Women, Terror and Honor Killings

h/t to Wizbang for reminding me of a previous decision to look into and write on this topic.

Americans struggle to understand a culture capable of supporting and even applauding the commission and videotaped broadcasting of the heinous murders of innocent civilians, purportedly in the name of religion. Now a confluence of at least two additional cultural issues the West likely won't understand may be coming together in an attempt to put a prettier, more compassionate face on terror.

Two Border Policemen were killed and 30 Israelis were wounded yesterday afternoon when a woman suicide bomber carried out an attack near the French Hill junction hitchhiking post in northern Jerusalem. The suicide bomber was identified as Zayneb Abu Salem, 18, from Askar refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus.

For purposes of this piece, it's important to note how the coverage from this particular incident differed from coverage of all too many others. Below is one small example.

A woman standing across the street from the attack said she saw the woman arguing with the officers, and then "there was a large flame and I saw the woman fly like a doll."

Does it strike you as maybe a bit ironic to find a word like "doll" applied in almost any manner to describe a murderer? Would it have been worded that way if the murderer were a man? That's only one small mention in what some research seems to point to as a trend. Below is another example in additional coverage of the same incident.

The young 18-year-old female suicide terrorist, Zeinab Ali Isa Abu-Salem, who murdered two Israelis yesterday and wounded some 30 others, was none other than a children's TV show hostess on a local station in Shechem. Ofra resident Debbie Segal, who noticed the terrorist approaching the bus stop moments before she blew herself up, described her as "extraordinarily beautiful...Security sources say that she, like most of them, was young, single, and intelligent.

An objective reader might or might not think it strange how a woman who has just willfully blown herself and innocent men, women and children to bits could be described as "extraordinarily beautiful." But what would be your reaction if it had been a male bomber and the story read like this - "He was incredibly handsome. He coached a kid's soccer team, was a talented artist, young, single and intelligent." Would a journalist really use or quote such a description for a male terrorist? Is that a view of them we can even entertain? And do we parse "news" words that carefully, or are terrorists actually succeeding in somehow giving their acts a more compassionate and "pretty face" through the tactic of employing women? Some observers point to arguably "softer" coverage when suicide bombers are female. More support for this is below and can also be found here.

A woman suicide bomber's actions are often framed by descriptions of her beauty, her "victim hood" and her sufferings. In the 1960s and 70s the media were obsessed with the "devastating good looks" of "pin-up terrorist girl" Leila Khaled. That obsession continues to date. A 2001 report in The Guardian describes her appearance in some detail: the "delicate Audrey Hepburn face", the "shiny hair wrapped in a keffiah [scarf] ", the gun held by "fragile hands" and the ring "resting delicately on her third finger". Similarly, media reports on suicide attacks by Palestinian women seem preoccupied with the suicide bomber's "manicured fingernails", the shape of her face and color of eyes - details that are conspicuously absent in the reports of suicide bombings carried out by male bombers.

But the crass manipulation of press coverage is far from the only force at work behind a growing tendency for terrorist groups to employ women as suicide bombers. Though security measures are changing, in the past it's been reasonably understood that it's easier for a woman to move freely within societies and areas where this particular type of terror is experienced. But there is an even deeper level of reasoning to this phenomenon that warrants some consideration - availability and motivation. And that brings up the notion of "Honor Killing."

Why would women who are "young, single, and intelligent," and in at least some cases wealthy lend themselves to such despicable acts? It is not all about "cause" or "commitment," as some would have us believe. In fact, there are documented incidents of what amounts to "re-education" to get female suicide bombers to embrace this sort of devilish martyrdom.

According to Yoni Fighel, a researcher at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at Herziliya in Israel, the Islamic Jihad launched a campaign early this year to recruit women.

According to Fighel, Islamic Jihad's "efforts to recruit women for suicide attacks begins with the identification of potential candidates in northern West Bank Universities, as well as in towns and villages. Once a prospective suicide bomber is found, the organization invests considerable effort in convincing women that this kind of activity does not contradict Islamic principles nor the daily duties of the Muslim woman."

While it's certainly true that "... some female Palestinian suicide bombers have "freely" chosen the murderous martyr's path: most likely, such women have had close male relatives who have died..." it is also true that, far from just using "convincing," a form of blackmail with no alternative but certain death is also now being employed in the recruitment of women as suicide bombers. And it's an evil, ugly business.

The concept of "Honor Killing" is well documented if not very well understood when viewed from beyond it's cultural context. Basically, a woman guilty, or in some cases only suspected of violating a draconian code of conduct, most specifically around issues of sexuality, can be put to death by her family to restore the family unit's honor. But expressed that way, it's misleading to many of us in the West.

An ancient custom, it's roots do not extend from what the West might expect - some "puritanical" view of mores or morals. It's actually viewed as a "practical" custom within cultures where it's still done and it's intent was never to directly control the "behavior" of a woman. That's actually a secondary concern in that it was and is done primarily to preserve the family's lineage and future fortunes in a patriarchal society. That's an important distinction. Because of this non-linkage to individual choice of behavior, it is as acceptable in cases of rape as it is in cases of fornication or adultery. For more on Honor Killing:

From National Geographic:

Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are murdered by their families each year in the name of family "honor." It's difficult to get precise numbers on the phenomenon of honor killing; the murders frequently go unreported, the perpetrators unpunished, and the concept of family honor justifies the act in the eyes of some societies.

