Wafa Idris

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Wafa Idris (a.k.a. Wafa Idrees, Shahanaz Al-Amouri, Shnaz Amuri, Arabic وفاء إدريس) was the first female suicide bomber in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the time of her death, Idris was a 28 year old, divorced Red Crescent paramedic. She lived in the Am'ari Refugee Camp in Ramallah.

Idris detonated a 22-pound bomb in the center of Jerusalem outside a shoe store on Jaffa Road that killed her, an 81 year old Israeli man and injured more than 100 others.[1] The attack took place on 27 January, 2002.[1] Idris carried the bomb in a backpack, rather than strapped to her body. Since, prior to this attack, women had only helped plant bombs, the use of a backpack and the lack of the usual note or video led to confusion regarding her suicide motives and speculation that she did not intend to detonate the bomb, but that the explosion was accidental. However, after investigation of the explosion, Israel declared Idris a suicide bomber around 9 February 2002.[2]

Idris often expressed anger at Israeli violence against Palestinians. Though her three brothers were members of Fatah, she was not known to be active in any political, religious or paramilitary organization.

Former home of Wafa Idris
Former home of Wafa Idris

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade ultimately claimed responsibility for the attack, but probably for political purposes since Wafa Idris' unprecedented actions became heralded throughout the Arab world. In April 2002, the Saudi ambassador to London, Ghazi Al-Qusseibi (or Qusaibi) notoriously published a poem glorifying Wafa Idris' killing of Israeli civilians. In an editorial published on 1 February 2002 in Egypt's Al-Sha'ab newspaper, Idris was not only lauded as a heroine but her gender apparently was used as an encouragement for other women as well as somewhat of a challenge to men who may have been reluctant to participate in suicide missions. The editorial states, in part, "It is a woman who teaches you today a lesson in heroism, who teaches you the meaning of Jihad, and the way to die a martyr's death ...with her thin, meager and weak body... It is a woman who blew herself up, and with her exploded all the myths about woman's weakness, submissiveness, and enslavement." ("Inquiry and Analysis No. 84: Jihad and Terrorism Studies Wafa Idris: The Celebration of the First Female Suicide Bomber" The Middle East Media and Research Institute, 13 February 2002). However, the editorial obviously ignored Idris' nationalistic motives and lack of religious motives when referring to her implied alignment with the philosophy of Jihad. Nonetheless, Idris' actions changed the tactical strategies of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade from that point on. It was even reported that the Al-Aqsa Brigade had created a separate women's unit named after Wafa Idris.

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  1. ^ a b Inigo Gilmore: Woman suicide bomber shakes Israelis, Daily Telegraph, January 28, 2002
  2. ^ James Bennet: Israelis Declare Arab Woman Was in Fact a Suicide Bomber, New York Times, 9 February 2002 (req. subscr.)