The consequences
In Lebanon, radical movements claim that their terror tactics, however, inhuman, hastened the withdrawal of occupying forces. But elsewhere suicide bombings have tarnished struggles for justice in the eyes of many former supporters.
Palestinians under Israeli occupation seemed to gain far more ground during the First Intifada 'of stones', based on mass participation and demonstrations, than in the Second Intifada, where the struggle has been commandeered by a small fundamentalist elite. The suicide bombings debilitated Israel's growing peace movement and provided a pretext for crushing reprisals from the Israeli military against families of suicide bombers and their communities.
The impact in Britain
The bombings in Britain may have put beleaguered Muslims here at greater risk. Before 7/7 minority ethnic Britons who include most Muslims in the UK, were already disproportionately targeted for ‘stop and search’. Now many of them fear that they will be particularly vulnerable in the face of a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy against suspected suicide bombers, further anti-terror laws and the introduction of ID cards. The tabloid press have used the fact that two suspects for the failed 21 July bombings came to Britain as child refugees to draw a facile equation between asylum-seekers, immigrants and terrorists. In the next breath they hypocritically accuse bombers of attacking Britain’s diversity.
Non-violent alternatives
The use of suicide terror methods compromises those seeking to redress genuine grievances. There are examples of effective non-violent alternatives for peoples and nations seeking freedom and dignity.
India's struggle for independence led by Ghandi, and the black struggle for civil rights in America led by Martin Luther King achieved many goals by peaceful means. The ousting of President Marcos in the Philippines in 1986, and the fall of oppressive regimes in Eastern Europe, were brought about by 'people power' employing peaceful means. So were the recent ousting of president Akayev in Kyrgyzstan and 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Suicide bombs are an appalling, inhuman tactic that has been called into service in pursuit of understandable political goals. The use of peaceful means enables the majority to participate and offers real hope for a peaceful future.