PHRMG has made to bring an end to the merciless practice of suicide attacks
(SAs).

The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group's (PHRMG) mission is to end
human rights (HR) violations against Palestinians, regardless of who is
responsible. Given the absence and/or ineffectiveness of democratic
mechanisms of accountability in Palestine, PHRMG's main strategy, since it's
founding in 1996, is to hold the HR violator accountable before the
Palestinian public - and the international community at large. Our methods
are a simple and effective recipe of on-the-ground field research and HR
education. With these activities providing a solid foundation, PHRMG also
implements special projects with tangible HR impacts.

This paper outlines the background, the need, and the recommendations that
the PHRMG has made to bring an end to the merciless practice of suicide
attacks (SAs). The goal of this project is to draw attention to its
practice, its harms, the reasons for its popularity, and to promote dialogue
of this issue amongst the Palestinian community in order to bring an end to
such an egregious means.

The PHRMG strongly condemns SAs, and it is the position of this paper to
argue against the needless killing of civilians on both sides of the
political divide. This paper explores the motivations behind undertaking
such actions, the legal context in which these crimes are committed, the
responsibilities of the Palestinian legal system in upholding HR, and the
role that humanitarian organizations can play in eliminating public support
for this callous practice.

Researching the SA phenomenon is imperative as there is little accurate
information available concerning the real motivations behind carrying out a
SA. This is a topic that typically evokes emotional - rather than objective
responses. The subject of SAs is controversial because it is difficult
within the religious community to come to a consensus as to whether or not
SAs are in violation of Islamic scriptures.

It is also a challenging subject when discussing this subject in the
political context. There are arguments on both sides as to whether it is an
effective tool in the arsenal against occupation. Many Palestinians, who in
practice may disagree with SAs, rarely vocally oppose its occurrence,
thereby allowing this practice to persist with impunity. Despite the myriad
difficulties in conducting research of this nature, we feel that this topic
cannot be ignored when evaluating the HR situation in Palestine. Therefore,
an organized effort must be made to educate the public about the social,
emotional, and legal ramifications of undertaking such actions.

The practice of SAs is a violation of international law, and the Palestinian
government must be held responsible for upholding the principles of HR.
According to international humanitarian law (IHL), the guidelines are
salient - the killing of civilians is illegal. However, the situation gains
complexity when trying to decide what actually constitutes a "civilian". The
presence of Israel as a military state further obfuscates this theoretical
simplicity.

Analyzing the causes that drive young Palestinian men and women to commit
SAs is a daunting task. Notwithstanding this difficulty, this paper attempts
to delineate the basic profile of SAers. Several contextual factors are
discussed - including the historical background and motivational factors.
Moreover, the opinions of Palestinian and Israeli professionals will add to
the overall analysis.

The purpose behind defining both the rationale and motivations behind SAs is
twofold. First, to hopefully reduce the number of further attacks. It is
hoped that this task may be addressed by publicly confronting such
motivations and subsequently dispelling them. Second, is to prevent false
labeling of SAers with specious psychological definitions that prove
effective only in leading the media, the public, and government officials
astray. Therefore, PHRMG asks that Palestinian professionals in particular
take note of our research and become more outspoken against the practice of
SAs. Indeed, the Palestinian voice is often missing or inaccurate on such
sensitive matters.

This paper conclusively eliminates numerous specious correlations and
stereotypes surrounding SAers - including that of being psychologically
disturbed, mentally incompetent, poverty-stricken, and driven by religious
fervor. We have shown that an insightful analysis portrays the average SAer
as a rational actor living in an irrational world, and thus susceptible to
modification. Indeed, SAers appear to be driven by strong nationalistic
zeal, systematic oppression by a population whose culture is significantly
different from their own, an ensuing feeling of helplessness and despair, a
devout hatred for a neighboring tangibly occupying force, and a false
assurance by organizations as well as a manipulation of religious scriptures
to more easily guide such individuals towards imminent self-destruction.

We have also conclusively demonstrated that Islam - and its underlying
ethos - is not inherently responsible for SAs. Islam is a religion and
culture that promotes peace and understanding. Unfortunately, it is the work
of manipulative theologists with significant influence who often obscure the
benign messages enshrined in the Qur'an.

The matter of public support has also been addressed. SAs, quite simply,
would naturally cease to exist if they materialized in a vacuum.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is largely the fault of both
political and religious leaders who continue to advocate its utility as well
as the media's known bias and social construction that this epidemic
persists. While some leaders and media journalists have altered their path
on this subject - a majority still either blatantly supports the use of SAs
or sends mixed messages, which simply complicates the complex. The PHRMG,
therefore, calls upon both its political and religious leaders and media
representatives to bring this matter into center stage and seriously educate
the population on the ramifications of such a futile and egregious means.

Email: admin@phrmg.org
________________________________________________
The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) is a Palestinian,
independent, non-governmental organization working to end human rights
violations committed against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and
East Jerusalem, regardless of those responsible. The members of the PHRMG
believe that the strength of democracy and civil society in Palestinian
society will be determined by the Palestinian people, through their defense
or neglect of human rights.
P.O. Box 19918
East Jerusalem 91198
Tel.:+972-2-583-8189
Fax:+972-2-5837197
www.phrmg.org