ination by foreigners, especially the Great Satan, or local proxies allied to the
Great Satan, from Saudi princes to Israeli PMs, they would seek voice and
redress though legitimate channels, and failing that, through violence.^45 Seeking
entrance to heaven in the next world, is not the goal.
A number of scholarly studies have shown that most jihadis are not moti-
vated by religion. In his analysis, Papes (2005) analyzed thousands of cases
of suicide-terrorism. In his interview with the American Conservative, he
summarized his findings:
The central fact is that overwhelmingly suicide-terrorist attacks are not dri-
ven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel
modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the
terrorists view as their homeland.... Since suicide terrorism is mainly a
response to foreign occupation and not Islamic fundamentalism, the use of
heavy military force to transform Muslim societies over there, if you would,
is only likely to increase the number of suicide terrorists coming at us.^46Similarly, for theWashington-based Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS):
Most were motivated by “revulsion at the idea of an Arab land being occu-
pied by a non-Arab country.” [They are] often from middle class families
of prominent conservative tribes. Many were well-educated and had jobs.^47For Islam, martyrdom has a strong historical precedent, much like Christianity
that sees its founder and early followers as martyrs from either crucifixion
or their fates in the Roman spectacles. While Shia and Sunni Muslims diverge
on the question of Ali as the successor, both find his death in battle as mar-
tyrdom, a highly praised virtue.^48
From the Caliphate to the Shaheedim• 325(^45) The Israeli occupation of the West Bank has been declared a violation of UN law,
just as the World court claimed the separation barrier illegal. Yet Israel has ignored
all legal challenges to its occupation. In much the same way, the invasion of Iraq by
GW Bush was not approved by the UN. This did not stop the invasion. In both cases,
without armies to fight the US, 46 shaheedenoperation are the only available weapon.
47 http://www.amconmag.com/2005_07_18/article.html
48 http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=1136691
So too does Christianity rest on the martyrdom of Jesus and the fate of his fol-
lowers in the Roman arenas. Even Judaism, in its recent constructions of history have
seen Masada as the symbol of its willingness to die before surrender.