"Female Suicide Bombers"

Rosemary Skaine’s book “Female Suicide Bombers” is more of a huge research paper, an unbiased piece that questions typical views of female suicide bombers. She beings by stating that huge part of motivation for bombing can be understood by Durkheim’s theory: “by relation to the collective inclination, and this collective inclination is itself a determined reflection of the structure of the society in which the individual lives.” (1) The cult of death is so intensely supported by individuals and, on a larger scale, the nation itself. Thus, she points out that the Palestinian nation is a collective one, not focused as intensely upon the individual. She claims, “Suicide bombers seek harmony with the society in which they live and adopt the ways of thought and action around them. The bombers are so tightly integrated into their society that they commit suicide.” (2) If society dictates that suicide is not only advantageous for the nation as a whole, but for individuals as well (who will go to Paradise), there is obviously going to be a great number of people who choose to commit this act. Women are not left out of this. Because they are equally a part of the society in which they are constituted, this collective ideology does not exclude them. She asserts that as a whole, “The Palestinians [for example] combine a sense of historical injustice with personal loss and humiliation by Israeli occupation…” (21) There is a sense of victimization that is acutely felt by the nation of Palestine that is seen as justification for terrorist acts, such as suicide bombing.

Skaine also cites the religious atmosphere as contributing to terrorism. The fundamentalist movement is “publicly fueled by Islamic fundamentalism, while being privately driven by money and the quest for political power.” (16) This is most certainly true in Palestine, where the heads of political groups use suicide bombers for political reasons, yet indoctrinate bombers in a religious manner, teaching them that they are committing an act of jihad and will go straight to Paradise. She believes that religion can be viewed as a symbol of society itself. The Islamic religion is employed in order to justify political acts religiously, as dictated by Allah.

Belinda Morissey states, “victimization denies agency through invoking victimology theses which insist on the powerlessness of the oppressed. Many portrayals of women who kill depict them as so profoundly victimized that it is difficult to regard them as ever having engaged in an intentional act in their lives.” (30) This may be true, considering that Western views of women in East are typically synonymous with victimization.  Even when women do commit violent terrorist acts they are still understood, even within scholarly circles, as victims of the oppressive, Islamic patriarchy.  Because women are seen as stereotypically nurturing and passive, Skaine remarks, “Women make use of the non-violent myth, ironically asserting their gender-difference precisely because it enables them to operate undercover behind enemy lines.” (29) Thus, female suicide bombing can be seen as defying the stereotypes placed upon women, from both the East and the West, or as victims (as pawns or human bombs) of the political/religious/social construction.

Heather A. Andrews states, “These female bombers tend to be from traditional, patriarchal societies that restrict them in some manner or the focus of society tends to be on the males. These women set out to prove that they can do the same job as the males and hope to attain equality in death…Becoming a suicide bomber also allows women to struggle for their emancipation while maintaining their Muslim identity…In my research, I concluded that there is a catalyst that places immediacy of a female to conduct an attack. This catalyst is usually attributed to a deeply personal event or crisis that has occurred in woman’s life such as the death of a loved one, ultimately humiliation by the enemy to the breaking point, or the need for moral purification.” (33) She notes that both equality and subversion play a role, yet also she also implies that personal issues are the “true” catalyst that lead women to commit suicide acts.

Skaine pulls information from different scholarly perspectives. Some of her cited authors state that women are men have differing reasons behind committing the act, yet others claim that men and women, as part of a collective unit, are both motivated by a larger vision of victimization and desperation that goes much deeper than simple gender division. I agree with both of these points, there cannot be one or two simple issues to point to when multiple people of different backgrounds, gender, etc. commit this type of terrorist act.

I question whether she will note that both Palestinian society as the “other” to Israel and women within that society as “other” to men are part of the motivation.