Dying To Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror

281 Pages·2005·4.24 MB·English

by  Mia Bloom

DYING TO KILL
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D Y I N G T O K I L L
allure suicide terror
The of
M i a B l o o m
columbia university press new york
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columbia university press
Publishers Since 
new york chichester, west sussex
Copyright ©  Columbia University Press
All rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dying to kill : the allure of suicide terror / Mia Bloom
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN ––– (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN ––– (electronic)
. Terrorism. . Suicide bombers. . Nongovernmental organizations
HV .B 
.—dc /   
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and
durable acid-free paper
Printed in the United States of America
c          
References to Internet Web Sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for Web sites
that may have expired or changed since the articles in this book were prepared.
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For betty and joe
In loving memory of joe, my father,
and ehud sprinzak, my mentor, and
all the victims of suicide terror
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CONTENTS
acknowledgments ix
abbreviations xiii
chapter 1. Introduction: The Historical Antecedents
of Terror 1
chapter 2. Palestinian Suicide Bombing: Public Support,
Market Share and Outbidding 19
chapter 3. E thnic Conflict, State Terror and Suicide
Bombing in Sri Lanka 45
chapter 4. Devising a Theory of Suicide Terror 76
chapter 5. H alting Suicide Terror from Within:
the PKK in Turkey 101
chapter 6. T error 101: The Transnational Contagion
Effects of Suicide Bombing 120
chapter 7. F eminism, Rape and War:
Engendering Suicide Terror? 142
chapter 8. Conclusions and Prospects for the Future:
Will Iraq Cause Suicide Terror at Home? 166
appendix 193
notes 203
index 239
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many people who deserve special thanks. First and
foremost, I dedicate this book to my parents Betty Bloom and Joe Grynwald,
for all their love and support over the years.
I am grateful to Columbia University Press and to Anne Routon and
Peter Dimock for their advice, comments, and suggestions. I thank Leslie
Bialler for all of his assistance making the manuscript much more readable.
Anne, you made what should ordinarily have been an ordeal, a pleasure!
Peter, your enthusiastic support of this project was the difference between a
few random ideas and a coherent work.
To my mentors, without whom I would have given up a long time ago,
Dick Bulliet, Roy Licklider, Chaim Kaufmann, Ed Rhodes, and Dick Ullman.
You were such excellent advisors. I cannot thank you enough for your im-
measurable patience and good will. I am likewise grateful to Martha Cren-
shaw and Ehud Sprinzak who inspired this research and Bruce Hoffman
whose comments and encouragement have been invaluable over the years.
Ehud saw in me, at very young age, the potential to be a serious scholar and
was extremely proud when I finally fulfilled his vision. He is sorely missed by
friends and colleagues alike.
I am indebted to the granting agencies and institutes who provided assis-
tance or research money to fund portions of this book, including the SSRC
MacArthur Foundation, Global Security and Cooperation Award, the Unit-
ed States Institute of Peace, the International Center for Ethnic Studies in
Sri Lanka, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Center of International
Studies at Princeton University, especially the support of Richard Ullman
and Robert Gilpin. I thank the staff of the Office of Counter Terrorism in
Trenton, NJ, for their support of my work. I am grateful for the research as-
sistance of Shanthi Divakaran and Minari Fernando in Sri Lanka and Nicole
Cordeau and Patrick Hynes in Montreal.
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