Suicide Bombers

In this blog post I am going to be discussing why and what motivates suicide bombers. I chose this topic because Durkheim's study of suicide interests me. Many people commit suicide because they feel as thought their life is no longer worth living. However, suicide bombers allow us to see a unique view on suicide that differs from what we see as "normal" reasons for committing suicide.
 
 http://ida.lib.uidaho.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=78333641&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Above is the link to an article titled, "The Motivations of Palestinian Suicide Bombers in the Second Intifada". This article provides an in depth look at the motivations behind Palestinian suicide bombers. I chose this article due to the large amount of research it contains as well as the detailed look it takes on the subject. The quote below provides a good synopsis of the article.

"I found that the motivations of Palestinian suicide bombers were typically complex. They drew
mainly on the desire for revenge against the harsh repressive measures of Israeli forces and, secondarily, on religious inspiration. The effect of harsh Israeli state repression was very strong, figuring at least partly in 95 percent of my sample. Religious motivations varied by organization, with bombers recruited by Islamicist organizations tending to be more strongly influenced by religious factors than were bombers recruited by secular organizations. Strategic calculation—the assessment that suicide bombing would hasten the liberation of the homeland—was not the principal motivation for any of the bombers in my sample but was a secondary or tertiary motivation for about half of them. Material incentives, economic necessity, exploitation of individual by unscrupulous"



Sample Suicide Bomb Vest

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/what-motivates-suicide-bombers-0

This link provides another view on suicide bombing. I chose this link because the article discuses the altruistic aspect of suicide bombing. The quote below allows us to see Durkheim's views on suicide.

"The meaning and nature of suicide in a suicide bombing are strikingly different from ordinary suicide. Suicide bombing falls into the category of altruistic suicidal actions that involve valuing one’s life as less worthy than that of the group’s honor, religion, or some other collective interest. Religiously and nationalistically coded attitudes towards acceptance of death, stemming from long periods of collective suffering, humiliation and powerlessness enable political organizations to offer suicide bombings as an outlet for their people’s feelings of desperation, deprivation, hostility and injustice."

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/12/05/the_truth_about_suicide_bombers/
This link is another article on suicide bombing. I chose this article because it provides a different view point then the others.  This article states that some bombers are simply suicidal and want to die.

"Fifty-three percent of the would-be bombers showed “depressive tendencies” — melancholy, low energy, tearfulness, the study found — whereas 21 percent of the organizers exhibited the same. Furthermore, 40 percent of the would-be suicide bombers expressed suicidal tendencies; one talked openly of slitting his wrists after his father died. But the study found that none of the terrorist organizers were suicidal."

Interview with a suicide bomber (2009)

 

"My dream was to be a martyr. I believe in death. I wanted to blow myself up in  a hospital, maybe even in the one which I was treated. But, since lots of Arabs come to be treated there, I decided to go to another... I wanted to fill 20, 50 Jews... yes, even babies and children" Wafa al Bass (unsuccessful suicide bomber)