--and January 2002 were 2,166 Palestinians, and 454 Israelis. During
this same period, the number of Palestinians seriously injured by live
ammunition, rubber bullets, shrapnel, etc. were 18,761; the number of Israelis
seriously injured 427. This from statistics
reportedly endorsed by the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem.
According to University of California professor Huston Smith, author of The
World's Religions: "The Koran's definition of a Holy War is virtually identical
with that of a Just War in the Canon Law of Catholicism. It must either be
defensive or to right an horrendous wrong."
Islam forbids killing except in certain circumstances such as in self
defense, or in response to another killing. Even then Islam counsels
forgiveness, or compensation for the victim's family.
What else is wrong with "suicide" bombing? Legally, less than what one might
believe. While it may or may not be good strategy, it appears to be permissable
under international law.
Most Israelis over the age of 18, aren't exactly civilians. All eligible men
and women are drafted into the Israel Defense Force at age 18. Men serve for
three years, women for 21 months. Upon completion of compulsory service each
soldier is assigned to a reserve unit.
We Hold These Truths, a Christian organization, reports:
- All Israeli busses are owned and operated by the state, and each one
serves as a military transport vehicle. Civilian passengers often find
themselves riding next to an on-duty, rifle-carrying soldier being ferried to a
duty station.
- Israeli pizzerias and McDonalds fast-food restaurants are teeming with
off-duty and on-duty Israeli military men and women, many of both sexes carrying
rifles.
Palestine is occupied land, and under international law, the Palestinians
have the legal right to resist this occupation by any and all means. This may
make busses, restaurants, discos--where Israeli military congregate, lawful
targets.
But there's no excuse for killing children. And there's no excuse for either
Israelis or Palestinians knowingly putting children in harm's way.
And what fuels the intifada, and the Palestinian "suicide" bombings, is
Israeli destruction of Palestinian homes and orchards, Israeli settlements--a
violation of international law, and President Sharon's desire to scuttle the
peace process, and drive Arabs out of Palestine, permanently.
Suicide--the deliberate termination of one's life--for a greater cause
is not an Arab monopoly.
The Japanese used kamikaze or "suicide" attacks in World War II; a woman
belonging to the Tamil
Tigers blew up herself, several others, and India's prime
minister Rajiv Gandhi; and those who protect the U.S. president are taught to
sacrifice their lives if necessary.
And what Western media call "suicide" bombings are generally viewed as
martyrdom by Arabs.
Islamic scholars say Islam forbids suicide, but accepts martyrdom--suicide
being a selfish act contrary to God's will, martyrdom being an act of courage,
sacrifice, and faith.
In the end, whether it's "suicide" bombers, or tanks, gunships,
bunker-busting bombs, F-16s, and cruise missiles, the end result is the same:
people die. And Palestinians are the overwhelming victims.
So why does the media focus on "suicide" bombing?
Because it sets up Palestinian Arabs, Christian and Muslim, as the "other,"
therefore, a more legitimate target in the eyes of the American public, and it
helps legitimize Israel's criminal conduct against the Palestinians, which,
according to Francis A. Boyle, professor of international law, "has been
financed, armed, equipped, supplied, and politically supported by the United
States."
A UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change defined terrorism as "any action intended to
cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of
intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organisation to
do, or abstain from, any act."
Sir Peter Ustinov: "Terrorism is the war of the poor,
and war is the terrorism of the rich."
["Terrorism is a political act, a response to U.S. foreign policy. It is an act
of war waged by people too weak to have a conventional army or one large enough
to take on the United States."-- Charley Reese, "Face it: U.S.
foreign policy contributes to acts of terrorism," August 18, 1998]
["Sixty years ago, both Allied and Axis soldiers set off on suicidal or
near-suicidal raids. These men's bravery cannot be overestimated, nor can the
resourcefulness and despair that led to the development of their crafts, . . .
