The capture, just last week, of a 21-year-old Palestinian woman at the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel on her way to carry out a suicide bombing mission in southern Israel brought to international attention a troubling and increasingly common phenomenon – that of the female suicide bomber. On the same day that Kuwait swore into office its first female cabinet member, a Palestinian woman was preparing herself for “martyrdom” on the model of the eight women who preceded her successfully in this deadly task.

In contrast to the revulsion that greets suicide bombing in general – and, more specifically, female suicide bombing – in the West, in the Arab world the act of female martyrdom within the framework of the Palestinian national struggle has been widely trumpeted as a sign of the emancipation of women. For example, in the aftermath of the first female suicide attack, carried out by Wafa Idris in Jerusalem on January 27, 2002, the act of bombing was showered with praise by a number of Arabic press outlets. For example, the Egyptian daily Al-Akhbar wrote that “Palestinian women have torn gender classification out of their birth certificates, declaring that sacrifice for the Palestinian homeland would not be for men alone. “During a funeral staged for Idris, a member of the PLO’s Fatah faction talked about “the restored honor to the national role of the Palestinian woman.”

Since Idris’s suicide attack, seven more Palestinian women have carried out successful suicide bombings, while almost a dozen others have failed to complete their missions and today reside in the women’s wing of the Hadarim prison in central Israel. On June 20, the most recent intended bomber, a young woman from the Jabaliah refugee camp in northern Gaza, Wafa Ibrahim al-Bass, attempted to carry out an attack in a Beersheva hospital where she had been previously treated for severe burns, and possessed the required medical authorization to go for further treatments.

An Al-Quds Open University student, al Bass was sent by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and carried 10 kilos of explosives sewn to her underwear. She raised suspicions among Israeli soldiers at the Erez checkpoint and attempted to detonate the bomb several times, but failed. When interviewed by Israeli and foreign press, she gave several versions of the reasons behind the thwarted attack, invoking first her belief in Allah and her childhood wish to be a martyr. During another interview, she then changed her version of the facts, saying she was unaware of the explosives and was in fact a victim.

Although Palestinian women’s motivations in carrying out suicide attacks have varied, what is clear is that personal despair alone was never the primary motivating factor behind any single attack. Rather, behind each and every attack lies a terrorist infrastructure organized by rational male decision-makers. While some of the women suicide bombers were recruited for the lethal mission, others volunteered to carry out what they interpret as a religious duty and the advancement of their struggle.

A poll conducted in Gaza in 2002 by a psychologist, Fatsil Abu Hin, found that 73% of children aged 9 to 17 years old expressed their desire to become martyrs. Many young girls perceive martyrdom, including suicide bombing, as an acceptable path in life on account of the precedents set by past female suicide bombers. While the leaders of Palestinian terrorist organizations view women’s participation in suicide operations as preferable since they arouse fewer suspicions for security forces than men, it has the added effect of diverting attention from gender inequalities existing in Palestinian society.

In a strange and telling juxtaposition of events within the realm of Arab women’s empowerment, the day that Wafa al-Bass briefly entered into the international spotlight as the most identifiable Palestinian woman marked the very same day that another woman, in Kuwait, set a more positive example for her fellow Arab women by attaining a post in her country’s cabinet.

As a result of a long series of constitutional challenges begun in the late-1990s, a Kuwaiti gender segregation law dating from 1962 preventing women’s participation in elections was finally overturned. Women’s rights activist Massouma al-Mubarak, nominated to serve as minister of planning, joined the ranks of women in the Kuwaiti government, which currently include two at the municipal level. Ms. Mubarak’s appointment caused an uproar among conservatives and fundamentalists in the halls of parliament where she took her oath, but there has been no backing away from this move. Kuwaiti women, having reached the pinnacle of their political empowerment thus far, offer a hopeful model for much of the surrounding region.

Women hold two minor ministerial posts in the cabinet of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestinian Legislative Council has fixed a 20% female quota for municipal councils. Yet the Palestine Report cites activist Nadia Hamdan’s claims that a number of women who participated in the December 2004 municipal elections did so because they were pushed by their husbands to take advantage of the new law in order to advance their own parties and allegiances.

Palestinian women seem to be empowered on paper. However, there has yet to be a forceful voice raised from within Palestinian society or women’s NGOs operating within the Palestinian territories against the use of women as human bombs. A real debate needs to be generated among Palestinian women themselves where the value of their lives as sisters, wives, mothers, and future leaders can overcome the prejudices of those who see them only as dispensable tools in the present conflict. On that day, Palestinian women will be noticed for their involvement in politics and even their leadership in building a healthy and free society, in place of the cult of death and martyrdom that continues to occupy an overly dominant position in their everyday lives.