Why the Terrorists Hate Us

In the weeks after 9/11, police searched the lodgings of the hijackers. They found copies of a letter written by the leader of the group, Mohammed Atta, to his fellow terrorists encouraging them with the words, "remember that today we will be with women." The letter repeatedly referred to the reward the terrorists would receive in Paradise. I was struck by the use of such words for people about to commit murder and suicide. I wondered whether the terrorists' sexual repression and our attitudes about women's rights had anything to do with their hatred of Westerners.

In a recent article for the New York Times, David Brooks pointed out that the terrorists (or jihadists) belong to a branch of Islam called Salafism which is not traditional Islam but a modern fantasy version of it. These fanatical fundamentalists believe that their attacks against Western people are part of a holy war or jihad, and that if they die while engaged in a jihad they will be martyrs and will go directly to Paradise regardless of any sins they may have committed. Their idea of Paradise is not one shared by all Muslims. It reflects the Arab background of sexual taboos and living in deserts where there is scant water or green foliage. In this Muslim Paradise there are lush gardens, vineyards, and rivers flowing with clear, cool water. Muslim men recline on couches in soft silk attire and drink wine without getting inebriated. The terrorists believe that in Paradise they will each be served by 72 beautiful virgins or "houris" who will attend to their every need. There is no corresponding reward for Muslim women.

To Western men, the promise of 72 virgins might not be enough incentive to strap bombs onto their bodies and go ignite them in public places, but it is comprehensible for jihadists when one looks at the culture in which they were spawned. The Arab world is one that has built-up resentment against Westerners for centuries. As the distinguished Princeton professor, Bernard Lewis, explained in his books, including The Middle East and What Went Wrong, the Muslim nations once led the world in power and civilization. Compared to Saladin and the Muslims, the Crusaders were crude barbarians. This changed during the Middle Ages. As Western Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, it passed Arabia in military power, commerce, wealth, and civilization. Moreover, in modern times, European countries conquered and subjected Arab lands, thereby further humiliating and enraging the Arabs. The ultimate insult and humiliation occurred when Europe and America supported the establishment of Israel, a non-Muslim nation, on the Arabian peninsula. America's subsequent support of Israel, and Israel's defeat of Arab armies in three wars, exacerbated Muslim rage against the United States. These events and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians have provided a fertile field for the growth of Muslim fundamentalism and fanaticism.

Fareed Zakaria, the brilliant commentator for Newsweek Magazine, described Muslim rage in an article entitled Why They Hate Us. He said, "Bin Laden and his followers are not an isolated cult like Aum Shinrikyo or the Branch Davidians or demented loners like Timothy McVeigh or the Unabomber. They come out of a culture that reinforces their hostility, distrust and hatred of the West and of America in particular." Zakaria then noted: "Osama Bin Laden has an answer--religion. For him and his followers, this is a holy war between Islam and the Western world."

Islam has always relegated women to a status that Westerners consider second-class. In the past, fundamentalist Islam required women to cover their bodies and faces with shawls called burqas. In the book, A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani wrote about the status of Moslem women and the belief that women had dangerous power. In strict Muslim lands, women have few rights and are prevented from attending school, driving, and voting. Muslim men are expected to avert their eyes from women who are not related. There are many sexual taboos.

In modern times, Western influence has fostered changes in the roles of Muslim women. Muslim men see pictures of American and European women in short skirts, bikinis, or underwear, pushing our consumerist society in sexually suggestive advertisements. Now, with military conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, they see female soldiers in military fatigues. It is deeply disturbing to them. I have always believed that you can gauge the advancement of a civilization by the way it treats its women. The more a nation treats women with equality and freedom, the more civilized the country. The more a nation withholds freedom and equality from women, the more barbaric it is.

For terrorists, the freedom of women in the open culture of the West is a source of immense frustration. They cannot buy into such freedom and still practice their religion. Most terrorists are unmarried young men, and their relationships with women are circumscribed by their strict interpretation of Muslim law. The solution promulgated by Osama Bin Laden is to achieve martyrdom by carrying-out jihad against the West. In Paradise, all of their sexual frustration will be alleviated and all anxiety about women will disappear. Perhaps Muslim terrorism is really an acting out of Muslim men's sexual frustration.

Someone once described the War on Terror as an attempt to swat flies with a rifle. Perhaps we would have better luck if we could convince the young male jihadists that their belief in Paradise is nothing more than a fantasy driven by the frustrations and strivings of a desert people. Perhaps they would not commit terror if they knew what seems obvious to me; that there is no such thing as Paradise, and even if there was, they wouldn't go there.