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The Phenomenon of Palestinian Suicide Terrorism
Terrorism”, Paper no. 947, March 12, South Asia Analysis Group, online:
http://www.sag.org/papers10/paper947.html (October 22, 2004).
34 For example cases in which the attacker has shot the hostages and after he killed himself,
do not fall under the category of suicide operations.
35
See, for example, Ariel Merari (2000), Statement Submitted in Testimony before the
Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism, Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of
Representatives, July 13. Additional information about the nature of the planning of the
September 11, 2001 attacks will be necessary in order to establish whether the suicide
terrorists of those attacks may have posed an exception to this rule.
36 One of the most extreme cases is that of September 11 “suicide pilot” Muhammad Atta,
who seems to have known about the attack on the World Trade Center months, if not
years, in advance – an attack that involved his own death. Psychologists and terrorism
experts are likely to focus on Atta’s considerable mental capabilities for many years to
come, and may find it necessary to adjust the traditional profile of the suicide bomber.
37
38
39
40
41
For example the explosive device mechanism can be hidden in a bodysuit, a vehicle,
aeroplane etc. Suicide attacks can occur with other types of weapons, including
jetliners!
Sometimes the agent’s death can be the unavoidable yet indirect consequence of his
action. The psychological standpoint of the suicide mission is quite different, so it is
imperative to distinguish amongst those who choose their action to end up with their
death (martyrs) and those who do not seek their own death though they are willing to
accept it for the cause (heroes). One must not forget that generally terrorism throughout
history carried a high risk of death for the terrorists themselves. For example, makeshift
bombs used by 19 th century anarchists and Russian revolutionaries were so unstable that
they had to be thrown from a short distance (that is, if they did not explode first in the
hands of the attacker). Those who went on an attack of this kind were fully aware of the
risk and many of them wrote fare-well letters to their friends and families, see: “Suicide
Terror: Was 9/11 Something New”, online:
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/terrorism/suicide.html (September 25 2003).
Some authors have claimed that all terrorist operations that pose grave risks for their
perpetrators are suicide operations; for example if though the attack itself is not
dangerous, but the country’s penalty is the capital punishment, Walter Laquer (1999),
“The New Terrorism”, New York: Oxford University Press, p. 141. Although this can
be an interesting perspective, it is not at all helpful in studying suicide operations as it
does not distinguish between suicide terrorism and ordinary terrorism.
“Terrorists and Suicide Attacks”, CRS Report for Congress, August 28, 2003, 2.
Of course there have been also cases that terrorists have committed suicide rather than
being apprehended or tried. Such is said to have been the case with members of the
“Baader-Meinhof” gang in West Germany in the 1970s, although the death through
hunger strike by Bobby Sands and other members of the IRA in the 1980s was also a
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