Sacred Suicide by Lewis James R. Cusack Carole M

Sacred Suicide by Lewis James R. Cusack Carole M

Author:Lewis, James R., Cusack, Carole M.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Published: 2014-06-11T16:00:00+00:00


Chapter 8

So Costly a Sacrifice Upon the Altar of Freedom: Human Bombs, Suicide Attacks, and Patriotic Heroes

Mattias Gardell

Introduction

In the biblical story of Samson (Judges 13–16), the hero commits mass murder by killing himself. The Israelites had lived under Philistine rule for forty years when God caused a barren women to give birth to a national liberator. “The boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb” said the angel. “He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Bestowed by God with supernatural strength, Samson performs daring deeds, such as killing a lion with his bare hands, burning down the Philistines’ grain stores, olive groves and vineyards, and slaying a thousand enemies with the jawbone of an ass. Eventually, Samson’s mistress Delilah made him reveal the secret of his strength: his head had never been shaved. One night when Samson was asleep, Delilah let someone shave off his hair. Samson’s eyes were gouged out, and he was brought to Gaza in shackles. Bound to a pair of supporting pillars in a temple before the Philistine nobles and thousands of spectators, Samson prayed to God that he would regain his power to get revenge on the Philistines. “Let me die with the Philistines,” said Samson, and he pulled the pillars together with such force that the house collapsed on the rulers and all the people who were gathered there. “Thus he was able to kill many more Philistines when he died than while he lived.”

The story of Samson and Delilah, with its themes of heroism, love, betrayal, and self-sacrifice, has fascinated people throughout history. Samson’s story has been portrayed in art, theatre, opera, film, and literature. In modern evangelical tradition, Samson is exemplary. For example, the Evangelical Brobyggarna (Bridge Builders) hail Samson as a “heroic freedom fighter,” “famous for his superhuman physical strength, resourcefulness and many accomplishments in his fight against the Philistines” (Brobyggarna 2008). In rabbinic literature, Samson embodies the Lord’s power, the righteous avenger. In secular Israeli nationalist discourse, Samson is a personification of Jewish strength, the male warrior hero who is willing to sacrifice his life for Israel’s victory. The “Samson Option” became the name of Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program that began in the mid-1960s (Hersh 1991). David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres, and Moshe Dayan regarded nuclear weapons as a last resort: like Samson, they would take the enemy with them in death. Israel’s willingness to act as Samson if attacked was hailed by popular apocalypticist Hal Lindsey: “Israel will not allow itself to be destroyed as a weakling, and certainly will not die alone, even if it has to destroy itself to nuke the Middle East” (Lindsey 2007).

Glorification of the male warrior who sacrifices his life to inflict defeat on the enemy has been a recurring feature of heroic tales for many centuries. So, why are we filled with such horror by the modern “suicide bomber” figure? Comparing empirical data collected mainly in Palestine during the second Intifada, this chapter on suicide attacks as a resistance strategy reflects on this issue.



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