Terrorist Mentality

1
Terrorist Mentality
To be a 'shahid' or not to be

• Dr. Mick Maurer

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There are 109 different definitions of terrorism
by leading academics in the field

• Violence, force (83.5)
• Political (65)
• Fear, emphasis on terror (51)
• Threats (47)
• Psychological effects and anticipated reactions
  (41.5)
• Discrepancy between the targets and the victims
  (37.5)
• Intentional planned, systematic organized action
  (32)
• Methods of combat, strategy, tactics (30.5)

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Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic
assault on civilians to inspire fear for
political ends.
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To be a 'shahid' or not to be
5

• Terrorism is the intentional use of, or threat
  to use violence against civilians or against
  civilian targets, in order to attain political
  aims.

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Suicide Bombings
To be a 'shahid' or not to be
Public Transport Haifa , Dec 2 , 2001
7

• much contemporary terrorism seems to be
  predicated on excessive resentment and extreme
  self-righteousness
• collectors of injustice extremely sensitive to
  slights and humiliations inflicted on themselves
  or on members of social groups to which they
  belong or with which they identify themselves
• hypersensitive to the sufferings and injustices
  of the world at large, but totally insensitive to
  immediate, palpable suffering directly around
  him, especially if he has produced it himself

8

• propensity to dehumanize his victims by regarding
  them as objects or impersonal concepts
• perceives himself part of an elite engaged in a
  heroic struggle to right the injustices of a
  cruel world
• - This struggle is an obligation, a duty, not a
  voluntary choice, because they are enlightened in
  a mass of unenlightened
• may be stress seekers with a need to interrupt
  the monotony of this daily lives by the pursuit
  of adventure and excitement

9

• frustration about an inability to change society
• a sense of self-righteousness
• a utopian belief in the world
• oversimplification of issues
• a feeling of social isolation
• a cold-blooded willingness to kill
• infected as well with an anti-Western bias

10

• many, not all, are inspired, motivated, and
  justified by fundamentalist religious doctrine,
  the approval of God for the killing of pagans,
  heathens, or infidels
• vast majority reported that there were no other
  family members in the organization when they
  joined (70 of secular 80 of Islamists)
• sometimes there is a missing father.
• the mother is a significant image in their
  lives.
• they behave impulsively and perceive things in
  extremes, in shades of black and white.
• they have known failure in their lives.

11

• peer group was of much greater influence, and in
  many cases it was a friend or acquaintance in the
  group who recruited the subject (secular in
  school and social group, Islamist in mosque,
  religious organizations and religious
  instruction)
• 15 of secular and 30 of Islamist sited formal
  recruitment process
• over half of each group knew their recruiter
  prior to recruitment
• those previously imprisoned, especially the
  Islamist terrorist, found the experience was
  intense further consolidated their identity and
  the group or organizational membership that
  provided the most valued element of personal
  identity

12

• prison brought them closer to the group, learned
  more about the group and were more committed to
  the cause following their incarceration (77 of
  Islamists and 54 of secular)
• concerning group dynamics and decision making for
  both groups it is clear they could question
  details, but not whether or not the authorized
  act should be carried out
• with no other means to achieve status and success
  the organizations success became central to
  individual identity and provides a reason for
  living
• the more prominent and the more important (and
  often times the more violent) a group is, the
  greater the prestige that is then projected onto
  group members

13

• pride and shame as expressed by the individual
  were reflections of group actions, not individual
  actions, feelings or experiences
• if the group says it is required and justified,
  then it is required and justified
• guilt or remorse by the individual is not
  tolerated because the organization does not
  express it
• their sexual identity is uncertain.

14

• four observable stages appear to frame a process
  of ideological development common to many
  individuals and groups of diverse ideological
  background
• (a heuristic)
• a. things are not as they should be, an
  injustice that does not apply to everyone,
  its not fair
• b. because injustice generally results from
  transgressive (wrongful) behavior, hold a person
  or group responsible (its your fault),
  identifying a potential target
• c. deem the person or group responsible for the
  injustice as bad (youre evil)
• d. facilitates violence

15
shahid

• The suicide bomber does not act out of
  suffering or inferior economic status,
• but rather out of a desire to win social
  recognition, if not in his lifetime, then after
  his death as a 'shahid'.

16
In Islam

• The Islamic designation shahid (Arabic
  witness) is equivalent to and in a sense
  derivative of the Judaeo-Christian concept of
  martyr. The full sense of witness unto death
  does not appear in the Qur'an but receives
  explicit treatment in the subsequent Hadith
  literature, in which it is stated that martyrs,
  among the host of heaven, stand nearest the
  throne of God.

17

• While details of the status accorded by martyrdom
  (e.g., whether or not a martyr is exempt from
  certain rituals of burial) have been debated
  among dogmatists, it is generally agreed that the
  rank of shahid comprises two groups of the
  faithful those killed in jihad, or holy war, and
  those killed unjustly.
• The term is used informally to venerate anyone
  who dies in a pitiable manner (e.g., in
  childbirth in a strange land).
• Among the Shi'ite branch, the martyr par
  excellence is Husayn ibn 'Ali (c. 629680), whose
  death at the hands of the rival Sunnite faction
  under Yazid is commemorated every year during the
  first 10 days of the month of Muharram.

