Mari&Khaydan

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On March 29, 2010, two Muslim women blew themselves up in the Moscow subways to revenge the oppression of fellow Muslims in the Caucasus Mountains by Russians. These women display the rising trend for female suicide bombers in Palestine, Iraq, and Chechnya. Dr. Anat Berko has been studying the female suicide bombers through the lenses of her Iraqi upbringing and is publishing her findings in her latest book titled //Isha Ptzatza//. Through interviews with would-be suicide bombers in Israeli prisons, Dr. Berko has concluded that women’s motives are rooted in histories of physical, mental, and sexual abuse within their own families. Blackmail, redemption for sexual indiscretions, “honor killing”, the urge to reach heaven, and emotional irrationality also affect women’s motives. However, despite this increase in the number of female martyrs, females still have a lower status because death itself is considered a scandal. Because the female body is revealed in bombing and women do not have full rights to their bodies in death, female suicide bombers achieve little by becoming a martyr.
 * "What drives female suicide bombers?"**

Khaydan: I find it interesting how even in something like suicide bombings and martyrs people can still focus their attention on the religious aspect and gender discrimination. Should there be discrimination in the field of suicide bombing? Isn’t it better that people not blow themselves up, even if they believe their motives for doing so are worthy of such an action? I also find it interesting that women are killing themselves to achieve a higher status in society and as reparation for things out of their control or done to them by their families. Yet, by killing themselves, they are committing another sin or scandal because they are revealing their bodies. And, since women are pushed into becoming martyrs against their free will by their families, the very people who are telling them to commit suicide are condemning them for revealing their bodies. Seems a bit hypocritical to me. This hypocrisy was supported in the closing statement when it was stated that women do not have control over their bodies, even in death. If that is the case, who does have control? The people who are pushing them to become suicide bombers? The people who help them commit the sins they are seeking reparations for through suicide bombings? I think that suicide bombing is the route that people who have lost all hope take, and that those who commit suicide are lost souls praying that their becoming a martyr gets them to heaven – but does it?

Mari: This article explains and brings up the issue of female suicide bombers. As we are all aware of it already, the suicide bombers in the Middle East complete these catastrophic events for their religion. If these bombers do not complete the task, they considered not worthy. Many of us think that it is ridiculous and why would someone blow themselves up? This article depicts the reasoning behind female suicide bombers and their motives. The article also talks about the affects of the extreme actions that these suicide bombers must complete. It has been proven that because of the horrific events that these women must do, they face physical, sexual, and mental abuse. I feel that it seems out of place for women to be suicide bombers, probably because what we see on the news in America depicts that suicide bombing is a male dominated field. To Americans, suicide bombings are horrific and do not make any sense at all, but we must understand that we have different cultures. The part of the article that I found most shocking was the last statement of the article, concerning women's rights of their bodies. I feel that every person in the world, of every race and every religion, should have complete rights over their bodies.

Please read the article and answer a few of the following questions: 1. How do you feel women suicide bombers are different from male suicide bombers? 2. Are the purposes and motives for suicide bombing truly different for males vs. females? 3. Do you think that the popular assumption, suicide bombers should only be males, is plausible? WHY? 4. What do you predict the affects of the book //Isha Ptzatza// will be on female suicide bombers? 5. What makes it so "wrong" for women to be suicide bombers? 6. If women "do not have full rights over their bodies", who does? 7. How do you think family members affect women's decisions to become suicide bombers? 8. Do you think that all suicide bombers are martyrs, just men, or just females? 9. Should religion play a factor in how female bombers are regarded after death?