| Poverty
or Lack of Education and Terrorism:
Between Theory and Practice Dr.
Hillel Avihai |
| 'At
the bottom of terrorism is poverty.' |
| Desmond
Tutu |
In
discussing possible roots of terrorism, some theorists point to poverty as a catalyst
for violence in general and terrorism in particular.
The affiliation of the
poor with political violence may be located within Mao Zedong's philosophy, arguing
that the struggle (in this case guerrilla) is based on solidarity with the poor.
The poor may be classified as peasants. According to Zedong, solidarity with the
poor is a vital element of the struggle, and the party should fight but should
also have a political agenda for those who would be willing to take an active
role in the revolution .
This
conceptual point of view was adopted by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
He is constantly claiming that by providing an economic infrastructure for the
Palestinians, their passion for terrorism would diminish. It seems that no solid
connection exists between poverty and terrorism. Potential terrorists emerge from
all societies, social, political and economic classes. For years Israeli security
services relied on the system of building a profile of the potential terrorist.
Indeed, for some time the assumption that the potential terrorist (or suicide-bomber)
was a poor refugee youngster who was willing to kill himself so that his family
would receive financial assistance had some relevancy.
However,
recent terrorist attacks have turned the traditional profile upside down. Married
males, single women, young mothers, middle-class youngsters and respected professionals
have been involved in terrorism, some of them even as suicide-bombers. Perhaps
strong link exists between poverty and lack of education; therefore poverty is
conjoined with illiteracy. However, little evidence reveals a link between poverty/illiteracy
and terrorism. One may find that neither poverty nor a lack of education is necessarily
the source of terrorism, as found in the research of Krueger and Maleckova.
Their
research stands in contrast to South African Desmond Tutu's and South Korean Kim
Dae Jung's statement that 'At the bottom of terrorism is poverty.' Apparently,
poverty as a phenomenon is not sufficient in determining the sources of terrorism.
The same assumption is found in President Bush's speech, when he declared:'…We
fight poverty because hope is the answer to terror…' . Poverty may be a catalyst
inter alia for other motivations, but is certainly not the only reason for producing
terrorism.
Some of the September 11th suicide hijackers were single males
from middle-class families; they were neither poor nor uneducated; some of them
were university graduates. Some of them had western lifestyles, such as joining
clubs and patronizing restaurants. None of them suffered from poverty .
Ulrike
Meinhof, the West-German terrorist leader of the Baader-Meinhof gang was a journalist
by profession, certainly not lower-class or a poor victim. Her colleague, Andreas
Baader, a left-wing West German terrorist was a product of a middle-class family;
his father was an historian. Illich Ramirez Sanches ('Carlos the Jackal') came
from the middle-class; his father was a lawyer. The same was related to Kozo Okomoto
of the Rengo Sekigun (Japanese Red Army), the only survivor of the attack at Lod
Airport (30 May 1972). Okomoto's mother was a social worker; his father was an
elementary school principal who had to resign from his job after Kozo's brother,
Takeshi, hijacked a Japan Air-Lines jet to Korea on 31 March 1970.
Similarly,
Wilfred Boese, who played a major part in the hijacking of the 'Air France' airliner
on 27 June 1976 to Entebbe was a lawyer (certainly, neither poor nor suffering
from a lack of education); and so is Nabih Berri, the 'Amal' leader is also a
lawyer. Romanenko, the terrorist revolutionary, was well educated and the Narodnaya
Volya terrorist movement that operated in Russia had its roots in the Russian
intelligentsia, believing that political terrorism was the weapon of the revolutionary
struggle.
Mohammed Atta, the leader of the September 11th group, came from
the middle-class; his father was a lawyer, one of his sisters is a doctor, and
another a professor. Ahmed Ramzi Yousef (whose real name is Abd al-Basit Balushi),
who was charged in the US for the attempt to blow-up the World Trade Centre (WTC)
in 1993, and later tried to blow-up eleven American jets over the Pacific, graduated
from Welsh Swansea University with a degree in Engineering (1989). Yousef's father
was an engineer for Kuwaiti Airlines. The attack and hostage-taking at the Moscow
Theatre by Chechnyan terrorists (23 October 2002), reinforces the fact that one
cannot always link the lack of education or low intelligence with the rise of
terrorism. An accountant, a teacher and an actress were among the female Chechnyan
terrorists; neither poverty nor lack of education is believed to be this a characteristic
of those in this organization.
Omar Sheikh, a 27 year old terrorist, is blamed
for murdering the American-Jewish Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl
in Pakistan in February 2002. Sheikh came from a wealthy family and received a
high level of education. His background did not match the sadistic and harsh way
in which Pearl was murdered. Some of the Aum Shinri Kyo terrorist group, responsible
for the Sarin nerve gas attack in Tokyo's underground station (20 March 1995)
were highly-educated. The group included a surgeon, three physicians, and an electrical
engineer .
