Realistic Suicide Bombings Are Approved
                                             

The article "The "rational" suicide bomber", which follows, distinguishes between the realistic (Hamas) which is acceptable and the Utopian (Al Qaeda) which strives for " a Utopian entity which supposedly solves all of life's problems". The distinction defies reality. Al Qaeda has objectives in various Arab nations. The Hamas charter specifies Israel's destruction as part of the worldwide political objective which will produce the Islamic worldwide Utopia. Singh does not realize that the London and Madrid bombings were intended  to impact the Iraq situation; a specific national objective.  The purpose of every bombing is stated. In not one instance was a bombing given a "Utopian" objective. Singh regards those attacks in which Muslims  as well as non-Muslims  are killed  to be "Utopian".  But what of the massive bombings in Iraq by Muslims against Muslims?     Singh's distinction between types of suicide bombers is in essence one of cost-effectiveness. In the well-established continuing tradition Singh challenges the US and its friends to respect the difference between the two types of suicide bombers and be responsible for the terrible consequences if they don't. That criterion (cost-effective) was set in Dr. Sari Nuseiba's much publicized petitioning letter ,June 21,2002, "Urgent Appeal to Stop Suicide Bombings", which also follows below.  It stresses that suicide bombings  "don't contribute towards our national projects" -- they are not cost-effective.  Surely, they proved to be cost-effective. Nuseiba and signatory friends are not heard now that Hamas is winning. No public letters, no interviews, Absolute silence? The Nuseiba letter is poisoned with standard false charges against Israel as targeting "our children, elderly, villages, cities and our national hopes and achievements."  While the letter was absolutely ineffective against terrorism,  the boiler-plate false charges contributed to inflaming the atmosphere, serving Hamas.  After all,  If such a distinguished, peaceful professor as Dr. Sari Nuseiba says so, it must be true   ---

THE JORDAN TIMES 1 Mar.'06: "The 'rational' suicide bomber" by Pritam Singh. QUOTES FROM TEXT: "While terrorism is righty viewed as an illegitimate means, nationalism is a rational, and often legitimate, goal , and it is shared by many people who are not terrorists. ... nationalist extremists' more realistic objectives might make it possible to neutralise them by addressing the root issue (for example, the creation of a viable Palestinian state)."  "By regarding all suicide bombers as irrational fanatics, rather than drawing distinctions between millenarians and nationalists, the US and its allies have ceded crucial political ground to groups like Al Qaeda and Jihad that insist on the impossibility of negotiating with Islam's "enemies"."Hamas' victory ...has made the question of who is a terrorist, and how terrorism should be tackled, more urgent than ever. How Hamas behaves in government will reveal whether terrorists and suicide bombers are alike in their implacability.... Few weapons in the terrorist's arsenal are as devastating as suicide bombing - or as poorly understood,  ... analysis has apparently given way to the desire to avoid conferring on the attackers any legitimacy ... . But this attitude thwarts urgently needed insight into who the suicide bombers really are, what motivates them, and thus how they might be stopped.... there are basically two categories of suicide bombers. The first includes the perpetrators of the attacks on the United States in 2001, the Bali bombing in 2002, the Madrid train bombing in 2003, and the London bombings in the summer of 2005. The perpetrators are indifferent as to whether their victims, both direct and indirect, are Muslim or non-Muslim; their goal is to terrorise and eventually to destroy a way of life in the name of a nebulous Dar Al Islam, a utopian entity that will supposedly solve all of life's problems. Suicide bombers of this type, while difficult to hunt down and neutralise, can easily be identified and their criminality exposed, given their vicious and wanton disdain for ethical, moral, and religious norms. Muslim religious and political leaders have the intellectual capital to refute their misplaced religious convictions, and can repeat sura after sura, hadith after hadith, detailing Islam's rejection of violence and repudiation of the killing of innocents. But the second category of suicide bombers  ... comprises organisations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad that fight for avowedly nationalist goals. While terrorism is rightly viewed as an illegitimate means, nationalism is a rational, and often legitimate, goal, and it is shared by many people who are not terrorists. ... nationalist extremists' more realistic objectives might make it possible to neutralise them by addressing the root issue (for example, the creation of a viable Palestinian state). The distinction...  is not always stark. Many people enthralled by nationalistic struggle, end up rejecting all reasonable compromise and advocating genocidal goals. Nevertheless, the distinction is important and seems lost on the US - and a host of other countries - which have lumped the nationalist groups together with Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in their lists of terrorist organizations. This one-size-fits-all approach may be convenient, but the failure to differentiate among suicide bombers vastly oversimplifies the realities that define the fight against terrorism.... Hamas and Islamic Jihad are often no less brutal than Al Qaeda or JI. But this does not mean that they should be dealt with in the same way. Indeed, while the demands of millenarians can never be met, thus leaving repression as the only means to deal with them, nationalism may be (and often is) effectively addressed through political means: when the legitimate and more widely shared nationalist goals are met, the radical fringe often loses its wider appeal and withers away. Failure to recognise this works to the advantage of religiously motivated terrorists ...  energy spent on fighting terrorism is spent on repression, leaving legitimate nationalist goals unaddressed and strengthening popular support for terrorism of all kinds.... groups like Al Qaeda can claim ...popular nationalism as a means of pursuing their ultimate utopian aims. Moreover, although Muslim religious and secular leaders are able to isolate millenarian terrorists and undercut their popular support, they lack the moral capital to completely discredit nationalist extremists groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as long as the Muslim laity shares some of their goals. To the powerless, nationalist suicide bombers look like a great equaliser. Israeli Apache and Cobra gunships armed with Hellfire missiles regularly hit their targets from great distances, as do F-16 fighter jets armed with laser-guided munitions, but not without frequent "collateral damage" to innocent civilians. Suicide bombers who target innocent Israeli civilians - and sometimes legitimate military objectives - rightly or wrongly appear to counterbalance Israeli "strategic" strikes. Thus, despite repeated condemnation by establishment figures within the ummah (the worldwide community of Muslims), some forms of suicide bombing may enjoy the quiet admiration of many. As long as no distinction is made between nationalist extremists and fanatical terrorists like Al Qaeda, the latter will be able to masquerade as the defenders of Muslims who are seen as "driven" to resort to suicide bombing because of military weakness. America's ill-advised foray into Iraq has further confounded the distinction between the two types of suicide bombers and created a nearly ideal breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists. Some are inspired by Al Qaeda, others by disgruntled Sunnis, but all can claim a nationalist mantle. Ignoring the various dimensions of suicide bombing, and the outlook of the groups responsible, America and its allies have been left helpless to comprehend, much less address, the largely indifferent reaction of many Muslims to the US-led "war on terror". By regarding all suicide bombers as irrational fanatics, rather than drawing distinctions between millenarians and nationalists, the US and its allies have ceded crucial political ground to groups like Al Qaeda and JI that insist on the impossibility of negotiating with Islam's "enemies". This stance carries a high cost: the empathy of the Muslim masses that is required to defeat those who debase Islam in their name. The writer is a research associate at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.

