Anat Berko provides an intimate insight into the lives of women who attempted suicide bombing. She travels to jails in Israel and the Occupied Territories, also known as Palestine, to interview these fascinating women and allow their individual stories to be heard. Berko creates a personal atmosphere by allowing her individuality to be known, her history-as a refugee from Iraq, and her position as a scholar and mother. She also speaks a fair amount of Arabic and is one of the best people for this type of research. I originally questioned if there was such a generic profile that could be created to address all female suicide bombers and their motivations. While this is obviously impossible, Berko illustrates that there are indeed many similar factors that come into play when a certain person decides to become a suicide bomber.
Within Arab culture there is a specific role that females play. The gender division has been great, and suicide bombing is actually one of the few areas in which both men and women have certain amounts of equality. The division of private space and public space is important for the understanding of Arab culture. Men are in control of the “public” areas—they can go out freely, without a chaperone, and have there are more lenient social norms for men than women. Men and women who are not related or married are not generally allowed to be alone together or the woman’s honor could be tainted. Honor is a core issue here, as it is a huge part of motivation, as well. The patriarchal system that once dominated the area has crumbled to a certain degree, as fathers can no longer provide solely for their families, brothers and even sisters have begun jobs in order to sustain their lives. Many Palestinians also work in Israel and travel back and forth on a regular basis. Some of these workers have even been blackmailed into spying on terrorist groups for the State of Israel. When these men and women are found out, they are usually killed and their families shamed and even excommunicated. There is also much suspicion surrounding anyone working in Israel, as many are seen as “collaborating” or “helping” the enemy. If someone is even suspected of this, their honor is at stake and they could be considered a “bad family” or “shamed person,” which in turn shames their family. Interestingly, men are in control of the honor, but women are the ones who uphold this honor. If a woman is caught with another man without a chaperone (father, brother, or husband), she can be put to death—a common occurrence known as an “honor killing.” The male, of course, is given a slap on the wrist. The woman’s family will then be shamed. These social norms are very important for life in Palestine and the consequences are dire. With regard to gender division, one woman states, “It’s more impressive when a woman carries out a suicide bombing attack, because this is the Middle East and a woman is very limited, and that makes her action special. Not only that, the Qur’an allows it, because we are in a state of war and this is jihad.” (112)
One commonality that I witnessed in almost all of Berko’s interviews with women was that the original confession as to why they attempted the bombing was personal. One woman fell in love, yet her father would not accept the dowry that the man’s family was willing to give. She was already twenty, which is considered old for marriage, and she felt as though she would have no other chances. She was so angry with her father that she decided, “I’ll get my revenge against my father by becoming a shaheeda” (103). One woman had been seeing a boyfriend behind her family’s back. When her boyfriend found out she was to be married, he convinced her that if she loved him she would become part of an “action” group, a.k.a. terrorist organization. She did, and when Israeli authorities finally questioned him, he gave her up as a terrorist to save his own skin. One woman who actually succeeded in committing a suicide bombing had been married for a few years, but was unable to conceive a child. Her husband, allowed by law to divorce her for this reason did so, and married another. The new couple moved in next door to her house and she watched as they started a new life and had multiple children. Her family teased her that she would never marry again, as an older woman (mid-twenties) and as a divorcee. She believed her life had no purpose and decided to die with honor, as a shaheeda. Many of the women interviewed had family members that were either imprisoned for terrorist association or killed by IDF fire. Many cited revenge and “eye for an eye” philosophy as reasoning behind their attempted action. “Of course I would attack a kindergarten,” one woman stated, “I can watch your children eating and playing and blow myself up in the middle of them. Once in the Gaza Strip they shot at children in a school and threw tear gas at them” (128). The atrocity of war is cited as a main motivation for, well, more atrocity. With regard to honor, many women who accept the first step, deciding to talk to someone about a terrorist action-usually the dispatchers or part of the organization-always men, have already doomed themselves. Even if they turn back or decide to forgo the bombing, they have already been in contact by themselves with men who are not their father, brother, or husband. By telling their family, they risk their honor, status, and lives. Many women stated that even if they wanted to turn back they could not because of this. Some women didn’t even know what they were getting into, but were forced to continue. One woman states, “I was very surprised when he told me I would be a shaheeda. I wasn’t planning to die like that. He said, ‘…you have to do it.’” (7)
Another similarity among the female would-be-bombers is that the psychology that they have adopted. Surrounded by the pervasive “cult of death,” a huge part of society, many men and women (regardless of level of religiosity) begin to adhere to “religious” or pseudo-religious ideology regarding jihad and “life” in paradise. In order to carry out such a dramatic and serious offense, they have permitted themselves to believe that life is somehow less significant than death, and that the “enemy” is inhuman. Once Berko came back after months and spoke to the same women, and they had supposedly changed their original motivation. Even in jail the heads of Hamas, Palestinian Jihad, and the representatives of other terrorist groups were indoctrinating them. Many became more militantly religious, quoting the Qur’an for reasoning and citing slogans from the “cult of death” surrounding them. Issues became black and white, they were right and the Israelis were wrong, thus they could attack and kill multiple Jews and even Arabs simply. There also appeared to be an intense environment of self-deceit. Even in jail for life, many of the female prisoners discussed their desire for and belief that one day they would be married and have children. As a survival tactic, it appears as though many of the women still believe in their choice to commit suicide, yet have to take on the persona of a one who is not incarcerated in order to get by.
Berko allows for a greater understanding of the personal motivation with regard to female suicide bombers. Her interviews give insight into the complex life of women in Palestine and their sense of honor. She highlights that most of these women are not hyper-religious and their motivations are usually not political, but instead very personal. One cannot pinpoint a specific profile of a bomber, but they do all have certain things in common.
No comments:
Post a Comment