Suicide bombing is a topic rarely discussed in Western cultures, but throughout the last several years it has become an ever-growing trend in the Middle East. Women have always been involved in the political violence, but rarely has the world seen women in a lead role by becoming a suicide bomber. In the Middle East where women’s roles are commonly placed with being the wife and mother, some women never achieve such status. This may become one motive for deciding to use their bodies as a weapon of destruction and terror.
Women who lose or never gain their identity of motherhood or wife may go through certain stages of grief when deciding to enter the world of suicide bombing. The work of Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross, a psychologist who studied stages of grief, can explain reactions to a loss of identity. One emotion is depression, which may not be the sole, but is a contributive factor in some female suicide bombing cases. Kuebler-Ross states, “In this deep depression, they see only a horrible end with nothing beyond it”. To feel so hopeless and empty all the time is unbearable, in a country of Israel, where suicide bombing is glorified.
A video clip of Wafa Samir Al-Biss:
For example 21 year old Wafa Samir Al-Biss was scarred from an explosion six months before she was caught on an attempted suicide mission. The scars were so bad on her face that she wasn’t likely to attract a suitable husband. Wafa’s disfigurement left her a target to be approached by the Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade terrorist group. For Wafa she had lost her identity. Depression is an emotion that Western cultures treat with pills and therapy, while across the world these women are preyed on by their countries to help fight their nation’s struggles against Israel.
These are some alternative links if you would like to know more:
Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross’ Stages of grief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_grief
Wafa Samir Al-Biss news story
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+and+Islamic+Fundamentalism-/Attack+by+female+suicide+bomber+thwarted+at+Erez+crossing+20-Jun-2005.htm
Female Suicide Bombers Police Study
http://www.police-studies.com/papers/suicide.pdf
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