Santa Clara University

A Dialog of Faith

Question II : Suicide-Homicide Bombing

During the past few years, hundreds of civilians have been killed by individuals who take their own lives in order to inflict damage on their enemy. These suicide or homicide bombers have been lauded as "martyrs" by a small minority of people who profess a belief in Christianity or Islam. To most observers, they are simply misguided terrorists.

What do your religious beliefs teach about homicide/ suicide bombing? Can taking one’s own life ever be justified for the greater good? Can you conceive of a situation when such an act could be considered martyrdom?

Not surprisingly, all of our respondents condemn suicide bombings as immoral. The Muslim participants state simply that "Islamic religious beliefs do not justify suicide bombing; they are haram, strictly prohibited."

Christian participants write that "suicide is a crime against God, …a perverse deviation in religious commitment."

Jewish respondents state that "human life is considered the highest form of sanctity;" making suicide so obviously immoral that it’s "a marginal ethical issue."

However, our participants are divided over the explanation for these attacks, increasingly common in the Middle East.

Thomas Michel, S.J., argues, "the real wrong done is that of killing innocent civilians as an act of war. It is wrong whether we are talking about Palestinian bombers blowing up civilians on a bus or at a coffee shop, but it is equally wrong when Israeli forces fire rockets into densely populated areas like Gaza.

"I have heard both sides justify this policy. Palestinians say that as a people Israelis are occupiers and oppressors, thus there are no ‘innocent’ civilians. I have heard Israeli government spokespersons say that attacks on populated areas are necessary because … the civilian population supports and hides the attackers; none are innocent, for they all make up the enemy to be fought and defeated."

For Salah Abou-Jaoude, S.J., the question needs to be understood in the context from which such bombings arise. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, these bombings started as a result of the failure of the Oslo Agreement, the persistence of Israeli confiscation of more Palestinian land, the destruction of the Palestinian authority infrastructure, oppressive measures taken by the Israeli Army, and a deep feeling of desperation among Palestinians. Yet these daily humiliations at the checkpoints, demolition of houses, and restrictions on economic activities are almost always justified by the U.S. administration.

If suicide bombing is condemned, atrocities committed by the Israeli Army and the destructive actions and politics followed by the Israeli government should be condemned as well.

Rabbi Asher Meir responds that this is a misleading argument. "The phenomenon of suicide bombing took off not as a response to occupation, but rather exactly when and where Israeli occupation ended and was replaced by an alternative regime, one which glorifies these attacks and more importantly gives free rein to terrorist groups to plan bombings and recruit participants. … The main ethical issue is not the ethics of participating in a suicide mission, but rather of recruiting others, often very vulnerable individuals who are not self-motivated, to participate in them. It is the leadership rather than the participants who are to blame."

Zeeshan Hasan sees suicide as "a symptom of a pathological condition such as depression. [This] psychological point of view tends to oppose the common assumption that suicide bombing is the result of political or religious views, as people with pathological psychological conditions are not completely rational.

"Obviously suicide bombers will justify their actions as being politically, morally, and perhaps even religiously motivated. However, that justification should be qualified by our knowledge that it is the pathology speaking as much as the person.

"When we look at the terrible … conditions under which Palestinians have lived for generations, it is easy to understand why a disproportionately large number of people would become pathologically depressed and suicidal. Hopelessness combined with anger at the Israeli policies that create the current realities are what lead to suicide bombings, not politics or religion."

Raphael Lapin, rabbi of Congregation Am Echad in San Jose, Calif., responds by commenting on the very different perspectives between the way the Palestinians and the Israelis see the situation. While Zeeshan Hasan says that the Palestinians see themselves as oppressed, desperate, and without any hope or dreams, Rabbi Lapin thinks "the Israelis see themselves as threatened by enemies who have historically not recognized Israel's right to existence and (from Israel's perspective) will settle for nothing less then their ceasing to exist as a nation and a country.

"The Israelis do not see themselves as oppressors or occupiers, but as a nation fighting for their very survival [with] stories to tell about close friends, neighbors, relatives, or children who have lost their lives. A parent says good bye to his child in the morning not sure if they will ever see each other again. Imagine the stress and strain of such living. What’s remarkable, however, is that this does not seem to have generated any pathological … actions despite this enormous stress. What is it that makes some break under stress and others manage?

Zeeshan Hasan disagrees. "There is considerable existence of pathological psychology on the Israeli side as well. The paranoia and feeling of vulnerability, which persists in spite of an objective reality of overwhelming military power, all point to this.

"Israel is militarily one of the most advanced and powerful countries in the world. It has been obvious since Israel decisively defeated its neighbors in a six-day war in 1967 that there are no serious threats to its existence. Even aside from its conventional weapons superiority, it has been the only nuclear power in the region for quite some time. Objectively it should see itself as dealing from a position of strength, not vulnerability. This denial of reality does not seem to me to indicate psychological health.

"This denial of the reality of Israeli strength does not just stem from suicide bombings, since that is a comparatively recent phenomenon, and Israel's perceived weakness has been in obvious disagreement with reality for about 35 years now. The only real way to explain this perpetual paranoia and anxiety over security is the psychological trauma which was experienced by the Jewish community during and in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

"It leads to the reflexive focus on Israeli security which rationalizes all measures taken against the population in the occupied territories, regardless of how oppressive and discriminatory they are against Palestinians.

"Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions all have a tendency to equate suffering or asceticism to nobility. On the Palestinian side, this combines with the experience of hopelessness and oppression to produce suicide bombers. On the Israeli side it produces a denial of the realities of military power and Israeli invulnerability which have been true for decades, and continue to hamper efforts at peace through measures like the supposed 'security wall.’"

Our participants offer several conclusions about the issue of suicide bombing and the untold suffering it causes. Thomas Michel, S.J., asks: "Can we move toward Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders together condemning all attacks on non-combatants, whether…suicide bombings or about military strikes on civilian areas?"

Rev. Clyde Dodder hopes that "on the whole the tactics of Christians who have acted as oppressors in the name of their faith (inquisitors, whether Catholic or Protestant) have been condemned by history. I would wish the same might be done for those who are using suicide bombing as a means of resistance."

Zeehan Hasan predicts that "at some point, both [Israelis and Palestinians] will have to move beyond their experiences of brutalization and accept that they not set apart by their suffering. The suffering of others has to be understood to be just as terrible as their own. This is what it will take for Israelis and Palestinians to re-join the human race."