Western Media’s Portrayal of Suicide Bombers

It is important to be weary of the Western media's coverage of suicide bombers, especially the way the media groups them all together and makes them out to all be Islamic fundamentalists. Western media has emphasized strongly that Islamic fundamentalist suicide bombers believe they will have 72 virgins and unlimited sex in heaven. The problem with this notion is that while yes it is true this type of statement completely undermines suicide bombers. The problem with this is that not all of the suicide bombers are the same. Some are fundamentalists while others are not and some are fighting for a cause, like in Palestine, while others would fit into the definition of "terrorist". I am not attempting to defend suicide bombers but rather I intend only to differentiate them and look at the ways in which Palestinian suicide bombers legitimize their actions.

First of all Palestinian suicide bombers cannot be grouped with Islamic fundamentalist suicide bombers and categorized exactly the same with exactly the same motives. There is a difference, for example, between fundamentalists and the Palestinian group Hamas. Fundamentalists want to spread Islam to every corner of the globe and believe that jihad is the violent struggle to do this and thus it has no boundaries. Hamas only justifies jihad against Israel because they believe that Israel is oppressing them, that Israelis killed civilians first so Palestinians can in turn kill Israeli civilians, and that jihad will last until Palestine has recovered the land lost in 1967. Thus for Hamas jihad is about justice and liberation; they feel oppressed by Israelis who in their view have invaded Palestinian territory. They feel that after trying many options jihad and faith in God are the only measures left which will be effective. Hamas also seeks a democratic government thereby they do not deny all Western ideas as do fundamentalists. Therefore Hamas is not a fundamentalist Islamic group, at least not in the way it’s normally defined, and so it’s more than ignorant to group Hamas suicide bombers and Islamic fundamentalist suicide bombers into one big group.

The second problem is that while this notion of virgins and sex is often promised to suicide bombers, who are considered martyrs, it dehumanizes and delegitimizes them completely. By portraying them as sex crazed people who would kill themselves for sex in heaven is more than insulting. In any society where people are killing themselves readily something is wrong. To dismiss the deaths as motivated by sex does not even make sense if you honestly think about it. There is more to the problem than this and such notions are dangerously stereotypical.

This type of view ignores the dilemma Hamas faces about killing civilians. In Palestine in particular and with Hamas, killing civilians is a critical dilemma for suicide bombers since it is denounced in the Quran. The justifications normally used are that Israel is a military society in which civilians and soldiers are difficult to differentiate and Israelis killed Palestinian civilians first so Palestinians are justified in doing the same.

Also ignored is the sense of desperation on the ground. Many Palestinians have reported they are willing to die for Palestine because it is better to them to die than to live in the current oppressive conditions in Palestine. They are frustrated and believe that nonviolence as well as peace processes have been tried and exhausted and nothing has happened. They believe secular ideas will not work since they have not worked yet and so they are turning to Islamic groups like Hamas for hope. Many Palestinians feel they are fighting for liberation against an oppressor just as Americans fought the British and just as many others fought for their freedom. For this reason they do not understand why all their attacks against Israel are labeled as terrorist and not acknowledged.

Also important is the fact that Hamas visits the families of martyrs and gives them money and support. Many people have used this to write Hamas suicide bombers off as poor people who are motivated by the money and therefore die so their families can receive money. While this has some truth to it, to take the notion and use it to label all suicide bombers is not an honest portrait of the situation. For one, Hamas visits the families of every single Palestinian that is killed, suicide bomber or not, and they offer economic as well as other forms of support to the families. So while religious motives and economic incentives for family members can have some influence it is important to take other factors into account like: the cause for liberation of Palestine, the severity of the situation on the ground, and even Palestinian anger, frustration, and sometimes desire for revenge. Palestinians are humans too and not all of them are going to commit suicide for the exact same reason or the exact same combination of reasons.