Lecture Notes 4-4-06
Lecture Notes, 4-4-06
The next three articles in our reading list concentrate on suicide bombing. The desire to kill oneself in order to kill others for political or religious purposes assault our notion of rationality like nothing else. Therefore, it is no surprise that there are many theories about who they are what motivates them. Yet, this seemingly inexplicable event has spread all over the world, increasing at an alarming rate in the past ten years.
Ariel Merari defines suicide attacks as (p. 71) “… is a situation in which a person intentionally kills himself (or herself) for the purpose of killing others, in the service of a political or ideological goal.” By this definition, volunteers in a risky military operation (e.g., Saving Private Ryan) do not qualify, since, despite the high risk, their deaths were not certain. On the other hand, the Kamikaze pilots in the WWII, would be considered as suicide attackers.
Although many people think of those who take part in suicide attacks as “brainwashed”, desperate, or religious fanatics, empirical data show a much more complex picture. Very few, if any are crazy or have psychological disorder, most groups are not inspired by religious fanaticism.
While we theorize about the motivations of the suicide bombers, the Palestinian authors see them as reaction to Israeli occupation and the associated humiliation and brutality that the community faces on a daily basis.
The next three articles in our reading list concentrate on suicide bombing. The desire to kill oneself in order to kill others for political or religious purposes assault our notion of rationality like nothing else. Therefore, it is no surprise that there are many theories about who they are what motivates them. Yet, this seemingly inexplicable event has spread all over the world, increasing at an alarming rate in the past ten years.
Ariel Merari defines suicide attacks as (p. 71) “… is a situation in which a person intentionally kills himself (or herself) for the purpose of killing others, in the service of a political or ideological goal.” By this definition, volunteers in a risky military operation (e.g., Saving Private Ryan) do not qualify, since, despite the high risk, their deaths were not certain. On the other hand, the Kamikaze pilots in the WWII, would be considered as suicide attackers.
Although many people think of those who take part in suicide attacks as “brainwashed”, desperate, or religious fanatics, empirical data show a much more complex picture. Very few, if any are crazy or have psychological disorder, most groups are not inspired by religious fanaticism.
While we theorize about the motivations of the suicide bombers, the Palestinian authors see them as reaction to Israeli occupation and the associated humiliation and brutality that the community faces on a daily basis.
posted by Dipak K. Gupta at 10:50 PM
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