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Rosa Parks: Suicide Bomber

by John Edward Faulkner | August 8, 2002

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It’s December 1, 1955 in Montgomery Alabama. Bus driver James F. Blake tells seamstress Rosa Parks to move from her seat to make room for white passengers. Instead of moving, she detonates herself killing most of the people onboard and leaving the bus a charred and twisted hulk.

Could you imagine such a scenario? Such violence would have completely changed American history. What would have been the response from the white community? Would the civil rights movement have become the second act of the Civil War? What would the state of race relations in America be now? Considering the duration of armed resistance in Ireland, Sri Lanka, and the Middle East this conflict could have continued to this day.

On January 27, 2002 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, Wafa Idris became the first Palestinian female suicide bomber. The explosion killed one man and injured about 100 people. Her actions had the desired effect of shocking the world. Presumably, she and others believe that their desperation justifies desperate measures. Her mother said, “I hope every daughter will do what my daughter did.”

Both Rosa Parks and Wafa Idris are dramatic symbols of their resistance movements. Each is portrayed as an unyielding heroine against oppression. Yet this simplistic view denies the fact that they were integral parts of a broader network with divergent goals.

Rosa Parks had long been active in the civil rights movement. She worked with the Montgomery Voters League and joined the N.A.A.C.P. in 1943. She was also an associate of Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women’s Political Council, as well as lawyer and activist E. D. Nixon. Nixon was former head of the N.A.A.C.P. and would later organize her defense. Robinson and her organization were preparing for a citywide bus boycott as early as 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown decision that same year that outlawed separate but equal policies provided E. D. Nixon the legal basis to challenge Montgomery’s segregated bus seating ordinance.

Unknown to many, Parks was not the first person detained for refusing to give up her seat. In March 1955, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl, was the first person arrested. When her parents needed help to raise money and get a lawyer, they called the N.A.A.C.P. local secretary–Rosa Parks. Later, in October, 18-year old Mary Louise Smith was also arrested. Both Colvin and Smith were deemed unsuitable candidates to personify the Negro cause. A person above reproach was needed to withstand the intense scrutiny from the press and the courts.

When Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus that day, she was fully aware of the possible consequences. Given the tactics of the civil rights movement and, more importantly, Parks’ religious beliefs, a suicide mission was out of the question. The political climate was ripe for change through the judicial system. Violence against blacks was still prevalent in the south, and Parks could have been killed. In August that year, 14-year-old Emmitt Till was murdered in the neighboring state of Mississippi because of remarks he made to a white woman.

Dying for a cause is as old as warfare itself. The act of becoming a soldier unequivocally states a willingness to die. The kamikaze pilots of Japan during the Second World War were volunteers proud to die for the Emperor and their country. Antagonists have used many forms of self-sacrifice and nihilism. The use of women also heightens the sense of urgency in such cases. On June 2, 1963, Superior Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire to protest the treatment of Buddhists by South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. Then on August 15, a nun, Dieu Quang, immolated herself in the Tu Dam Pagoda. One of the most gruesome assassinations ever was carried out by the “belt bomber” Dahnu of the Tamil Tigers against Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. While campaigning, Dahnu handed him flowers then detonated explosives attached to her body, killing 16 people.

Like Dahnu, Wafa Idris and other suicide bombers’ effectiveness comes from the combination of the dramatic symbolism of self-sacrifice and the murderous assault of explosives. They literally and figuratively scare the enemy to death.

Wafa Idris was a medical secretary for the Red Crescent Society. Being on the front lines of the Intifada, she cared for the injured and witnessed the carnage created when rock throwers violently stand against tanks. As a resident of the Amari refugee camp she was fully steeped in the resentment and despair created by the military and political conflict. The Red Crescent has stated that it is opposed to the use of suicide attacks. Yet individuals working within the society have been accused of using their medical accreditation and vehicles in aiding Idris’ attack. Ambulance drivers Mohammed Hababa and Munzar Noor who also worked for the Red Crescent are under investigation by the Palestinian Security Services for aiding Idris. During her funeral, which was symbolized by an empty flag-draped casket, flyers from the militant al-Aqsa Brigades announced that she had carried out the bombing in response to Israeli military action.

Two months after carrying out her assault, the Israeli Defense Forces demolished the home of Wafa Idris. Such destruction typifies the phenomenon of Palestinian suicide bombings. Once the smoke clears there is nothing left. No house, no corpse, and no future. This misconceived martyrdom does not leave a legacy to build upon. Conquering the formidable task of decolonization and self-governing requires equal fearlessness. When statehood is finally achieved, how will the Palestinians handle internal strife? Hopefully not by killing themselves.

Ten days before Idris’ actions, the U. S. National Parks Service placed the home of Rosa Parks on the National Register of Historic Places. Parks has received numerous awards and citations. Some by the same institutions she and the movement rallied against. During a ceremony honoring her with the Congressional Gold Medal, former President Bill Clinton said “In so many ways Rosa Parks brought America home to our founders’ dream.”

