Lebanese and Palestinian Perspectives on Suicide Bombings

Abstract

While suicide terrorism has received tremendous attention from the general public, media and policy-makers in recent years, there are only a few studies that analyze public opinion on political violence in general and terrorism in particular. The article seeks to determine the correlates of support for suicide terrorism among the Lebanese and Palestinians living in South Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Specifically, it examines the influence of religious and socio-economic factors on their attitudes towards suicide bombings. The analysis is based on four surveys conducted in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories in 2002, 2003 and 2007. The findings show that generally, militant religious view is the most important predictor of the respondents’ support for suicide terrorism.