The female Jihad: Al Qaeda's women

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism

Volumn 30, Issue 5, 2007, Pages 397-414

  von Knop, Katharina ^a  

^a George C Marshall European Center for Security Studies   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33947718851     PISSN: 1057610X     EISSN: 15210731     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10576100701258585     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Umm Badr, quoted in Al-Qaida Womens Magazine, "Women Must Participate in Jihad," MEMRI, available at (http://memri.org/bin/ articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP77904), accessed 5 November 2005.
2. Yoram Schweitzer, "Female Suicide Bombers for God," Telavivnotes, No. 88, 9 October 2003,
3. Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, available at (http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/tanotes/TAUnotes88.doc), accessed 5 November 2005.
4. Rhiannon Talbot "The Unexpected Face of Terrorism," This is the North East, available at (http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the north_east/news/attack/310102_3.html), accessed 2 November 2005.
5. Karla J. Cunningham, "Cross-Regional Trends in Female Terrorism." Studies of Conflict and Terrorism 26 (2003), p. 172.
6. See also Cunningham (note 9).
7. The German terrorist organization RAF uses women for its operations but this group is by its origin and its ideology very different than other terrorism organizations and for that reason the RAF will be not analyzed in this article.
8. Clara Beyler, "Messenger of Death, Female Suicide Bombers," 12 February 2003, ICT, available at (http://www.ict.org.il), accessed 15 October 2005, p. 2.
9. The Israeli Security Agency recently exposed a network ofwomenwho filled key Palestinian Islamic Jihad posts in Judea. Some of them participated in its terrorist logistics and financial support systems. They received funds from PIJ headquarters in Syria for terrorist operatives in Judea, Jerusalem, and Ramallah. Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies, 9 November 2006, available at (http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/).
10. Karla J. Cunningham, "Countering Female Terrorism," Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 30 (2007), p. 117.
11. Barbara Victor, Army of Roses: Inside the World of Palestinian Suicide Bombers (New York: St. Martin's Press 2003), p. 192.
12. Leonard Weinberg and William Lee Eubank, "Italian Women Terrorists in Terrorism," An International Journal, 9(3) (1989), p. 242.
13. Steven Lee Meyers, "Female Suicide Bombers Unnerve Russians," New York Times, 7 August 2003, A1.
14. Meyers (note 17); Mark MacKinnon, "Subway bomber may be Chechen 'black widow.'" Globe and Mail 7 February 2004, A10.
15. Luisella DeCataldo Neuburger and Tiziana Valentini, Women and Terrorism (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996), p. 91.
16. Cunningham, "Cross-Regional Trends," (note 9), p. 180.
17. Vidyamali Samaranghe, "Soldiers, Housewives and Peace Makers: Ethnic Conflict and Gender," Sri Lanka, Ethnic Studies Report XIV(2) (July 1996), p. 211.
18. Cunningham, "Cross-Regional Trends," (note 9), p. 175.
19. Martha Crenshaw "The Logic of Terrorism: Terrorist Behaviour as a Product of a Strategic Choice." In Origins of Terrorism, ed.Walter Reich (Washington, D.C.: TheWoodrowWilson Centre Press,1990), pp. 7-8.
20. Cunningham, "Cross-Regional Trends," (note 9), p. 172.
21. Rhiannon Talbot, "Myths in the Representation ofWomen Terrorists," Eire-Ireland, 35(3-4) (Fall-Winter 2000), p. 180.
22. A full exploration of this topic, however, is well beyond the scope of this article. For further analyses, see Victor (note 15), pp. 96-115;
23. Mia Bloom, "Feminism, Rape and War: Engendering Suicide Terror?" Dying to Kill: The Global Phenomenon of Suicide Terror (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), pp. 197-201.
24. Audrey Kurt Cronin, "Terrorist and Suicide Attacks." CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service Library of Congress, 28 August 2003, Order Code RL32058, pp. 14-15.
25. "It's a Woman!" in Al-Sha'ab editorial (Egypt), 1 February 2002.
26. Cited in MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis Series, No. 84, p. 13. Februray 2002. Available at (http://memri.org/bin/ opener.cgi?Page=archives&ID=IA8402), accessed 2 March 2004.
27. Bruce Hoffman, "Al Qaeda, Trends in Terrorism, and Future Potentialities: An Assessment," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 26 (2003), pp 429-442.
28. Peter Schalk, "Women Fighters of the Liberation Tigers in Tamil Elam: The Martial Feminism of Atel Palacinkam," South East Asia Research, 14(2) (1994), p. 165.
29. Nicole Winfield, "Women Suicide Bombers Killed Three Soldiers," The Standard Times, available at (http://www.s-t.com/daily/04-03/04-05-03/a02wn020.htm), accessed 5 November 2005;
