Opinion
 

Suicide bomber neither selfless nor heroic

By Jennifer Jackson

Since Jan. 14, the Palestinian media has been buzzing with the words Istish-haad (heroic martyrdom) in connection with the name of 22-year-old Reem Raiyshi. Raiyshi, a wife and mother of two, strapped a bomb to her chest, walked into a Gaza Strip checkpoint and blew herself up, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding four of her fellow Palestinians.

Raiyshi's act was the last straw for Israeli authorities who responded by sealing off the Gaza Strip. Because they must now be cautious and suspicious of any Palestinian crossing its borders, Israel is cracking down harder by not allowing any Palestinians to enter or leave. Palestinians can no longer get to their jobs in Israel, making an already struggling economy worse. 

But aside from the fact that her act resulted in harm, rather than help for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Raiyshi also left two children motherless.

And for doing all this, she is called a hero?

The definition of a hero, as found in Webster's Third New International Dictionary, includes words such as "courage" and "strength." Any suicidal person can tell you it takes much more strength to live than it does to die.

In a suicide message recorded by Hamas before the bombing, Raiyshi mentioned her long-held desire to be a "woman martyr." But the dictionary defines martyr as "One who sacrifices his life, station, or what is of great value for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause." The only thing Raiyshi sacrificed was more of her nation's freedom.

What is apparently very difficult for humans to grasp in the case of "martyrs" like Raiyshi is that there are far more dear things than our life we can sacrifice to further a cause. But anyone who has a life-long dream of being a martyr is only fulfilling a personal wish, not denying herself for the "good of her people." There is no selflessness in the act, nor does the act achieve anything for the cause. 

Although most Palestinians hailed her as a hero, there were those who recognized the nobler task she shirked, including one woman who said, "Allah would be just as pleased with her if she had lived and raised her two children."

Even her husband, while admiring her "courage," lamented openly that his two children were now motherless.

Raiyshi is neither a hero, nor a martyr. What she wanted was worldwide attention, which she got, and a chance to "further her cause," which she did not achieve. But all her children know is that she abandoned them, because the daily routine of self-sacrifice required to raise children was not as exciting as death.

When her children want to be hugged and comforted, or when they are hungry because their father is jobless, I doubt the thought of their mother's "heroic" act will be an adequate solace to them.

Raiyshi could have shown the most heroic strength by staying alive in extreme hardship. She could have been a selfless martyr by taking up the most challenging task of all, that of raising children. 

Jackson, an editorial writer for The Daily Cougar,
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu.