The Smile of the Human Bomb
New Perspectives on Suicide Terrorism
by Gideon Aran
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Pub Date Sep 15 2018 | Archive Date Sep 15 2018
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Description
In 2017, nearly six thousand people were killed in suicide attacks across the world.
In The Smile of the Human Bomb, Gideon Aran dissects the moral logic of the suicide terrorism that led to those deaths. The book is a firsthand examination of the bomb site at the moment of the explosion, during the first few minutes after the explosion, and in the last moments before the explosion. Aran uncovers the suicide bomber’s final preparations before embarking on the suicide mission: the border crossing, the journey toward the designated target, penetration into the site, and the behavior of both sides within it. The book sheds light on the truth of the human bomb.
Aran’s gritty and often disturbing account is built on a foundation of participant observation with squads of pious Jewish volunteers who gather the scorched fragments of the dead after terrorist attacks; newly revealed documents, including interrogation protocols; interviews with Palestinian armed resistance members and retired Israeli counterterrorism agents; observations of failed suicide terrorists in jail; and conversations with the acquaintances of human bombs.
The Smile of the Human Bomb provides new insights on the Middle East conflict, political violence, radicalism, victimhood, ritual, and death and unveils a suicide terrorism scene far different from what is conventionally pictured. In the end, Aran discovers, the suicide terrorist is an unremarkable figure, and the circumstances of his or her recruitment and operation are prosaic and often accidental. The smiling human bomb is neither larger than life nor a monster, but an actor on a human scale. And suicide terrorism is a drama in which clichés and chance events play their role.
Advance Praise
"This is a remarkable exploration of the meaning of suicide terrorism. It is an intellectual journey through personal accounts of victims and inside views of the Zaka movement of Orthodox Jews who locate bits of flesh remaining after suicide attacks. This is a thoughtful, sensitively written tour de force by one of Israel’s leading anthropologists, and the scope of his book is wide-ranging, touching on themes that are relevant to the many forms of religious extremism around the world."
- Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence
"This is a terrific book: fascinating, smart, and enlightening. Aran makes an important contribution to the field, and this is one of the best studies of the phenomenon of suicide terrorism and even of terrorism broadly conceived."
- Barak Mendelsohn, author of The al-Qaeda Franchise: The Expansion of al-Qaeda and Its Consequences
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781501724756 |
| PRICE | $34.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 376 |
Featured Reviews
Baglan D, Reviewer
Although I have been reading on death's political meaning in general and suicide bombing in particular over two years now, this is my first book on the Palestinian conflict which, as the author also reminds readers in his concluding remarks, the most prolific area of "case study" that they work on, maybe disproportionately. This is probably because you can interview Palestinians and Israelis without the imminent threat of getting killed, at least the danger is not as great as it is in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan where most of the suicide bombing globally takes place.
The main strength of the book in my opinion is interviews with ZAKA volunteers, ultra-Orthodox Israelis who arrive at the scene of the bombing and "sort out" the remains of the victims and the bomber. As the author admits, the Palestinian accounts are much more limited, not only the propoaganda machine starts whirring after a suicide bombing occurs (and it does), but quite probably ordinary Palestinians did not want to talk to an Israeli on this issue. As a result, the Palestinian accounts are limited to high officials and Palestinian "engineers" of suicide bombing most of whom have legendary status in the Occupied Territories.
I would have liked to hear more from the author from the side of philosophy on the undecidability of the "victim" status in suicide bombing (is suicide bomber also a victim?) and the mingling of body parts in the aftermath of the attack (admittedly, Aran discusses the issue at some length, albeit in a speculative tone). Of course, sacrifice also plays a role ("qorban" originates from "qor-", being close) and much remains to be talked about and written on the Sunni tradition of sacrifice (sacrifice in Islam is usually thought alongside the Shia tradition).
Mandy J, Reviewer
It’s very hard to imagine the motivation of a suicide bomber. I don’t think many of us can understand what drives someone to commit such an act. This thoughtful, detailed and insightful book makes an attempt to explain the inexplicable. It’s a thorough and detailed exploration of suicide terrorism, focusing primarily on Palestine, but with obvious resonance to other areas of the world. In 2017 nearly 6,000 people were killed in suicide attacks across the world and the more we can understand these attacks the easier, perhaps, it will be to counter them. It’s not an easy read, both intellectually and emotionally, but I found it illuminating and enlightening and feel that it has deepened my understanding of this almost incomprehensible issue. I’m not knowledgeable enough to judge whether the author’s conclusions and insights are correct or not, but I certainly found this a fascinating and thought-provoking book.
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