The struggle for equality is flawed and far from over in the United States, but the civil rights movement took the bus that lead to the construction of a better society for all citizens. The continued use of violence by Israel and Palestine locks them into a circular path of destruction.

The Palestinian reaction to occupation need not mirror the tactics of the American civil rights movement. But it should force Israel to live up to its highest standards by engaging their most powerful weapon: their minds. Such a conversion would compel Israel to make the term “never again” stand for everyone.

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200 Comments - add your own

Jessy — April 9, 2004 at 2:24 pm

this web site isn’t very helpful. if you could, would you please e-mail me with some more info. on Rosa Parks? that would be very very halpful thank you.

amanda atkeson — April 22, 2004 at 4:12 pm

I just have to say I love Rosa Parks. Even If I am not black I have alot of black friends and family who I love very much. Rosa did something that no one can beat she is never be forgot. I would have done the say thing.

trayf — April 27, 2004 at 8:59 pm

Provocative comparison between Rosa Parks and Wafa Idriss. Nice job making a more thorough investigation of suicide bombing than is usually done. However, the “engaging the mind” instruction is too vague to have much effect.

amber — May 10, 2004 at 10:23 am

i never read it but what was Rosa Parks achievements and when did she die??? rite back today or tomoorow please

Paige — September 21, 2004 at 10:42 am

I think that I am going to write a report on Rosa Parks. She helped us in many of ways! But, is she still alive these days?

Alexandra — June 13, 2005 at 12:06 am

well ilke rosa parks history and i really would like to tell that person who asked about her death she is not dead and she lives in washington dc.

Andrea — August 10, 2005 at 11:39 am

I am (almost) sure I saw her yesterday in DC with two big guys and another woman. This beautiful silver hair sister woman (with a bun in her hair)was radiating like a shinning star at midnight! What a beautiful woman and I told her so! A beautiful spirit that came through her like a lightening bolt! I wasn’t really sure that was indeed her, but my spirit connected with this woman so much that I felt compelled to embrace her and it seemed she was about to embrace me too. Was that really her I saw yesterday afternoon around 11th Street in DC? Please tell me.

Sierrah — September 21, 2005 at 5:44 pm

I am doing a report on Rosa Parks and I really need the important information on how and when she died… I really really do need that info like right now!!!!! Later Gator

Truely urs, Sierrah

Harold Gordon — October 13, 2005 at 5:59 am

I do not understand the comparison between Rosa Parks and a suicide bomber. First, the treatment of Jews was very similar to blacks. In Nazi Germany, Jews were not allowed to hold certain jobs, faced horrible discrimination and persecution, and were forbidden from marrying white or Aryan people.

In many Arab countries, Jews are forbidden from worship and face persecution. They then moved to Israel so that they could worship in peace.

People then said, why are their so few Muslem Arab countries in the Middle East (19) and so many Jewish countries (1). We have only 99% of the land, and the Jews have so much 1%. In 1999, to secure peace, the Israelis said they would give up much land for peace, but the Palestianians said, it’s not enough. The other countries said, it’s not enough.

Many Jews were leaders and lawyers in the civil rights movement. They faced persecution in 1935-1945 where Jews throughout Europe were beaten, imprisoned and killed. Their fight against persecution is similar to that of the Blacks in the US who likely have faced slavery and segregation.

abby cooke — October 21, 2005 at 6:41 pm

Ummm I think Rosa Parks is dead is she???? I’m doing a report and I really need some info by this wekkened wich is tomorow

jeanell borrego — October 25, 2005 at 1:45 am

Rosa Parks is dead she just died and will always always be remembered

Talia Jackelina — October 25, 2005 at 6:45 pm

I remember doing a project on Rosa Parks i grade 7. I am in grade 9 now. When i learned about rosa parks she became part of my life. Especially during that time of how white ppl treated blacks she still stood up for all her black rase. Sh Now i believe blacks deserve so much more then us whites. I am sad that she has died . When i did the project i was learning a lot about her. she is a ver special person. A part of American history.

Larry Pender — October 26, 2005 at 2:07 pm

JF,
I must say that the article was extremely intuitive. I say that because we can be obsessed with our struggles and forget that a ’struggle’, in the sense of the article, is one’s belief, and that belief is universal when one wants to be recognized for who we are. For a culture to be oppressed by a another who is probably inferior, measures are taken to remove all sense of power from that culture. The choice that one makes to bring attention to unrighteous behavior does reflect on the magnitude of pain they have endured. Obviously, Ms. Parks choice was well thoughtout, however, the outcome was based on faith.

Jackie — November 6, 2005 at 8:26 pm

rosa stood up for what she thought was fair and i admire her for that, i truly think she changed what the world is today.

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