Categories: The Interview

In conversation with Mia Bloom

On the rise in female suicide bombings, how women cause more damage and why they do it

by Kate Fillion on Monday, January 24, 2011 9:40am - 13 Comments

Q: Which explains why one female recruiter in Iraq targeted 80 girls, had them raped, and then talked them into becoming suicide bombers for a group affiliated with al-Qaeda.
A: Exactly. When Samira Ahmed Jassim was arrested in 2009, she explained that after the rapes she’d seek out victims, pretend to be their friend and console them, and in the process suggest, “Well you know, there is something you can do.” We talk about propaganda, winning hearts and minds—we dropped the ball in this case by not letting people know more about this woman. Iraqis would be horrified.

Q: What do radical Islamists promise female suicide bombers?
A: You’ll have the perfect husband, you’ll be restored if there’s been any illness or disfigurement, and not only are you going to be with Allah, but 70 of your relatives are going directly to heaven. This idea of intercession for family members—even if they’ve drunk alcohol or eaten pork—is very powerful. It means this girl can do more for the family than any boy will.

Q: So it’s glamorous in a way?
A: The idea that with this action you can become famous, and there will be songs written about you, posters of you, parks and squares named after you—it’s a level of notoriety these women could never achieve through ordinary actions in a culture where they have very few options. So yes, there may be coercion, but there’s a payoff, too.

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Tags: suicide attacks, suicide bombing, terrorism, war conflict

Rocket

Great interview! Female terrorism should be discussed more often.
jaycobal

interesting, no talk of the more likely reason: mental instability.

we know that vast vast majority of muslims, both men and women alike dont turn to extremism, and even less turn to violent resistance. any examination of those few who turn to such extremes demands strong consideration to mental illness, not gender or perceived attitudes towards family honour.

this interview is shallow and short on actual opinions outside of very palatable "hearts and minds" talk.

Vatro

Unexpected or unwelcome behavior does not make it a mental illness. A person can make a perfectly rational decision based on an world-view alien to your own, which is a bit of what this article is demonstrating.

I'd be curious to know why you believe mental instability is a likely reason.

Al_Kanadi

How can one can be a worldwide expert and yet be totally incapable of logical thought?.
Mia: “It’s justifying within a religious frame the killing of other Muslims, which is completely against the Koran”. Kate: Are they (female suicide bombers whose missions failed) rejected by their communities? Mia explains no, the community would understand if the prospective bomber were pre-empted or if the device failed to go off and would be rejected only if she backed out. Then she gives the example of a “very religious Muslim girl” who changed her mind because she didn’t want to get “tarted-up”. So if this violence is not legitimate as ‘expert’ Mia tells us, why do Muslim communities reject those whose conscience makes them back out of suicide bombing yet understand if circumstances beyond the prospective bomber’s control lead to failure? And how could, (if “the Koran is completely against” this), “a very religious Muslim” girl consider bombing right up until the time she was asked to “tart-up”?
Al_Kanadi

"It’s justifying within a religious frame the killing of other Muslims, which is completely against the Koran." Granted she did not say "killing of disbeleivers" but I thought Mia might want to dust off her Koran if she insists on telling others what the Koran proscribes: 9:111 – “Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain”.
JenniferMack

I would certainly agree with you that "stop[ping] the indoctrination of children" (of Muslim extremists) would be an effective way of breaking the cycle of Muslim suicide-bombing and violence, if ever such a thing could be done. That said, what with your comments about "religion" in the broadest possible sense, it seems to me that you do not differentiate between the "Islam" of the extremists and any other religion (whether that be Islam as practiced by peaceful and moderate Muslims or any other world religion). You're not comparing apples with apples when you lump a Muslim extremist together with any other religious person. As a "religious" (and educated, peaceful, law-abiding and tax-paying) person myself, I think you're treading dangerous ground in suggesting that all religious people are indoctrinating their children and we should find a way to stop it. Given your comments I would presume you are an atheist; I would not suggest that you are "indoctrinating" your children if you raise them to believe as you do… that's just part of parenthood.

HarveyMushman

Well…"Muslim extremists" is a relative term.

Seems to me that Muslims do not hold exclusive rights to doing crazy things in the name of their god(s). Christians, Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Inca….on and on…all have their history of bloodshed against other religious (and non-religious) groups who are not quite as "righteous" as they are.

At the root of it all…raising children to believe in a fantasy world and omnipotent being who watches over, protects and looks after their well being in the "after life" (as long as they are slavishly obedient to "him" and his earthly representatives.) It is belief system "ripe for the picking" by people who use it as a means to subvert, enslave, control and (in the extreme cases) kill people.

So yes…I suppose I do suggest that all religions "indoctrinate" their children…or try to…regardless of how "extreme" their beliefs are. The more extreme sects simply enforce their doctrine via a brutally simplistic means…believe this or I'll kill you. Other more "moderate, mainstream" religions generally leave it up to "the big guy" to mete out your punishment in the next life.

Thankfully…as education and knowledge become more prevalent…the "mainstream" religious "explanations" for things previously unexplained tend to fall by the wayside. Increasingly leaving us (I suppose) with the more "extreme" religious views which rely on poor, uneducated masses and rigid…if not brutal…enforcement of doctrine as the surviving/thriving religions.

JenniferMack

Religions all over the world have played their parts in wars; some have even been the root cause. However, a whole lot of wars in the western world over the last 350 years (Civil War, WW1, WW2, Plains of Abraham, all those times our southern friends invaded Canada, etc) happened without religion as a motivating factor. People can find any reason at all to go to war; and although it certainly is convenient to have a religion to invoke when ordering your people to kill and be killed, it does not follow that the religion itself is the cause of violence. Doing away with religion will not do away with war.

You paint a very bleak picture of religion (and the intelligence of its adherents) as far as the reasons one chooses to practice the faith of their choice! :) More than 90% of the world's population believes in a supernatural being of one sort or another; are all five and a half billion of them deceived (or crazy), unintelligent drones believing in fairy tales? Most adults who continue to practice their faith beyond childhood do so because they sincerely believe – and becoming closer to their God brings them joy.

However, in replying to you originally, my intent was not to debate religion itself; I simply take issue with the concept of your desire to stop the religious from passing along their values to their children. To truly and universally stop such a thing could only be effected by the state, in brutal means… to adapt what you wrote above, DON'T believe this, or I'll kill (or otherwise punish) you. The thing is, your lack of belief in God is as much a metaphysical belief system as that of the average Jew, Christian or Muslim. It is not possible to prove conclusively that God does not exist; that has to be taken on faith as much as the belief that he does. And so by indoctrinating all children of religious parents that God does not exist, you are simply exchanging one set of beliefs for another.

I think you would appreciate state-enforced religion about as much as I would appreciate state-enforced atheism – there is a reason you do not live in Iran, and I do not live in China. You are free to believe that there is no God. But for us both to be free, I (and my children and those who come after us) must be free to believe that there is.

citizen_CA

Well said!

david

the death cult broaches no contradiction, no mercy, no common sense. when I see a muslim stand up against these depraved maniacs then I might believe that there is such a thing as a good, civilized muslim. until that time I want a stop to all muslims immigrating to canada. these people appear to be nothing less than a bunch of psychopaths.
Alvan

A good muslim/ muslimah will condemn the suicide bombing act.
So far…are we getting the news about it from the local muslim leaders? NONE.
Paul

Of course, the rational, functional solution to this dilemma will never be implemented. Arrest and swiftly kill in a horrific manner any and all Muslim religious leaders who do not condemn in the strongest terms any such attacks.