My Life Is a Weapon: A Modern History of Suicide Bombing PDF
Preview My Life Is a Weapon: A Modern History of Suicide Bombing
I MYUFEISA WEAPON A MODERN HISTORY OF BOMBING SUICIDE CHRISTOPH REUTER MY A LIFE IS WEAPON A MODERN HISTORY OF SUICIDE BOMBING CHRISTOPH REUTER What kind of people are suicide bombers? How do theyjustify their actions? In this meticulously researched and sensitively written book, journalist Christoph Reuter argues that popular views ofthese young men and women—as crazed fanatics or brainwashed automatons—fall short ofthe mark. In many cases these modern-day martyrs are well-educated young adults who turn themselves into human bombs — willingly and eagerly to exact revenge on a more powerful enemy, perceived as both unjust and oppressive. Suicide assassins are determined to make a difference, for once in their lives, no matterwhatthe cost. As Reuter's many interviews with would-be martyrs, theirtrainers, friends, and relatives reveal, the bombers are motivated more by how they expect to be remembered—as — heroic figures than by religion-infused visions of a blissful life to come. Reuter, who spent eight years researching the book, moves fronri tj] broken survivors ofthe chil brigades in the Iran-Iraq wa DPT vPJIi. 04579^4366 ^\^ My Weapon Life Is a MY A WEAPON LIFE IS A Modern History of Suicide Bombing CHRISTOPH REUTER Translated by Helena Ragg-Kirkby PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON AND OXEORD • Firstpublishedin2002 asMein Lebenisteine WaffebyC. BertelsmannVerlag, an imprintofC. BertelsmannVerlag, Munich,oftheVerlagsgruppeRandomHouseGmBH, andcopyright©2002 byC. BertelsmannVerlag, Munich, Germany English-languagetranslation and abridgmentarecopyright©2004 byPrincetonUniversityPress Published byPrincetonUniversityPress,41 William Street, Princeton,NewJersey08540 IntheUnitedKingdom: PrincetonUniversityPress, 3 MarketPlace, Woodstock, OxfordshireOX20 ISY AllRights Reserved ISBN: 0-691-11759-4 LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-PublicationData Renter, Christoph. [Mein LebenisteineWaffe. English] Mylifeisaweapon: a modernhistoryofsuicide bombing/ChristophRenter;translated byHelena Ragg-Kirkby. p. cm. Includesindex. ISBN0-691-11759-4 (alk. paper) — — — 1.Violence Religiousaspects Islam. 2. Suicide bombers. 3. Martyrdom Islam. 4. Islamandpolitics. 5. Arab-IsraeUconflict. I. Title. BP190.5.V56R4813 2004 2003069321 303.6'25—dc22 British LibraryCataloging-in-PublicationData isavailable This bookhas beencomposed in Sabon Printed on acid-freepaper.@ WAVw.pupress.princeton.edu Printed intheUnited States ofAmerica 13579 8642 10 Contents INTRODUCTION The Power of the Powerless, the Powerlessness ofthe Powerful 1 CHAPTER 1 The Original Assassins: A History of Faith and Power in the Islamic World 19 CHAPTER 2 A Key to Paradise around Their Necks: Iran's Suicide Battalions 33 CHAPTER 3 The Marketing Strategists of Martyrdom: Hezbollah in Lebanon 52 CHAPTER 4 Israel and Palestine: The Culture ofDeath 79 CHAPTER 5 Suicide or Martyrdom? Modern Islam and the Feud ofthe Fatwas 115 CHAPTER 6 Bushido Replaces Allahu akbar: TheJapanese Kamikaze 130 CONTENTS CHAPTER 7 The Parasites ofAnger: Al-Qaeda and the Islamist Internationale 139 CHAPTER 8 Separatist Movements and Female Suicide Bombers: The Cases of Sri Lanka and Kurdistan 155 CHAPTER 9 After Martyrdom: Recent Developments in Iran 167 Notes 181 Index 195
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