The mainstream American critique of the centrality of Islam in Arab culture often implies that religion is not important at home. Yet evangelical Christianity has been occupying an increasingly... Show moreThe mainstream American critique of the centrality of Islam in Arab culture often implies that religion is not important at home. Yet evangelical Christianity has been occupying an increasingly more prominent place in contemporary popular American culture. Just as Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of the Christ, has towered over competitors at the box office, so too have millenarian Christian texts—fictional and otherwise— been appearing in, and dominating, American best-seller lists. The popularity of these texts suggests that many American audiences are viewing contemporary events in the Middle East through an extremist evangelical lens. Show less
Suicide attacks have increased dramatically in the Middle East over the past year with the war in Iraq and the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This rise in suicide attacks is... Show moreSuicide attacks have increased dramatically in the Middle East over the past year with the war in Iraq and the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This rise in suicide attacks is remarkable given that the total number of terrorist incidents worldwide fell from its peak of 665 in 1986 to 190 in 2003 alone, whereas the incidents of suicide attacks increased from 31 in the 1980s to 98 in 20031. There is growing evidence that current American domestic and foreign policies may be further contributing to an acceleration of this trend. Show less
Suicide attacks referred to as “martyrdomoperations” by their executors and sympathizers, have become a weapon of mainly Islamist groups in the Middle East. The first suicide attacks in the early... Show moreSuicide attacks referred to as “martyrdomoperations” by their executors and sympathizers, have become a weapon of mainly Islamist groups in the Middle East. The first suicide attacks in the early 1980s in Lebanon met with criticism, in particular among the Sunni religious establishment. Though they were then regarded as violations of Islamic principles, today suicide attacks receive broader popular support and religious backing—and are understood—within the context of legitimate resistance and national struggle for liberation. Show less
In 1972 three members of the Japanese Red Army carried out a notorious suicide attack on people gathered in one of the halls of Tel Aviv airport; they killed twenty people and wounded eighty. A few... Show moreIn 1972 three members of the Japanese Red Army carried out a notorious suicide attack on people gathered in one of the halls of Tel Aviv airport; they killed twenty people and wounded eighty. A few days after 11 September, a Swiss man killed several members of the regional parliament of Zug and then killed himself. These two examples are given in response to those narrow explanations of the phenomena of violence, death, martyrdom and suicide that see them in the light of the 'clash of civilizations', bearing in mind that only a very short space of time separates us from the American Unabomber, the Japanese Aum sect and Timothy McVeigh, all of whom were driven, respectively, by their anti-technology delusions, their rush to reach the millennium and their hatred of the federal government, to shorten the distance that separates life from death. Show less
