General martyrdom indoctrination

            Indoctrination is instruction in the basics of the belief system. Concept of indoctrination signifies unethical influence on human conscience, during which the infiltration of thoughts, attitudes and beliefs is done inside the subject’s mind, depriving him of critical reasoning.
            Indoctrination, in Muslim countries, is carried out through propaganda. Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation with direct goal to influence people’s thoughts and behavior. Evocation of someone’s emotions is, perhaps a more obvious propaganda method, but there are other various refined and devious forms. On the other hand, propaganda’s most frequent feature is volume (in the sense of great amount). Culturally, it convoys inside religious, political and economic entities.
            There are many techniques, based on research, that are used to generate propaganda. Many of them can have logic error, because propagandists use arguments for something that is plausible, but doesn’t have to be proven.
            Propaganda, in political sense, that is, in its second meaning, is carried out by those with power, liberating false or seductive information that support or improve their political interests. Propagandists seek to change human understanding of content and situation, intending to change their actions and expectations, in direction which suits interests of propaganda conducting group. In this sense, propaganda serves to prevent confrontations with people expressing opposite opinions.
            Propaganda is one of the most powerful weapons in armed conflicts. In cases like these, enemy is dehumanized and hate is created. The technique is to create false image, and can be made by using special words, avoiding special words, or blaming the enemy for certain things he didn’t do. Domestic population must be persuaded that their cause is just.
            Militant Islamic organizations that use suicide terrorism in their battle for ultimate goals are forced to carefully recruit potential suicide bombers from mosques and religion schools, if they lack in support of the local public. Such circumstances don’t allow gathering sufficient numbers of people-bombs. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to carry out general martyrdom indoctrination.
            With sufficiently well organized and widely spread campaign for the popularization of martyrdom, the percent of volunteers is rapidly growing in relation to the number of the recruited ones. At the same time, general indoctrination represents the first selection level of potential suicide bombers. Social milieu absorbs the idea that suicide operations/martyrdom, as a legitimate act, is worthy of respect. According to that, operations’ organizers prevent eventual disqualification of such activities as strategy, from the society. Finally, besides public, inactive support, organizers provide active and financial support in order to accomplish the ultimate goal.
            In debates of terrorism experts, often there is a conflict of thoughts when they ask one question, how much is indoctrination actually influential in suicide terrorism. By analyzing Palestinian example, some authors conclude that it’s crucial, as opposed to others who consider that suicide terrorism would manifest with the same intensity and without martyrdom propagation. Authors from the first group consider suicide terrorism as a pure product of good leader organization lead by political goal. Opposing thoughts overlap in the same line, that suicide bomber is a result of individual and collective despair, emanating from tyranny that is being conducted on them.
            These opposed and, by many things, unilateral thoughts, are pointing much more to their owners’ political attitudes, than of objective assessment considering the cause of this phenomenon. Someone won’t carry out suicide attack only in the name of some idea, unless one can see “wellbeing”. Also, someone’s personal problem will never be the sole cause of voluntary suicide attack execution, unless that act is a propagated idea.
            Indoctrination, as we already stated, represents infliction of opinion, belief and behavior among people from some organizational force. The aim of indoctrination is a unique or at least majority support to suicide terrorism. In Islamic movement that we are talking about, the idea is returning to understanding and the way of life that existed in prophet Mohamed’s age. Reasonable thinking can’t suppress the question of interest in retrogression, contrary to the global affection towards prosperity. Mentioned idea is discursive part of new jihad’s indoctrination and strategy, with profane goals. Political-economic causes that lie in international relations, also as inner conflicts in the Muslim community are the real reasons to initiate new jihad.
            Indoctrination by Islamic fundamental ideas, as seen with jihad organizers eyes, is the only one and the best way of increasing the number of activists in terrorist organizations and constitute military inferiority in relation to current rulers in the world. “It (martyrdom) is art! It is a light because in light of the great imbalance in the region and the world, and in light of Israeli military supremacy over the Arab regimes and over the entire nation, the concept of martyrdom appeared in order to create a strategic balance.”(1) Today, Islam is a religion with 1.4 billion disciples. Their number is implicative factor in all world processes. Muslim culture and tradition, as well as their development degree, constitute Islamic original thoughts that are more acceptable than modern ideas. Such condition is appropriate for creation of inner unity, under the most powerful guide – religion. In order to accomplish jihad goal, in lack of efficient military resources, organizers estimated the necessity of great human sacrifices. Strategically regarded, it’s a small loss for Muslims. Martyrdom reanimation is a great way to use what they have enough – people. “We sacrifice as much prisoners, martyrs and injured as we can; we will continue intifada…”(2)

Dr. Violeta Matovic

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