Black Widows

For the spider see Black widow spider.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Black Widow is also the name of a woman dressed entirely in black, who accompanied men in Zoot Suits.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Black Widows are female Chechen rebels who made themselves known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis of October 2002. The term Black Widows is a Western journalistic invention indicating that many of these women are widows of insurgents killed by the Russian army in Chechnya.

Related Topics:
Chechen - Rebel - Moscow theater hostage crisis - Russia - Army

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Covered from head to toe in all-black Islamic robes with only their determined, kohl-lined eyes showing, they quickly came to be called the 'black widows'" began an ABC News report. In English the toxic connotation of "black widow spider" is intended.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The extremist rebel commander Shamil Basayev has referred to the "Black Widows" as a subunit of his, called the "Garden of the Righteous". However, Russian author Julia Juzik argues with strong evidence in her book on "Allah's Black Widows" that a Chechen woman's path to becoming a suicide bombers is far from a deliberate choice based on political or religious conviction. Instead, she argues, the women are made to assist terrorist operations through a combination of methods such as exploiting family shame, wahhabi indoctrination, threats, paying off her family and withholding the nature of the operation until the very last minute.

Related Topics:
Shamil Basayev - Julia Juzik

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~