30. Ibrahim Khalili "Iraqi Women Suicide Bombers in Shia News," available at (http://www.shianews.com/hi/middle_east/news_id/0000782.php, accessed 5 November, 2005.
31. "Girls guilty of terror charges." In BBC news UK edition, available at (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3153110.stm) accessed 4 January 2005.
32. IWPR Staff in Central Asia: Uzbek Suicide Bombers don't match terrorist profile, 22. April 2004 in ISN Security Watch, available at (http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=8709), accessed 5 November 2005.
33. "Verhaftungswelle nach zwei Anschlägen auf Touristen in Kairo, Erstmals verüben Frauen ein Selbstmordattentat," Neue Züricher Zeitung No. 226, p. 1.
34. "Woman Suicide Bomber Strikes Iraq," BBC News, available at (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4289168.stm), accessed 14 November 2005.
35. Jackie Spinner, "Female Suicide Bomber Attacks U.S. Military Post," Washington Post, 29 September 2005, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/ AR2005092801631.html), accessed 5 November 2005.
36. Hassan M. Fattah, "Jordan Arrests Iraqi Woman in Hotel Blasts," The New York Times, 14 November 2005, available at (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/international/middle_east/ 14amman.html), accessed, 14 November 2005.
37. "U.S. Held Iraqi With Same Name as Bomber," New York Times, 14 November 2005, available at (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/ international/AP-Iraq-Jordan.html), accessed 14 November 2005.
38. Craig S. Smith, "Raised as a Catholic, She Died as a Muslim Bomber," New York Times, 6 December 2005.
39. Smith (note 40).
40. "FBI Warns of Al-Qaeda Women," CBSNews.com, 1 April 2003, available at (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/01/attack/ main547237.shtml), accessed 4 January 2005.
41. "Code Pink: Al Qaida Announces Women's Suicide Division," World Tribune.com, 18 March 2003, available at (http://216.23.163.62/2003/ me_terror 03 18-html), accessed 4 January 2005.
42. "FBI: Seeking Information, Aafa Siddiqui," FBI.gov, available at (http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/siddiqui.htm), accessed 4 January 2005.
43. "Italy Terror Suspect Arrested," CNN, available at (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/World/Europe/11/29/italy.terror), accessed 4 January 2005.
44. "Dutch Police Arrest 21-Year-Old Female Terrorist Suspect," AFP, 3 November 2005.
45. Sebastian Rotella, "Jihadi Feminism, Until Recently, al-Qaida-Aligned Networks Adhered to a Strict Separation of the Sexes. But More and More Women in Europe are Joining the Suicide Ranks of Islamic Extremism," Jerusalem Post, 15 January 2006.
46. David Cook, "Women Fighting Jihad?" Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 28 (2005), p. 380.
47. Cook (note 48), p. 380.
48. Yusuf al-Ayyiri, "Dawr al-nisafi jihad al-ada," E-Prism, available at (http://www.eprism.org/pages/5/), accesed 4 March 2006.
49. He was killed by Saudi security forces in May 2003.
50. "Document on Jihadist Message Board Calls forWomen to Take Active Role in Jihad," SITE Institute, available at (http://siteinstitute.org/bin/printerfriendly/pf.cgi), accessed 16 October 2005.
51. One of the five pillars in Islam is the pilgrimage to Mekka, the hajj.
52. Cook (note 48), p. 382.
53. Both were shot by the Saudi Police in 2004.
54. "Al-Qaida Womens Magazine: Women must Participate in Jihad," Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center of Special Studies, available at (http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/memri/ sep_e_04.htm), accessed 16 October 2005.
55. Busool (note 55).
56. Rawya Rageh, "Islamist Women use the Web for War with the Infidels," The Washington Times, 28 August 2004, available at (http://washtimes.com/world/20040827-110032-4232r.htm) accessed 4 January 2005.
57. "Document on Jihadist Message Board Calls forWomen to Take Active Role in Jihad," Site Institute, available at (http://siteinstitute.org/bin/printerfriendly/pf.cgi), accessed 16 October 2005.
58. Assad Nimer Busool, Muslim Women Warriors (Chicago, Illinois: Al Huda, 1995), pp. 35-37.
59. Busool (note 55), pp. 34-35.
60. Frank Jansen, "47 Frauen für Anschläge geworben?" Der Tagesspiegel, 1 June 2006.
61. The Muslim Women, available at (http://www.themuslimwomen.com/ sisterhoodIslam.htm), accessed 4 January 2005.
62. Al-Tawheed is one of the uncountable Al Qaeda affiliated organizations.
63. Meenara Khan, The Muslim Women, available at (http://www.themuslimwomen.com/) accessed 4 January 2005.
64. Interview with journalist Andrea Bleicher.
65. Cook (note 48), p. 377.
66. Kelly Mcevers, "The Women of Jemaah Islamiah," BBC News World Edition, available at (http://news.bbc.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3382762.stm), accessed 4 January 2005.
67. His real name is Riduan Isamuddin.