Critically acclaimed France-based author explores Suicide Bombers in book

Edited by Peggy Chan

In the West, the suicide bomber has become a familiar image in newspapers and on television. In Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and elsewhere, the results of suicide bombing have been devastating. What drives young men and women to become suicide bombers? This is not a question that is often addressed.

The remarkable book entitled Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs provides some of the answers, and explores how the suicide bomber relates to the concept of the martyr in fundamentalist Islam. Farhad Khosrokhavar contrasts it with the idea of the martyr in Christianity. Most importantly, he offers a clear insight into the different ways in which the concept is viewed within Islam, including divisions within Islamic fundamentalist groups, which change according to the political situation of the country in which they are based.

Drawing on extensive interviews with jailed Islamist militants, Farhad Khosrokhavar examines differing attitudes towards the 'sacred death' in various Islamic countries, including Iran, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt. He also investigates transnational networks such as Al-Qaeda, offering portraits of various prisoners who belong to the group.

Farhad Khosrokhavar distinguishes between two types of martyr: those from the developing world, who are excluded from what modernity has to offer; and the minority who live at the heart of the Western world -- a mainly middle-class diaspora from the Middle East and the Maghreb who are at ease with several cultural codes, but whose experience of the West is still marked by racism and discrimination.

Farhad Khosrokhavar is Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Cadis, Paris (France) since 1998. He was previously associate professor at EHESS-Cadis (1991-98) and Rockefeller Fellow (1990-91). His research interests include political sociology, sociology of religion, contemporary Islam, Iran. He has published extensively on Iran and Islam in Europe.

Become a Member:

Would you like to see other similar articles and critical commentaries in The Canadian National Newspaper? Then, show your support. Make a member-pledge donation, in support of the Membership Drive of the Pro-Democracy Media Foundation.

The Canadian can only continue to publish investigative articles on the "War on Terrorism", with the donations from members of the public in Canada, the U.S., and abroad. Consider making a donation of $20.00, $30.00, $50.00, $75.00 or more. Donors are eligible to receive our first collector's print edition in mail. Alternatively, you can send us a note to be placed on our special email list of members.

The Canadian is a socially progressive and not-for-profit national newspaper, with an international readership. We provide an alternative to the for-profit commercial focused media, which often censors vital information and perspective of potential interest to the diverse Canadian public, and other peoples internationally.

Become a member of The Canadian, with your donation-pledge. Help support independent, progressive, and not-for-profit journalism.