And it would seem from all appearances that there is little to be done in terms of ending this bizarre custom around the world and particularly in the Middle East.

Every year, hundreds of women and girls are murdered in the Middle East by male family members. The honor killing-the execution of a female family member for perceived misuse of her sexuality-is a thorny social and political issue. Palestinian activists campaigning for equality find it difficult to stop the killings altogether. Legitimacy for such murders stems from a complex code of honor ingrained in the consciousness of some sectors of Palestinian society.

Now, in the hands of self-proclaimed fanatics, the very same people who would behead an innocent and show the video for all the world to see, it seems this abhorrent custom is being exploited to support their terrorist agenda in both appearance and deed.

Blackmailing Young Women into Suicide Terrorism
(Communicated by Israeli Security Sources)

The Method of Recruitment: The young woman was blackmailed into recruitment for a suicide operation by use of social and psychological coercion, after she had become involved in an illicit personal relationship. This method of coercion, often used by Fatah/Tanzim, is characterized by the seduction of young women into illicit relationships, or the arrangement of their rape. Subsequently, overwhelming emotional pressure is brought to bear on the women, in order to convince them to commit suicide in an admirable manner, since the public revelation of their 'impropriety' would, in Palestinian society, constitute an intolerable disgrace to the honor of their families.

It was also revealed in the Israeli Intelligence report that the Fatah has recruited young women to carry out the suicide attacks by use of emotional/social blackmail, after these women had become pregnant following their calculated seduction by Fatah operatives. Among the suicide bombers thus recruited were Andalib Takatka Suleiman and Ayat al Ahras:

Andalib Suleiman, a 21-year-old from Bethlehem, blew herself up at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. In this attack six people were killed and over 60 were injured. Among those killed were two workers from China.

Ayat al Ahras, an eighteen-year-old from Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem, who carried out a suicide bombing on March 29, 2002 at a supermarket in the Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood of Jerusalem in which two Israeli citizens were killed and twenty-two were injured.

It is easy for any civilized person to simply condemn terrorism as repugnant and evil on its face. The recent broadcasts of senseless murders carried out through the brutal act of beheading have caused some of us to look at and feel terrorism ever more deeply. But the fact is the MSM doesn't really "show" us those acts. They don't even play the audio. Just as they have, over time, refused to show the most painful and ugly scenes from 9/11. And clearly there's been a relative lack of attention paid to the confluence of Honor Killing and Suicide Bombing by that same MSM.

And we know that confluence reveals a range of horrors - including profound psychological abuse of the young and most vulnerable, rape, and the threat of death from one's kin. In fact, the MSM even sanitizes the coverage of the final act, the bombings themselves.

This raises a chain of at least four questions for me. 1) Is the compulsively evil face of terror so ugly that we don't want to REALLY see it? 2) Or, are there simply filters at work that "believe," or purport to "know" that it's better if we don't see it too clearly? 3) Should we accept this filter, which quite obviously exists? and 4) Finally and perhaps most importantly, will we ever be able to muster the strength, courage and ultimate resolve required to defeat global terror if we continue to at least partially avoid seeing it's too gruesome reality and the inhumane carnage left in it's day-to-day wake?

Think about it. She "was none other than a children's TV show hostess, ... extraordinarily beautiful... young, single, and intelligent ... there was a large flame and I saw the woman (mass murderer) fly like a doll."

Sound right to you?

Comments

[TheAlamo]

This is a good article.
Problem is, what IS the answer to this delimma? When there is such a cultural difference between us and them, it is a difficult task. My only thoughts as to the possibility of ending the stupidity and ignorance of suicide bombers is education...specifically in the areas of the value of human life.

Religion is probably responsible for more deaths than all other causes of war combined, but how do you counter deep seated beliefs and superstitions?
I certainly do not have an answer.

From a military standpoint how can one deal with such things? People dressed as ordinary civilians walking down the street and next thing you know...boom! It is not really a "war" in our sense of the definition of war, but I guess it is theirs. Unfortunately we are fighting it on their terms, and I have no answer how to do it any other way. My son is there right now, and he is just like we all were at that age (23)--thinks he is invincible. Every time I get to talk to him I try to remind him that it is those who have gained his trust in that country that he has to worry about. He makes staatements like "the Iraqi's that work within our compound are good people." Well I ask him then just how did they blow up our guys in the mess hall? Still I can also understand his wanting to relax just for a moment....but I tell him he can't.

From what I can see and knowing history pretty well, I don't see any outright victory against a home grown "patriotic AND religious"--(whether misguided or not) movement. These idiots not only think they are trying to evict us from their country, they think they are going to paradise for killing themselves. How do you fight that?

It leads me back to my original statement...education. But we are talking about a whole, whole lot of people, and changing a culture that HAS NOT changed in thousands of years.

Perplexing, and I do not have an answer that satisfies me, nor have I heard one that comes close.

Great job on this article Dan!