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Journal of National Defense Studies, No. 6, May 2008
The Phenomenon of Palestinian Suicide
Terrorism
Maria Alvanou *
Abstract: After the deadly suicide attacks on September 11, the “Al-Aqsa
Intifada” has become a pole of scholarly attraction for all those interested in
studying suicide operations. Palestinians have launched a campaign of suicide
attacks against Israel that created a seismic shock to most observers. The majority
of the developed theories regarding suicide terrorism from the disciplines of
psychology, international relations, religion and economics have dealt with
terrorism from their own point of view: “terrorism or freedom fighting,”
accompanied by the ongoing problem of the definition of terrorism. In such a
plethora of studies criminology has to offer its unique prism in the study of
terrorism, because a suicide attack is a bloody and extra violent act of homicide,
resulting in high death casualties and numerous injuries. It is not just the source of
tremendous horror, but above all it is a crime. Criminologists often use the formal
legal definition of crime as a starting point. In this perspective, the advantage of
criminology over other disciplines is that the controversial ethical dimension in
terrorism’s ideological construction has little meaning. A suicide attack as
homicide, as a method of intentional killing of others, is legitimately researched in
depth, overcoming arguments of a “just cause.”
Introduction
Palestinians – In the West Bank and Gaza Strip – have launched a campaign of
suicide attacks as part of their operational tactics since 1993 and especially after
the start of the second “Intifada” in September 2000. 1 The volume of terrorism
perpetrated against Israel during the first two years of the “Al-Aqsa Intifada” was
unprecedented in the country’s history 2 and created a seismic shock to most
observers. This is why following the deadly suicide attacks on September 11, the
Israeli- Palestinian conflict has become an important pole of scholarly attraction for
those studying suicide operations.
*
Professor of Criminology – Hellenic Police Officers Academy Terrorism Expert-Italian
Team for Security, Terroristic Issues and Managing Emergencies, Catholic University
of Milan
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