[Roguish Lawyer]

[continued from previous post]

The social environment of the female suicide bomber
Chechnya
Reports from various human rights organizations point to the increasing role of women in the economic well being of the family. While women have been forced by societal changes to become breadwinners, they have also sadly adopted other formerly male roles—including that of suicide terrorist.

The “Black Widows,� women whose husbands were killed during the war, are recruited because they are widows and there is no man to protect them anymore. It is only when they become widows that they turn to terrorism, but as will be discussed later, the motives for their involvement are more complex.

Iraq
Out of the numerous attacks launched against coalition forces and civilians to date, only one was conducted by women. However, since there is a high number of readily available male warriors in the country, we can assume that at this point there is no need to recruit female bombers. Hence, no fatwa calling for female suicide actions was issued in the country thus far.
The Palestinian Authority

In the Palestinian territories we have seen active promotion of suicide bombers (male and female), which along with a general climate of martyrdom glorification, serves to reinforce a culture of suicide. For example, on August 15, a Palestinian youth summer camp in Gaza was inaugurated by Fatah members and named after female suicide bomber Ayyat al-Akhras. This marked the second time her name was given to a children’s camp. Moreover, school textbooks inculcate children with hate and encourage death for jihad. In fact, an entire “industry� has developed around the suicide-bombing trend, which features videotapes and posters of the “shaheed� (martyr) and the “shaheeda� (female martyr) that are freely distributed and proudly displayed, as well as “martyr medallions� which are traded by school kids the way children in the West trade baseball or soccer cards.

The motives behind female suicide attacks
The motivation of any suicide bomber, whether male or female, is often open to some interpretation, as the motives cannot be established with certainty. Some factors that come into play include ideological (religious or nationalist), socio-economic (including a financial incentive of special stipends handed out to the families of the bombers), and personal (specific traumas, desire for revenge, or possible psychological predisposition).[9]

In the case of the Palestinian female suicide bomber, two main factors have to be taken into consideration. First is the popular religious belief, shared by both religious and secular Palestinian Muslims, in life after death.[10] Hence, whatever the main incentive for a suicide attack, this basic notion needs to be addressed.

Secondly, while Palestinian women have carried attacks to “atone� for some infringement of propriety, the choice of becoming a suicide bomber is a rational and independent one that a Palestinian woman may make without any coercion. The Palestinian female bomber usually has a future and various paths to choose from, yet she consciously chose to carry out the suicide attack.
Since these women came from every sphere of Palestinian society, it is difficult to draw a profile of the Palestinian female suicide bomber. However, it was discovered that often the bomber’s motivation was to make a statement on behalf of Palestine or Islam, especially in the case of the religious PIJ. Yet it is interesting to note that an alleged female supervisor of a terror camp stated that “Suicide bombings have pulled women out of the boxes created by society—the box of a weeping, wailing creature always crying for help…Can anyone say that men are greater patriots than women?�[11] Also notable is the implied notion that patriotism constitutes a motivation for suicide attacks as opposed to religious Islamic rhetoric.

As noted in “Messengers of Death: female suicide bombers,� women have channeled the frustration stemming from their role in society into ruthless behavior. As highlighted above, instead of being “the weeping and wailing creature� the female Palestinian suicide bomber chooses to become a human bomb, possibly in order to demonstrate that women too can express overwhelming “patriotism� just like their male counterparts. Yet despite these notions, male terrorists are not likely to view the situation similarly and will use females merely because of narrow tactical considerations, without according them a higher social status.
In Chechnya, many reports on the actions of the “Black Widows� indicated that they have acted out of revenge. During the October 2002 theater hostage crisis, Al Jazeera aired a pre-recorded videotape featuring five of the female suicide bombers expressing their willingness and readiness to die, and justifying their acts by claiming that they are “avenging their losses.�

However, the physiological test results of failed suicide bomber Muzhikhoyeva, showed traces of drugs, which may point to a certain degree of coercion. Another interesting point revealed during the interrogation of Muzhikhoyeva was the presence of a female recruiter and trainer; a middle-aged woman referred to as “Lyuba,� who might have been involved in several recent female suicide attacks.[12]

There is also a striking commonality between Chechnyan and Palestinian female suicide bombers: many of these women had family members killed as a result of involvement in terrorist activities. Thus, it is often when they were psychologically weaker that recruiters prey on them as potential suicide bombers. Col. (Ret.) Yoni Fighel adds: “…It is well known that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad use funerals and mourning booths as a potential platform for recruitment.[13] These organizations are able to exploit the emotionally loaded circumstances, when feelings for revenge are high, for their own ends.�[14]


Looking to the future
The use of women—both Chechnyan and Palestinian—as human bombs as a successful modus operandi will likely continue to be an inviting option for terror groups (to a greater extent in Chechnya).[15]

Each Palestinian terror group, whether secular or religious, goes through an internal debate when it comes to including women. On the one hand, the use of women could increase the likelihood of perpetrating a successful terror attack. Yet on the other hand, the involvement of women as suicide bombers could lead to their greater inclusion in terror activity and the possibility of equality with men. The al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a branch of Arafat’s secular Fatah, and the more religious Palestinian Islamic Jihad have decided to use women, while the Hamas, although officially accepting female participation, never implemented it.
The potentially gravest and recently emerging threat comes in the form of women being utilized by al-Qaida. This concern has been reinforced by the discovery of wigs in one of the group’s caches in Saudi Arabia. Even if terrorists did not intend to carry out attacks disguised as women or using women, the disguise could have served other purposes, such as surveillance of potential targets. Furthermore, we have witnessed a trend of women being more actively involved in bin Laden’s organization, being used as messengers and helping in various logistical tasks. Other information indicates that the women’s position in the group was upgraded, as indicated by an Italian warrant for a Tunisian woman, Bentiwaa Farida Ben Bechir, allegedly active in recruiting suicide bombers to be sent to Iraq among other countries. Ben Bechir’s whereabouts are unknown, amid suggestions that she could have left Europe and gone back to Tunisia.[16]


Conclusions and recommendations
Since terrorists can be very adaptable and are likely to resort to previously successful modus operandi, such as the use of women bombers, counter-terrorism measures have to be adapted and evolve at the same pace. A good example has been the increased recruitment of female guards and screeners in Israel, which enable a stricter security screening of women without compromising their dignity.
However, the best way to counter suicide bombing, whether perpetrated by men or women, is to eradicate the promotion campaign for suicide terrorism. If girls are presented with positive examples that do not glorify violence and death, they are more likely to become productive and positive adults instead of seeking to sow destruction and find glory in a martyr’s death. But in a society where death is more highly regarded than life, a fundamental change must take place first. In order to eliminate the teaching of hate and promotion of violence a shift within society triggered by a committed political leadership is required. The day when posters of suicide bombers are ripped off the walls of public spaces could signal the beginning of a new era of hope and peace. In the meantime, the faces of past suicide bombers are still there.