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Suicide Bombers

Listen to this Commentary!

By Gabriela Jacobo

Lately, I've been following what's happening in the Middle East a lot. I've always heard about male suicide bombers and that hasn't shocked me. But when I started reading the stories of suicide bombers who are girls close to my age, I was surprised. I tried to imagine what they were thinking…

I know it's strange, but in some ways, it's not hard for me to relate to the Palestinian female suicide bombers. I will never understand why they destroyed others, but I do know what it feels like to want to destroy yourself. Maybe they felt a little like I do, as a Latin American female.

I have grown up feeling almost like I am not a real person, feeling ignored. In that way, I think my life is similar to the lives of the Palestinian women. They live in a culture that almost makes them invisible, and when you feel like people can't see you, it's hard to feel like you are even alive. Being a part of a suicide bombing makes the bomber a martyr, and lets them be included in something bigger than themselves. In death they become visible, they become what they weren't in life.

When I was a child I was afraid of death, but I understand that in some ways dying can be easy. If life feels unbearably hard, death can seem like the simplest way out. But there is a huge difference between feeling powerless and wanting to die and — actually strapping explosives to your body and killing others.

I will never understand why someone would cross that line.

But then… I have alternatives… where others may not.

With a Perspective, I'm Gabby Jacobo.