Suicide bombing

A suicide bombing is an attack using a bomb in which the individual(s) carrying the explosive materials composing the bomb intend(s) and expect(s) to die upon detonation (see suicide).

Range of opinions

World leaders, especially those of countries that experience suicide bombings, usually express resolve to continue on their previous course of affairs after such attacks. They denounce suicide bombings and sometimes vow not to let such bombings deter what they see as their efforts to "further civilization".

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Suicide bombings in Israel are usually followed by reprisals. As a successful suicide bomber cannot be targeted, the response is often collective punishment of the community, family, or organization from which the bomber came. Under the claim that such individuals and groups gave support to the suicide bomber, Israel often retaliates with military strikes against individuals as well as infrastructure.

Related Topics:
Israel - Reprisal - Collective punishment

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In the West Bank the armed forces of Israel usually demolish homes that belong to families whose children have volunteered for such missions. There are reports in the Israeli press about families who turned in their children after learning about a possible suicide bombing attack, fearful their house would be demolished.

Related Topics:
West Bank - Armed forces of Israel - Demolish

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The effectiveness of suicide bombings—notably those of the Japanese kamikazes, the Palestinian bombers, and even the September 11, 2001 attacks—is debatable.

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Although kamikaze attacks could not stop the Allied advance, they inflicted more casualties and delayed the fall of Japan for longer than might have been the case using only the conventional methods available to the Empire. Subsequently, Japanese leaders acknowledged the great cost in losing many of their best young men in these actions. And they reinforced the resolution of the World War II Allies to destroy the Imperial force, and may have had a significant effect in the decision to use atomic bombs against Japan.

Related Topics:
Japan - World War II - Atomic bomb

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In the case of the September 11th attacks, the long-term effects remain to be seen, but in the short-to-medium term, the results were profoundly negative for Al-Qaeda as well as for the Taliban. Furthermore, since the September 11 attacks, Western nations have diverted massive resources towards stopping similar actions, as well as tightening up borders, and military actions against various countries that the US and its allies believe to have been involved with terrorism.

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It is more difficult to determine whether Palestinian suicide bombings have proved to be a successful tactic. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the suicide bombers were repeatedly deployed since the Oslo Accords. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+before+2000/Fatal+Terrorist+Attacks+in+Israel+Since+the+DOP+-S.htm

Related Topics:
Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Oslo Accords

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In 1996, the Israelis elected the conservative candidate Benjamin Netanyahu who promised to restore safety by conditioning every step in the peace process on Israel's assessment of the Palestinian Authority's fulfillment of its obligations in curbing violence as outlined in the Oslo agreements.

Related Topics:
Benjamin Netanyahu - Peace process - Palestinian Authority

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In the course of Al-Aqsa Intifada which followed the collapse of the Camp David II summit between the PLO and Israel, the number of suicide attacks drastically increased. In response, Israel mobilized its army in order to seal off the Gaza Strip and reinstate military control of the West Bank, patrolling the area with tanks. The Israelis also began a campaign of targeted assassinations to kill militant Palestinian leaders, using jets and helicopters to deploy high-precision bombs and missiles.

Related Topics:
Al-Aqsa Intifada - Camp David II - PLO - Israel - Gaza Strip - West Bank - Tank - Targeted assassinations

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The suicide missions, having killed hundreds and maimed thousands of Israelis, are believed by some to have brought on a move to the political right, increasing public support for hard-line policies towards the Palestinians, and a government headed by the former general, prime minister Ariel Sharon. In response to the suicide bombings, Sharon's government has imposed restrictions on the Palestinian community, making commerce, travel, schooling, and other aspects of life difficult for the Palestinians, with the average Palestinian suffering due to the choices of the suicide bombers. The Separation barrier under construction seem to be part of the Israeli government's efforts to stop suicide bombers from entering Israel proper.

Related Topics:
Ariel Sharon - Separation barrier

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Social support by some for this activity remained, however, as of the calling of a truce at the end of June 2003. This may be due to the economic or social purpose of the suicide bombing and the bombers' refusal to accept external judgements on those who sanction them.

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If the objective is to kill as many people as possible, suicide bombing by terrorists may thus "work" as a tactic in that it costs fewer lives than any conventional military tactic and targeting unarmed civilians is much easier than targeting soldiers. As an objective designed to achieve some form of favorable outcome, especially a political outcome, most believe it to be a failure. Terrorist campaigns involving the targeting of civilians have never won a war. Analysts believe that in order to win or succeed, any guerrilla or terrorist campaign must first transform into something more than a guerrilla or terrorist movement.http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050723-092116-9131r.htm Such analysts believe that a terrorist cause has little political attraction and success may be achieved only by renouncing terrorism and transforming the passions into politics.

