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Interviews with 3 captured Arab suicide bombers, 2 recruiters/ helpers in Israeli prisons (sentence terms not given), ages 17 to 24. There are approximately 100 such captured would-be bombers and their cell members in Israeli prisons. Interviewed by consent "after interrogations were concluded," conducted in English with translation to/ from Arabic. All quotes verbatim. - ianf ⌘

[bomber #1] Mohammed Abu Tayun, 17, of Nablus suffered doubts, returned home. Claims nobody encouraged him, he motivated himself, but "…they tried to stoke my hate, I was already full of hate; his reward Paradise where he'd have everything he needed […] In Paradise we'll marry 70 virgins. We Palestinians prefer death; we are empty vessels. [the Israelis] went into the Al-Aqsa mosque and started shooting, they are responsible for the [2nd] Intifada." - ianf ⌘

After making a martyrdom video Mohammed [bomber #1] was designated "a living martyr," someone considered "already dead" [THIS DOESN'T ADD UP]. Once among people in Taibe, however, he became "confused, couldn't make up his mind; the children are, after all, innocent […] Neither heart, nor brain wanted to acknowledge" his (impending but ultimately aborted) suicide mission. "God showed me way back to life, wanted me to live, inspired to go home. Were I not so confused then, I'd be dead now." - ianf ⌘

[bomb builder #2] Majdi Amer, 24, "qualified engineer" built the Haifa bus 37 bomb, 17 dead; captured with 4 others (left in the above photo | source: http://goo.gl/4LvLe). - ianf ⌘

Muath Abu Sharkh, 23, right in the above photo, recruited the bomber [recruiter #3]. Two more members of that very Hebron Hamas cell shot dead on capture. - ianf ⌘

Majdi [builder #2] wants to "get rid of the Nazi racist state that the Jews have built. The civilian Jewess and the civilian Jew live on my land. They attack us. If they let our children, women and elders live in peace, then the fight would be between soldiers. When they refused [to let us live in peace?], we had to strike back" - ianf ⌘

Muath [recruiter #3] follows "an Islamic law that makes it every Muslim's duty to liberate every last centimeter of occupied Islamic land." He wants to liberate Palestine, "all of Palestine" everything occupied since 1948, West Bank, Gaza (recorded in 2003; now Gaza "liberated"). Majdi's [builder #2] belt was made up of "4kg of explosives and 6kg of metal with the goal of causing worst... more... - ianf ⌘

Muath [recruiter #3] "a shadid/ martyr's soul flies to Heaven, Our Lord and the angels welcome it with joy, God marries the martyr to 72 virgins. Beauty of the virgins can not be described; rivers of all kinds, rivers of milk, and wine, which of course doesn't make one drunk. There are lots of things in Paradise. The greatest king in the world is smaller than the smallest man in Paradise." - ianf ⌘

Question: why is it necessary to kill women and children? Muath [recruiter #3] …voting for Sharon, any Israeli leader is grounds for retaliation. Question: How do you know the lady with the bullet hole in her head voted for Sharon? Muath [recruiter #3] "Israeli planes do not distinguish between children and adults, civilians and soldiers. Why do you ask me that, but never the same question to the Jews?" - ianf ⌘

Muath [recruiter #3] "The martyr knows that his family house will be demolished in retaliation. That his family will be homeless. God promised that his entire family will join him in Heaven on Judgement Day. They'll all get there thanks to his martyrdom. They lose nothing. House and money can always be replaced." [and yet…] "We sacrifice everything to get rid of the Jews in Palestine." - ianf ⌘

Majdi's [bomb builder #2] "…six brothers have been arrested in retaliation and are now in jail. Reason enough to blow up additional 20 busses" [AT LAST SOME HARD TIT-FOR-TAT DATA] [Voiceover] Most Palestinian suicide bombers are teenagers. The suspicion is that the older, stronger, more determined political activists manipulate the younger, weaker and more impressionable teenagers. Like the next interviewee. - ianf ⌘

[bomber #4] Amir Mohammed Al-Nazjada, 18, from Jenin, left no doubt he'd have pressed the button, "but God didn't want him as a martyr." Amir was spotted, but escaped; fearful of retaliation, his family (of 8 brothers, 2 sisters) persuaded him to give himself up. Amir readily read up a letter that the organizers gave him, tit-for-tat revenge, "it was someone else's words, not his." His mission was to "pass by a bus, then slam into it" (with his bomb-ladden lorry). He was to "pray, then press the button." - ianf ⌘

