The ethnography of despair: Suicide bombing during the second Palestinian intifada, 2000–2004

In explaining suicide bombing, rational-choice theorists such as Robert A. Pape argue that non-state insurgent organizations resort to suicide bombing as a way of dislodging an occupying state army from land the insurgents view as their homeland. However, suicide bombings during the second Palestinian intifada (uprising), from 2000 to 2004, complicate this view of suicide bombing, in which insurgents in nationalist organizations recruit, train and deploy suicide bombers in pursuit of political concessions. This is so as suicide bombings were carried out in greatly increased numbers during the second intifada, with insurgents often being approached by would-be suicide bombers, who demanded to be sent on “missions.” In this thesis I seek to understand why Palestinian support for suicide bombings directed at civilians surged upwards after the second intifada had erupted, in contrast to earlier periods. A primary tool used to answer this question is ethnography (using existing interviews and biographical information compiled by previous researchers and journalists), which looks for answers from the participants themselves, usually through interviews of bombers’ friends and family members, and insurgents. In fact, many of the interviewees cited in this thesis concur that many suicide bombings were embarked upon and public support for them spiked upwards because of anger at Israeli security actions, especially the use of live ammunition on demonstrators. Biographical information on suicide bombers also supports this hypothesis. I also look at the role played by the generational conflict between the older generation of Palestinian secular nationalists and the younger generation of religious-nationalists, namely Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in driving the violence of the suicide bombing phenomenon. This approach can provide a corrective to rational-choice theories, as it provides access to a greater level of participant-centered detail