Blessed Suicide

The cult of suicide terrorism has always been around, but has grown notably during the latest Palestinian intifada. Suicide terror began with the Ishmaeli suicide squads who murdered Crusader leaders and from whose Arabic name we derive the word "assassin." The modern suicide terrorists draw inspiration from passages in the Koran that promise immortality with all the sensual delights a man can imagine. Let's take it from the top: First of the promised Seven Rewards is the forgiveness of all sins. Second is a place in paradise, followed by being crowned in glory. The suicide bomber can then have 70 of the most beautiful women as his wives. He will also be spared the suffering of the grave and the horror of the Day of Judgment. Last, he will be allowed to bring with him to paradise 70 members of his family.

Women in Islam are admonished to obey men, because "men are a degree above them." Non-Muslims, heretics, apostates and homosexuals are regarded as fit for persecution. No wonder the families of suicide bombers are exultant. European newspapers have likened those who plowed the airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to modern kamikazes, but here I take exception. (The kamikazes who went to honorable deaths crashed their planes into enemy warships.) Just as I take exception when our leaders call suicide bombers cowards: they may be many things, but cowards they are not. They are usually young, single and devout. Many of them emerge from Palestinian refugee camps but a high proportion of them are from families that are well-to-do despite their humble beginnings. They are indoctrinated from an early age into absorbing the belief that they are protecting and preserving Islam.

Once their impeccable Islamic credentials have been established, they are introduced into military training. After the 1967 war I visited Al Fatah camps in Jordan and Syria. I was not allowed to see the training, but I did get to speak to some commanders, especially the son of Glubb Pasha, the English general (Sir John Glubb) who commanded the Arab Legion for the father of King Hussein. "The beauty of martyrdom," was what young Glubb called it. A prospective suicide bomber has years of contact with his imam that have brainwashed him to the extent that he believes his finest moment will come when he gives his life to the Islamic cause. The suicide bomber who drove the truckful of explosives that killed 241 Marines in Lebanon in 1983 was reported to be smiling as he smashed through the gates of the compound.

The irony of all this is that the Koran forbids suicide. Leaders of religious factions within Islam ignore this, however, and sidestep it by inventing all the afterlife rewards. In other words, an horrendous hoax is perpetrated on the young believers in the name of the Prophet, who forbade suicide in the first place. It is as if a Christian was told that Jesus said never to turn the other cheek but to kill instead.

The Koran takes a mixed view of Jews. It criticizes them for opposing the Prophet, but also calls for traditional protection of Jews as the "People of the Book." Actually, the Koran teaches that the loss of one innocent life is the equivalent to the loss of humanity. These suicide attacks are not acceptable to Muslims of conscience because they involve killing innocent people. Which brings me to the point I wish to make.

Desperate people resort to desperate measures, but, more importantly, tend to listen to extremists. Israel is hated not only because of fundamental differences between Judaism and Islam, but also because its creation in 1948 involved the seizure of Arab lands. Arab hardliners see America as the great Satan because without American support Israel would not exist today. Arab extremists are also fond of saying that there are more Jews in New York than in Israel, and that the Israeli lobby is omnipotent.

Extremist rhetoric aside, Uncle Sam has displayed a double standard where Arabs are concerned. When Israel has violated UN resolutions-as when it invaded Lebanon in 1982-Washington used its veto to stop any UN action against the Jewish state. The U.S. mobilized a vast international force in the Gulf War in 1991, and more recently bombed Serbia into submission, yet America ignores Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and southern Lebanon. Still, I remember the days when America was loved by Arabs, especially after Eisenhower took the side of Egypt's leader Colonel Nasser and forced Britain, France and Israel to abandon their plans to occupy the Suez Canal region. In the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars America was seen as the real backer of Israel, and ever since it has not been hard for a Muslim psychopath to manipulate a young man into believing his mission is to destroy America.