The first suicide attack in Western Europe was an attack on the
London Underground and a bus on July 7 2005. The attack was carried out by four
British citizens, which emphasizes the fact that none of the terrorists grew up
in poor homes. The eldest, Mohammed Sidic Han, was married and a father of a 14
month-old girl, and was a teacher in Leeds where he lived. His occupation emphasizes
that he was not poor.
The female suicide-bomber who blew herself up in Israeli
restaurant in the city of Haifa on Saturday, 4 October 2003, was a 29 year old
female lawyer, named Hanadi Jaradat. Her professional occupation, and lack of
financial debts are all atypical of the profile of a suicide bomber. Jaradat's
motivation for becoming a suicide bomber is probably located somewhere in her
family: Jaradat brother, Fadi, an Islamic Jihad member, was killed during a military
action against the Israeli army. The same happened to Jaradat's cousin, Salah
Jaradat. These incidents were probably what caused her to commit the terrorist
attack. This fact may emphasize the reality that political frustration or a grievance,
as well as the desire for revenge may encourage all kinds of people to commit
an act which in Western eyes may appear to be an act of insanity.
Jaradat's
case is not isolated. It is worthwhile to mention that according to the Israeli
intelligence investigations, Jaradat was fully aware of what she was about to
do. She sent an SMS message to her handler using her cellular phone, confirming
her position at the 'Maxim' restaurant in Haifa .
This search for a possible
link between poverty and terrorism is emphasized by scholars such as Charles A.
Russell who investigated 350 cases of worldwide terrorism, and realized,'…These
terrorists come from affluent, urban, middle-class families, many of whom enjoy
considerable social prestige…' Or Merari, who stated, 'With the evolution of modern
terrorism, all previous searches for a terrorist profile no longer exist.'
Furthermore, a federal interagency report which includes psychological profiles
of Al-Qaeda members and others states, '…People who have joined terrorist groups
have come from a wide variety of cultures, nationalities and ideological causes…'
Another case which disproves the linkage between terrorism and poverty or
lack of education is Nasra Hassan, a Pakistani relief worker, who interviewed
250 Palestinian recruits, trainers as well as failed suicide bombers (between
the years 1996-1999).
The results contradict the poverty and terrorism theory.
It was discovered that none of the 250 interviewees was uneducated, desperately
poor or simple-minded. As for poverty, it may nurture potential criminals, thieves
and street-gangs, but it does not mean that terrorism necessarily grows out of
it.
Hence, no
absolute evidence for poverty being a catalyst for terrorism exists, a fact that
brings us to the basic understanding of terrorism as a social result of political
frustration.
So
what motivates terrorism?
As
proven, poverty is not and cannot be regarded as a prime motive for terrorism.
Recent events clearly showed that the terrorists came from middle-class; some
of them were raised in wealthy families.
Perhaps the main cause of terrorism
is the feeling of frustration and grievance, as emphasized by Laqueur
Margolin,
states that 'Much terrorist behavior is a response to the frustration of various
political, economic and personal needs or objectives' .
This understanding
of the Frustration-Aggression Theory was developed by Dollard and a group of Yale
Psychologists in the 1930s. According to this theory, aggression is always a consequence
of frustration, and the existence of frustration leads to some form of aggression,
and the strength of instigation to aggression, or the aggression severity level
depends on the amount of frustration.
According to the Frustration-Aggression
theory, aggressive behavior may be presented in various forms, such as aggression
which is aimed at the oppressor or his allies or sometimes against innocent actors
.
The FA theory, and the frustration element in particular is reinforced by
Crozier, arguing, '…Frustration is the one element common to all rebels, whatever
their aims, political ideas or social backgrounds' .
This
kind of behavior may lead to some forms of violence, such as terrorism. Frustration
(objective as well as subjective) is a factor that may lead to violent acts, that
under certain conditions may be identified as terrorism. For example, the Baader-Meinhof
organization, established in 1968 (later named RAF -Rote Armee Fraktion, as a
gesture of respect for the JRA-Japanese Red Army ; the PFLP (established in December
1967, inspired by the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary ideology, whose role model
was Fidel Castro); the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) of Sri-Lanka; the Kurds and the Chechnyans
- all these as well as many others arose as a result of frustration .
It
is believed that once one eliminates the source from which frustrations arise,
the reasons or justifications for the violent acts are diminished. The question
is: is it possible to remove a subjective feeling, such as frustration?
Since
one person's satisfaction is another's frustration, it seems that terrorism will
continue to be an existing reality. A frustrated minority who will adopt terrorism
as a method of expressing their (or others') political grievances will always
exist.
