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Palestinian Women in Terrorism: Protectors or Protected
of her own demise and leaving her daughter behind by stating that “on my way to
the suicide target, I did not think of my daughter, nor of my mother, 24 only on what
I am about to do.”
Another woman volunteered to be a suicide bomber at age 25, after her father had
refused to allow her to marry whom she desired. Feeling that this had been her last
chance to marry, she was angry at her father stating that “my life was useless; my
life had no use to anyone…,” and decided to volunteer for an operation. Similar
reasoning underlined the case in which the woman’s parents supported suicide
bombing as a way to erase the tarnish that she had brought to the family through
her sexual victimization and disfigurement. This woman stated:
I am a woman who suffered a huge blow in my life, and not only one, many blows. I
also failed in the university. And there were other problems. My father treated me
badly and was constantly beating me. He told me I will never get married, and I will
be a cripple for the rest of my life.
While all but two of the women described first entering terrorist involvement
voluntarily, some did report having been coerced in various ways and degrees.
Two women had been recruited by men over the internet, and another was initially
tricked by false promises into participating in a kidnapping of an Israeli taxi driver.
In the latter case, the 20 year old woman had initially been lied to, believing that
she and the man with whom she was enamored were going to meet his mother
during this trip; she nonetheless continued her involvement in the kidnapping
believing that it would enhance the chances that the man would marry her. Despite
suspecting that “the man took advantage of me” she intimated “I still miss him a
lot” 25 .
Other women actively sought out terrorist involvement, even working to convince
terrorist organizations’ representatives that they should be allowed to participate.
Far from being recruited, some of these women were initially denied admittance to
terrorist groups due to their gender, their age, or concern about the severe reactions
of their nuclear family, particularly the protective father. The organizations’ initial
rejection of their ‘services’ led them to either convince the representatives that they
should be admitted, or to search for other organizations that would allow them to
participate. Some of these women maintained their vigor and enthusiasm
throughout their participation; for example, one woman who had been assisting the
suicide mission of a fellow student stated that she would have carried out the
mission herself had the prospective candidate changed her mind.
In other situations, those who first sought involvement in terrorist activities found
themselves unable to leave after changing their minds later in the process. One of
the draws to terrorism – the ability to interact with men in ways not condoned by
broader Palestinian society and culture – also worked against women who had
second thoughts about their participation. These women described being unable to
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