Related Topics:
Terrorist

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At the present time, however, suicide bombings are likely to remain the favored method of operation for Palestinian terrorists, as long as they are outclassed militarily by Israel. As Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin put it, "Once we have warplanes and missiles, then we can think of changing our means of legitimate self-defense. But right now, we can only tackle the fire with our bare hands and sacrifice ourselves."

Related Topics:
Palestinian terrorists - Hamas - Sheikh Ahmad Yassin

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The Islamist View

According to Professor Charles A. Kimball, chair of the Department of Religion at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem the vast majority of Muslims believe that their holy texts forbid suicide. He states "There is only one verse in the Qur'an that contains a phrase related to suicide", Verse 4:29 of the Qur'anhttp://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/004.qmt.html. It reads "O you who believe! Do not consume your wealth in the wrong way-rather through trade mutually agreed to, and do not kill yourselves. Surely God is Merciful toward you", but some commentators believe that the phrase "do not kill yourselves" is better translated "do not kill each other"http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/Jihad/qanda.html, and some translations (e.g. Shakir) reflect that. Mainstream Islamic groups such as the European Council for Fatwa and Research use the Quran'ic verse Al-Anam 6:151 ("And take not life, which Allah has made sacred, except by way of justice and law") as further reason to prohibit suicide.http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1119503549272&pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaEAskTheScholar. In addition, the hadith unambiguously forbid suicide. http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/Jihad/qanda.htmlhttp://www.aljazeerah.info/Islam/Islamic%20subjects/2004%20subjects/June/Committing%20Suicide%20Is%20Strictly%20Forbidden%20in%20Islam,%20Adil%20Salahi.htm

Related Topics:
Wake Forest University - Winston-Salem - Qur'an - Shakir - Hadith

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Nevertheless, there is no universal protocol for or against suicide bombings in Islam, as Islam has no centralized authority. Some mainstream Muslim clerics, while condemning the 7 July 2005 London_bombings, have stated that under certain circumstances Islamic suicide bombings are justified. For example, Sayed Mohammed Musawi, head of the World Islamic League in London, insisted "there should be a clear distinction between the suicide bombing of those who are trying to defend themselves from occupiers, which is something different from those who kill civilians, which is a big crime." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072201629.html However the vast majority of Muslims believe suicide attacks are generally forbidden by Islam. It is understood that the individuals undertaking suicide bombings (or "martyrdom operations") are simply following what they understand to be their Islamic duty, and regard their own lives in this world as less important compared to the next, eternal life. The radical schools of Islam teach that such a "martyrdom operation" may result in them being rewarded, by Allah, with Paradise (Jannah) and rewards such as 72 houri in the afterlife.http://www.islamfortoday.com/firestone01.htm http://memri.de/uebersetzungen_analysen/themen/islamistische_ideologie/isl_virgins_30_10_01.pdf That is, they are willing to sacrifice their own life in the hope of becoming a Shaheed, a martyr.

Related Topics:
7 July 2005 London_bombings - Jannah - Houri

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Furthermore, Islamist militant organisations (including Al Qaeda, Hamas and Islamic Jihad) argue that martyrdom operations are justified according to Islamic law, despite Islam's strict prohibition of suicide and murder http://web.archive.org/web/20041011230417/abdulhaqq.jeeran.com/ruling.htmlhttp://web.archive.org/web/20041009222904/abdulhaqq.jeeran.com/fatwa_sheikh_qaradhawi.html. Irshad Manji, in a conversation with one leader of Islamic Jihad noted their ideology.

Related Topics:
Al Qaeda - Hamas - Islamic Jihad - Irshad Manji

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"What's the difference between suicide, which the Koran condemns, and martyrdom?" I asked. "Suicide," he replied, "is done out of despair. But remember: most of our martyrs today were very successful in their earthly lives." In short, there was a future to live for--and they detonated it anyway.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1083918,00.html

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Since the four suicide bombings in London on July 7 2005, there have been many scholastic refutations of suicide bombings from Sunni Muslims. Ihsanic Intelligence, a London-based Islamic think-tank, published their two-year study into suicide bombings in the name of Islam, titled 'The Hijacked Caravan', which concluded that, "The technique of suicide bombing is anathema, antithetical and abhorrent to Sunni Islam. It is considered legally forbidden, constituting a reprehensible innovation in the Islamic tradition, morally an enormity of sin combining suicide and murder and theologically an act which has consequences of eternal damnation." The Oxford-based Malayist jurist, Shaykh Muhammad Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, issued his landmark fatwa on suicide bombing and targetting innocent civilians, titled 'Defending the Transgressed, by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians', where he states suicide bombing in its most widespread form, is forbidden: 'If the attack involves a bomb placed on the body or placed so close to the bomber that when the bomber detonates it the bomber is certain to die, then the More Correct Position according to us is that it does constitute suicide. This is because the bomber, being also the Maqtul , is unquestionably the same Qatil = Qatil Nafsahu "

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