Majdi [recruiter #3] confirms carefully studying mentality and psyche of future recruits. "Will he manage to conduct the mission? As in other military organizations, we study psychology, ideologues and military sciences." - ianf ⌘

A questions to Amir [bomber #4]: "How many Israeli lives would have made your operation a success, and how many would justify your dying?" Amir answers: "It's in God's hands. Maybe a hundred, maybe one, maybe none. You haven't killed anyone, God did. I do the deed and God decides if all, or no one dies; maybe just maims some, how many die." - ianf ⌘

[Voiceover] Amir [bomber #4] is the perfect weapon. A man without a conscience, Amir believes that he is acting to free Palestine and that God approved of his methods so he can absolve himself of any responsibility for the consequences of his actions. The oppresivness of life in the West Bank makes the recruiters' job very easy. - ianf ⌘

[bomber #5] Bilal Kamal Ali, then 16, now 18, born in Kuwait, grew up in Jordan, didn't share the same dark history of anger and despair. Despite that Bilal wished he could "laugh in death, as the two martyrs he saw who died smiling. They were on their way to Paradise" Bilal knew nothing of the Intifada. So what made him decide to follow in their steps? "Didn't want to forget spilled Palestian blood." - ianf ⌘

Bilal [bomber #5] changed his mind when he saw children playing. Children are innocent. Started walking around, people became suspicious. He then tried to kill just himself to prevent being captured. Tried to explode the belt, only it malfunctioned. - ianf ⌘

[Voiceover] Bilal [bomber #5] was unlike the two other bombers. He never exhibited the sense of despair that consummed Mohammed [bomber #1] or the robot-like mentality of Amir [bomber #4]. Confronted with the reality of his mission, Bilal decided not to kill. Swept up in the idea of Palestian defiance of Israel, Bilal had made a mistake. He is not of this place, not obsessed by death, and he can imagine a life beyond the West Bank. He intends to apply to be expelled to Jordan. - ianf ⌘

[Voiceover] Palestinian propaganda is fueling the atmosphere of brutality and hatred, reinforcing the cult of martyrdom. Under the intense pressure of life in the West Bank, it is not possible for a young man to grow up leading a normal life. The everyday problems of being a teenager are magnified and distorted by the situation. Mohammed [bomber #1] was in love with a girl, who became upset when he shared his intention to become a martyr. "She was the finest I had." - ianf ⌘

Mohammed [bomber #1] "loved her for 8 years, she was still angry. She gave his life a meaning. When he talked to her, he was happy, he forgot about the Intifada until the day she left him." Then he undertook the suicide bombing mission, and got caught. - ianf ⌘

Muath [recruiter #3] and Majdi [bomb builder #2] are in court, facing 17 counts of murder for the Haifa bus bombing. If convicted, they could be sentenced to hundreds of years in prison. Their families are present, defendants in dock are defiant to the end, refuse to stand up. The case is adjourned on a technicality. - ianf ⌘

Muath [recruiter #3] and Majdi [bomb builder #2] "will never quit blowing up their busses. Tell the Israelis that the bombings will continue til they leave our land." Court clerk reads up victims' names. - ianf ⌘

Question: "Why didn't he do the operation himself?" Muath [recruiter #3] "No problem. I'll do it the moment I leave prison" [USES PRESENT TENSE] "I may get life. But I'll get out because Israel won't be around for much longer. I'm soon out and fighting again." - ianf ⌘

Question: Let's not talk about what you will do, let's talk what you did. You recruited someone else instead to do the suicide attack. Muath [recruiter #3] "That's right. But if the seed dies, nothing will grow up of it. We have to protect the seed. We are the seed we ensure that the tree grows. No seed, no tree." [smiles] [Voiceover] but it is not life that grows of Muath's seeds. They're the seeds of revenge, sowing only hatred and death. - ianf ⌘

[Voiceover] Apart from the religious and political motivations behind the suicide bombers, there are often personal reasons for their actions. And so it was with Majdi [bomb builder #2], the committed activist. When he was 12 years old, he was slapped by an Israeli policeman. "Twelve years later I conducted the bombing in Haifa, I touched that cheek and thought of that very day." - ianf ⌘

Majdi [bomb builder #2] "I'm a Muslim, not Christian. Christians turn the other cheek. My motto is two slaps for one! [...] If they want to live in peace, all they have to do is to return to where they came from. Russian returns to Russia, American back to USA. Why should they live on my land. The land is my property, not theirs. Everyone has to go home." - ianf ⌘

Question: What will you do if the Israelis stay? Majdi [bomb builder #2] "I will resist. Resist til the very end. The end of life, his or mine. One of us will die. No other solution is possible." - ianf ⌘