"Urgent Appeal to Stop Suicide Bombings"  June 21, 2002
By  Dr. Sari Nuseiba

QUOTES FROM TEXT:  "Suicide bombings deepen the hatred and widen the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli people. Also, they destroy the possibilities of peaceful coexistence"..."Military actions are not assessed as positive or negative exclusively, out of the general context and situation. The assessment is based on whether they fulfill political ends."

 FULL TEXT: June 21,2002: Palestinian official Sari Nusseiba initiated the following petition signed by Palestinian leaders: Urgent Appeal to Stop Suicide Bombings
By Dr. Sari Nuseiba

We the undersigned feel that it is our national responsibility to issue this appeal in light of the dangerous situation engulfing the Palestinian people. We call upon the parties behind military operations targeting civilians in Israel to reconsider their policies and stop driving our young men to carry out these operations. Suicide bombings deepen the hatred and widen the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli people. Also, they destroy the possibilities of peaceful co-existence between them in two neighboring states. We see that these bombings do not contribute towards achieving our national project that calls for freedom and independence. On the contrary, they strengthen the enemies of peace on the Israeli side and give Israel aggressive government under Sharon the excuse to continue its harsh war against our people. This war targets our children, elderly, villages, cities, and our national hopes and achievements.\Military actions are not assessed as positive or negative exclusively, out of the general context and situation. The assessment is based on whether they fulfill political ends.

[IMRA: Whether they are 'cost-effective'.] Therefore, there is a need to re-evaluate these acts considering that pushing the area towards an existential war between the two people living on the holy land will lead to destruction for the whole  region.  We do not find any logical, humane, or political justification for this end result.

Signatories: Below are some of the Palestinian intellectuals and public figures who have signed the petition: Dr. Sari Nuseiba, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Saleh Rafat, Salah Zuheika, Mamdouh Nofal , Hanna Sineora, Dr. Mohammad Ishtiya, Ibrahim Kandalaft, Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, Dr. Moussa El-Budeiri.