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Edna Erez and Anat Berko
both secular and religious organizations, even though religious groups initially
resisted the use of women in such attacks (Bloom, 2007).
This increased involvement of women in terrorist activity has been framed by the
media as an indication of the depth of resistance movements (Ali, 2006; Bloom,
2005) and has served to increase alarm because women are generally better able to
avoid detection (Cunningham, 2007). A growing number of insurgent
organizations are taking advantage of the fact that suicide bombings carried out by
women garner much more media attention than those perpetrated by men, both in
the West and in the Middle East. Attacks by women receive eight times the media
coverage as attacks by men, largely because women are not expected to be violent
(Bloom, 2007).
Although local conflict serves as a critical motivating force for participation in
terrorism (Ali, 2006), and both men and women engage in it for a variety of
reasons (Berko and Erez, 2005; Bloom, 2007), there is ample support for the
proposition that gender plays an important role in terrorist activity. Gender serves
as an organizing principle and a motivating factor for engagement in resistance
efforts (Goldstein, 2001; Hoogensen, 2004; Kimmel, 2003), shaping the specifics
of a terrorist movement and individuals’ experiences with it. Gender provides
terminology and imagery to explain beliefs, behaviors and motives associated with
terrorism. 2 Gender structures are often employed to create incentives, establish
rewards or mobilize individuals to implement terrorist aims (e.g. Berko and Erez,
2005, 2007, 2008; Hasso, 2005; Israeli, 2004). In the context of the Palestinian
national struggle, gender has been invoked as a strategic tool; for example,
Palestinian women who participated in terrorism through suicide missions “have
compared their attacks to perceived weakness and silence of Arab men and leaders
and castigated them for failing their duties” (Hasso, 2005, p. 30).
The inclusion of women in terrorism has a logistical weight in terrorist activity.
Since women are less likely to arouse suspicion, be stopped at checkpoints, or
undergo thorough security searches, their involvement increases the ability of
terrorist organizations to successfully carry out an attack. Women’s participation
may also goad men to join forces (Ali, 2006; Hasso, 2005) because in most
cultures, and particularly within military realms, “if women can do it, so can men”
(Izraeli, 1999).
The role of gender has been well documented in the military, armed conflict and
war contexts (e.g. Elshtain, 1995; Enloe, 2000; Goldstein, 2001). Its function in
terrorism has been studied to a lesser extent (cf. Bloom, 2005, ch. 7), and its role in
Palestinian terrorism has only begun to be addressed (e.g. Berko and Erez, 2007).
This article focuses on how gender affects Palestinian terrorism, particularly
women’s participation it, and official and communal responses to their
involvement.
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