midget submarines (Japanese, Italian, German, and British), and manned aircraft,
as well as human torpedoes, human bullets, and kamikaze aircraft. "--Richard
O'Neill, "Suicide Squads," 1999]
[Whether they are "terrorists" or "freedom fighters" depends wholly one one's viewpoint,
because those seeking to attain political goals fight with what they have: hijacked
airplanes and concealed bombs or B-52s and laser guided rockets. But B-52s are far more
destructive. For the innocent victim it is all the same, and it makes no difference how
they are maimed or killed.--Gabriel Kolko, "Another Century
of War?," The New Press (2002), p.13]
[U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Ohio): "I think that people of faith understand
that for many of the terrorists, their actions are acts of sacred piety to the
point of losing their lives."-- "Threat of War
Spurs U.S. Soul-searching," Toledo Blade, March 1, 2003]
[Israel's history of assassinations stretches back decades. In the early 1970s,
prominent members of Palestinian organizations were killed in rocket attacks and
car bomb explosions in Lebanon. Prime Minister Golda Meir authorized hit squads
to locate and kill members of the Black September cell responsible for the
kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Israeli undercover squads, dressed as Arabs, hunted down suspected militants in
the Palestinian territories during the first uprising, or intifada, from 1987 to
1993.--Molly Moore, "Israel's Lethal Weapon of Choice," Washington Post, June 29, 2003]
[Neither Israel nor America is bothering to ask why the Palestinians and Muslims
of the Middle East are carrying out suicide attacks, something not previously
seen in Islam or Palestine for the last 14 centuries.--Marwan Bishara, "The Israelization of American
Policy," International Herald Tribune, June 27, 2003]
[In the past 20 years, 17 groups in 14 different countries have used suicide
tactics. In less than 400 attacks, they have killed more than 5,000 people,
maimed at least 20,000 more and inflicted economic damage estimated at more than
£70 billion.--Dr Andrew Silke, "Profiling
terror," Janes, August 7, 2003]
[Israel, having ceased to care about the children of the Palestinians, should
not be surprised when they come washed in hatred and blow themselves up in the
centres of Israeli escapism. They consign themselves to Allah in our places of
recreation, because their own lives are torture. They spill their own blood in
our restaurants in order to ruin our appetites, because they have children and
parents at home who are hungry and humiliated.--Avraham Burg, "The end
of Zionism," Guardian, September 15, 2003]
["To say that I understand why they take this action does not mean that I condone it.
The world is not listening to the plight of these people.--Ben Russell, "I would be
suicide bomber in Israel, says Lib Dem MP," The Independent, January 23, 2004]
[Suicide is forbidden in Islam, and very rare in Islamic societies, but if one must
sacrifice one's life in order to help the oppressed (and when one reaches that point is
a matter of interpretation), most religions consider it an heroic action.--John Alden
Williams, "Misunderstanding
Islam," israelshamir.net, June 2004]
[Once pariahs in Japan, 'kamikaze survivors' are now honored for their spirit of
sacrifice. They resent being lumped in with suicide bombers.--Bruce Wallace, "They've Outlived the Stigma", Los Angeles Times,
September 25, 2004]
[MILITANTS who attack military or state targets, even with suicide bombers, cannot be
considered terrorists in times of war or occupation, an Italian judge said in a ruling
today.--"Terrorism
depends on target: judge", The Australian, April 22, 2005]
[One of the worlds foremost authorities on the subject, Professor Pape has created
the first comprehensive database of every suicide terrorist attack in the world from
1980 until today. With striking clarity and precision, Professor Pape uses this
unprecedented research to debunk widely held misconceptions about the nature of
suicide terrorism and provide a new lens that makes sense of the threat we face.
FACT: Suicide terrorism is not primarily a product of Islamic fundamentalism.
FACT: The world's leading practitioners of suicide terrorism are the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka - a secular, Marxist-Leninist group drawn from Hindu families.
FACT: Ninety-five percent of suicide terrorist attacks occur as part of coherent campaigns organized by large militant organizations with significant public support.
FACT: Every suicide terrorist campaign has had a clear goal that is secular and political: to compel a modern democracy to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland.
FACT: Al-Qaeda fits the above pattern. Although Saudi Arabia is not under American military occupation per se, one major objective of al-Qaeda is the expulsion of U.S. troops from the Persian Gulf region, and as a result there have been repeated attacks by terrorists loyal to Osama bin Laden against American troops in Saudi Arabia and the region as a whole.
FACT: Despite their rhetoric, democracies - including the United States - have routinely made concessions to suicide terrorists. Suicide terrorism is on the rise because terrorists have learned that it's effective.--Robert Pape,
"Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," Random House, May 24, 2005]
[In all our societies we reserve the highest honours for those who have given their
lives for their country.--Louise Richardson, "Blasts from
the past," Financial Times, July 1, 2005]
[Suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation rather than a product of
Islamic fundamentalism. . . .
There is no better way to understand the enemy than to listen to how it recruits new
suicide bombers to kill us. In July, Al Qaeda released its most recent recruitment
video, encouraging Muslims to carry out new attacks similar to the July 7 bombings in
London last year. The video is stunning in its absence of religious
declamation.--Robert A. Pape, "5 YEARS AFTER 9/11: The growth of suicide terrorism,"
Chicago Tribune, September 11, 2006]
[What many Westerners dismiss as "terrorism," whether directed against Israelis,
Americans, or others in the West, ought to be seen as a panoply of techniques employed
to undercut the apparent advantages of high-tech conventional forces.--Andrew J.
Bacevich, "The Islamic Way
of War," American Conservative, September 11, 2006]
[ . . . younger Muslims in the U.S. are much more likely than older Muslim Americans to
say that suicide bombing in the defense of Islam can be at least sometimes justified.
Nonetheless, absolute levels of support for Islamic extremism among Muslim Americans are
quite low--"Muslim
Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream War on Terror Concerns," Pew Research
Center for the People and the Press, May 22, 2007]
[In America's first war against Islam, we were the ones who introduced the use of
suicide bombers.--John Feffer, "Our
Suicide Bombers: Thoughts on Western Jihad," tomdispatch.com, August 7, 2009]
