Palestinian Istishhadia Campaign: A Dynamic and Practical Tool (From Understanding and Responding to the Terrorism Phenomenon: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective, P 91-102, 2007, Ozgur Nikbay and Suleyman Hancerli, eds. -- See NCJ-225118)

• NCJ Number: 225126
• Author(s): Yoram Schweitzer
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: IOS Press
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands

Annotation

Based on personal interviews with imprisoned Palestinian surviving suicide bombers (n=3) and their dispatchers (n=40) from various organizations between 1993 and 2006, this paper examines the phenomenon of Palestinian Istishhadia, the term used by Palestinians to describe suicide bombings.

Abstract

The practice of Istishhadia over this span of years was neither linear nor static and is divisible into two main periods. The first period was from April 1993 to March 2000, and the second extended from October 2000 to June 2006. In the period examined, the State of Israel experienced 189 suicide attacks up until August 2006; approximately 38 were committed in the first period, and the remaining 151 occurred in the second period. At the beginning of the first period, the pattern of Istishhadia was trial and error. Initially, there were individual operatives who worked underground to conduct suicide attacks, gradually perfecting their methods. In the second period, the terrorists built on the lessons learned in the first period, which included increased technical knowledge on the preparation of demolition charges. The number of organizations involved in dispatching Istishhadis also increased from two organizations in the first period to four organizations in the second period. The increased number of volunteers offering themselves for Istishhadia increased mainly due to the spread and intensity of hate, anger, despair, and hopelessness among Palestinians. Whereas men were the primary suicide bombers in the first period, suicide bombers in the second period included men, women, and children. The Istishhadia model emerged from the Palestinians’ recognition of the significant military inferiority of the Palestinians compared to Israel. Although Istishhadia succeeded in inflicting an unprecedented number of casualties on Israeli civilians, it also adversely impacted Palestinian society, which suffered multiple casualties from Israel’s retaliation. 1 figure, 1 table, and 21 references