18
Martyrdom today

• The term has since been used metaphorically for
  people killed in a historical struggle for some
  cause, such as Yonatan "Yonni" Netanyahu - the
  hero of Entebbe, or those whose deaths served to
  galvanize a particular movement.
• In the 20th century, many Muslims called suicide
  bombers belonging to Islamist and Palestinian
  nationalist groups claim to be "martyrs". Such
  usage is very controversial and generally has not
  occurred in the English media. On the other hand,
  the Arab word "shaheed" has been sometimes used
  since in English it carries no obvious emotional
  baggage.

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Hero or villain?

• The term "martyr" is in some ways semantically
  interchangeable with "hero" both are almost
  always controversial. The phrase "one man's hero
  is another's criminal" is a simple way of
  expressing this disparity. Warriors throughout
  history returning from battle are typically
  revered for "heroism" and "bravery". In recent
  history, those that commit criminal acts during
  war run the risk of military courts martial. In
  all cultures, war dead are considered to be in
  some sense "martyrs". This is true of U.S.
  soldiers killed in foreign military operations
  the U.S. President commonly refers to "their
  sacrifice" as being "for the cause of freedom".
  The actual word "martyr" is not used, however.
• Suicide bombers in Palestine are typically hailed
  as "martyrs" by many Palestinians (the actual
  percentage is also disputed) due to Islam's
  prohibition against suicide.

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The Suicide AttackDefinition

• A violent, politically motivated action executed
  consciously, actively and with prior intent by a
  single individual (or individuals) who kills
  himself in the course of the operation together
  with his chosen target. The guaranteed and
  preplanned death of the perpetrator is a
  prerequisite for the operations success.
• A mode of operation whereby the act of assault
  depends on the terrorists death. The terrorist
  is fully aware of the fact that if he does not
  commit suicide, the assault plan will not take
  place.
• The central component, which makes the suicide
  attack unique, is the attackers knowledge that
  his death is a prerequisite for the very
  occurrence of the attack.

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Suicide attacks are considered a preferred
means by terror organizations for the following
reasons Suicide attacks cause grave damage
to property and multiple deaths. Suicide
attacks receive broad media coverage. A suicide
attack is a media event, as it necessitates
determination and martyrdom on the terrorists
part. Although a suicide attack is essentially
uncomplicated, it can be perpetrated at the time
and place that the attacker chooses.
22
Both the dispatcher and the suicide bomber
dehumanize their victims. They are able to be
heartless and without human emotion towards the
victims.
23
15 year-old Jalal

• A suicide bomber, 15 year-old Jalal, said
• " My classmate recruited me to be a 'shahid',
  for which he was paid, and he gave me 20
• 'shahids' are for God, I wanted to kill many
  Jews and take revenge.
• I would have sold my parents and the whole
  world for the Garden of Eden.
• Mostly I thought about my mother on my way to
  the attack.

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To be a 'shahid' or not to be
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• those who commit or encourage these attacks do
  not associate these acts with suicide heroic
  acts of martyrdom
• a. suicide associated with hopelessness and
  depression desire to end intense unbearable
  psychological pain family and loved ones attempt
  to discourage
• b. martyrdom by contrast is associated
  with hopefulness about afterlife rewards in
  paradise and feelings of heroic sacrifice others
  who care for the actor see the pending act as
  heroic family loved ones typically support the
  behavior if the event occurs the family is honored

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To be a 'shahid' or not to be
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conflicts exist over establishing the Caliphate
that will unite dar al Islam, but his actions
also may insert him into the Caliphate power
struggle

• Statement broadcast by bin Laden in Qatar on
  October 7, 2001
• referred specifically to 80 years of humiliation
  of Islam, apparently dated the period of
  humiliation to 1921,
• the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire,
• and the establishment of Britains Palestine
  Mandate that provided for a Jewish homeland

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(As suggested by Thomas L. Friedman NY Times
OP-ED) (11-16-2005)

• First they 'suicide' bombed the Jews, and I
  didnt speak up because I wasnt a Jew.  
• Then they came for the Crusaders, and I didnt
  speak up because I wasnt a Crusader.  
• Then they came for the Shi'a, and I didnt speak
  up because I was a Sunni.
•  
• Then they came for me, and by that time there was
  no one left to speak up for me.
• - Rev. Martin Niemöller paraphrased

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To be a 'shahid' or not to be
Bali
Amman
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But it should always be remembered that

• 15 years before the bombing of the Marine
  barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S.
  servicemen
• 17 years before the hijacking of TWA 847 where a
  U.S. sailor was beaten to death
• 25 years before the first World Trade Center
  bombings killed six and wounded 1,000
• 28 years before the bombing of Khobar Towers in
  Saudi Arabia killed 19 U.S. servicemen
• 30 years before the U.S. embassy bombings in Dar
  es Salaam and Nairobi killed 220
• 32 years before the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in
  Yemen killed 17 sailors
• 33 years before the September 11th attacks killed
  3,000 in airplanes, the Pentagon, and the World
  Trade Center.
• There was a first act of Islamo-fascist
  terrorism that changed the course of American
  history. (That first act being the assassination
  in 1968 of Senator Robert F. Kennedy by Sirhan
  Bishara Sirhan.) Sirhan Sirhan goes down in
  history as the first and only foreign terrorist
  to kill a major U.S. figure,
• Warren Kozak, NY
  Sun March 17, 2006