''The making of a suicide bomber''

For the Western youth with no strings attached to the Middle East, the Israel/Palestine conflict might as well be happening in outer space - for we most often forget that those decaying bodies, the suffocating stench, the dried blood on the collapsed walls are none other than our very own humankind!

Every time I mention the sufferings of Palestinians, I'm accused of backing the "terrorists," and if looks could kill, I'd be long dead. Mention the plight of the hundreds dead and shattered under the Israeli occupation and I'm reminded of suicide bombers - "the absolutely Inhuman Islamic Maniacs that walk the face of Israel."

Inhuman Islamic Maniacs? I must admit the mainstream media has done an excellent job of brainwashing the "rational thinkers" of the West. What could possibly turn people like you and I into "inhuman maniacs"? Food for thought, isn't it?

Ayat Akhras, 18, detonated the explosives on her body outside a grocery store in Jerusalem. The news peg's read, "What Do You Think of Her Actions?" So I began thinking and asked myself if I could do it too, after all, I'm a Muslim girl around her age. My reply? No! Then why could she do it and not me? This very "why" provides insights for the emergence of suicide bombers. Ayat’s life, at first glance, may not seem much of a tragedy compared to the devastating stories of most Palestinians. The only difference is Ayat refused to be a silent spectator to Israeli atrocities around her and live in constant fear of an Israeli invasion that would turn her world topsy turvy. Her proactive decision to indulge in such an operation and her subsequent tragic death echoes the desperate need to probe into the plight of the Palestinians.