On this day, two bombs exploded in the Moscow subway. Not long after this attack, it was announced that two women carried out the attack: Shahidkas or Black Widows called. These are terms that the media have given to North-Caucasian women, mostly from Chechnya, who carry out attacks in Russia and Chechnya. The term Shahidka is related to the term Shahid: a religious term that literally means "witness", but in Islam often means "martyrs". In total, since 2000, there were over thirty attacks by these "Black Widows" in Chechnya and Russia, which ranged from attacks on music concerts, military bases, hotels, cafes and public transport, to kidnappings of schools and theaters, and there are around thousand people were killed (Speckhard and Ahkmedova, 2006:3).
When arguing about why women are fighting, many believe that these women are victims in the hands of ruthless men. Female suicide bombers are a relatively new phenomenon these days, but human history can provide some examples of females fighting and dying alongside men in many wars. Wars in general "fall under the normative gender categories" and have been traditionally associated with men (Naaman 2007:32-4). Women have been excluded from the wars despite their constant presence in wars: they have mostly been seen in roles as nurses and caretakers at the front lines or in the private sphere as mothers and wives looking after the children and elderly.
This paper provides an analysis of Chechnya, located in the South of Russia, where a group of women are located, who are called the "Black Widows". Who are these so-called "Black Widows"? And what role do they play in the conflict between Moscow and Chechnya? One thing is for sure; they are striking fear in the hearts of Russians by committing suicide missions. Are the "Black Widows" willing martyrs or pawns in a male war? Besides these points, this paper will also focus on the role of religion for the "Black Widows". Does the Islam interfere? And are there differences between Chechen and Arabian situations, with both an Islamic religion.
Chechnya, media and Black Widows
Chechnya is a region located in the North Caucasus in the South of Russia, a very small part of a very large state. The first time the world ever heard about Chechnya, was during the so-called First Russo-Chechen war of 1994-1996 (Seely, 2001:8). Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya declared its independence. There have been groups of Chechens who fought for their independence. It soon escalated into a full-scale war, followed by the Second Chechen War in 1999-2000. During the two phases of war, many Chechen women became victims of rape by Russian troops. On the side of the Chechen rebels in both phases of the conflict, women have been active. Especially during the second war phase, when a number of women were part of radical groups committing terrorist attacks. They were called the "Black Widows". The violence in Chechnya has much cause for revenge by women, "Black Widows", because they lost their husbands, and often other male relatives, in the wars. Many women saw their husband or sons were killed before their eyes. You could say that this is enough motivation for committing terrorist attacks on the people who did this. ROL VAN DE MEDIA DIE DEZE NAAM HEEFT GEGEVEN AAN DEZE VROUWEN. ARTIKEL media and the religion….. (bureaublad)
Religion
Before the fall of communism, and the Soviet Union in 1991, the Islam was limited by Russia. They were actively promoting Russia in Chechnya, promoting the Russian language and other Russian cultural elements. The Chechens continued to oppose. Nationalism and sense of unity of the Chechens did not appear to be suppressed. It was inevitable that after the collapse of communism in 1991, a revolution would take place in Chechnya. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Islam appeared as a binding factor. This collapse caused a wave of national awareness among all the peoples of the former Soviet Union. Because Islam always showed a clear separation between the Northern Caucasus and the rest of Russia, it is no surprise that Islam is an important part of the awakening nationalist feeling among the Chechens. This period is also known as the Islamic Renaissance of the Northern Caucasus (Yemelianova, 2002).
Terrorism
The Wahhabism is a fundamental Islamic direction that focuses on the "pure" love of Islam.
This means in Chechnya a militant and radical movement of terrorist groups. Although Wahhabis followers originally primarily engaged in converting people to the "pure" Islam or the building of mosques, over the time more and more financial aid from Islamic countries came. This not only had an interest in a struggle for independence, but also had more the aim of "infidels" in general combat (Hille, 2010). By the end of the First Chechen War there was a turning point in the ideology of terrorism and resistance against the Russians. It was now not
only nationalist but became stronger by thinking of Islamic Wahhabi influences include Pakistan and Afghanistan. The influence of the Islamic countries is not the first and only cause for the development of terrorism in Chechnya. The kidnappings and suicide bombings are ways of resistance of the Chechens, often as "collective punishment" for the Russian population, arising from the disparity in number and power among the Chechen and Russian troops were present in Chechnya (Gilligan, 2009). Their goals were threefold: to stop the military operations and the withdrawal of Russian troops in Chechnya, taking revenge for the thousands of Chechen deaths by attacking innocent Russian citizens and attract publicity and fueling fears in the Russian society (Gilligan, 2009). You can say that jihads in Chechnya still have amore nationalistic nature, and less focused on the global Jihad. It had more to do with independence from Russia than to liberate "oppressed Muslims" in the world.
Female terrorism
The first female suicide bombing took place on 7 June 2000. Two women drove a truck full of explosives into the headquarters of the Russian Special Forces in Chechnya. From this point, terrorism in women turns to suicide terrorism and sacrifice. According to a study by Anne Speckhard (2006), this was the fact that the Wahhabism had solid ground in Chechnya and this form of terrorism was introduced from other Islamic countries, where it was many years 'successful' applied. "In general women have not played a prominent role in militant religious movements, although some groups - especially those that are less conservative in their religious ideology - have provided an ancillary role for women", explains Juergensmeyer in his book Terror in the Mind of God. But if you look at the facts above, women in Chechnya do play a prominent role in militant religious movements. For these young women, the suicide missions are not especially a question of religion, is it just that they understand the revival of Islam in Chechnya as a critical element in the identity-building of the torn region. For them, not to allow them to practice their Islam freely is understood as the ultimate attack against who they are, or who they are trying to be: faithful young Muslims (Nivat, 2005). As Nivat analyzes, nobody will be able to stop these young women who are in deep despair and have no fear of death to proceed with more suicide bombings. Russian public opinion holds them, along with their brothers and fathers, responsible for the chaos that reigns in Chechnya; they are accused of "Wahhabism" when they try to practice their faith freely. And on top of that, the Russian government will not allow the country to become independent. These women feel they have no place to turn. For, on the other hand, the Chechen independence movement leadership does not offer them any hope of either peace or religious freedom: the extremist rebels, demonstrating political naivety, offer the sort of peace that comes with the death of a martyr, and that is their best offer. Having lived a war-ravaged life, and having no hope of a better one, these women turn to the fate that solves all problems permanently. They have been let down by everyone, and so feel they owe nothing to anyone else. It is a mass psychosis that has been created by uncompromising politicians and a turn toward religious fanaticism. These women feel psychologically abused by the local geopolitical circumstances.
The families of the suicide bombers, for instance in Afghanistan, are proud of their acts of terror, in Chechnya this is not the case. The close relatives of the "Black Widows" live in fear of being assassinated by their neighbors. Although all Chechens want peace and independence, only a tiny minority is fighting a religious jihad. Those in the majority feel that their valid claim for independence has been poisoned by the linkage with international terrorism, which became especially visible after 11 September 2001, when Russian President Vladimir Putin sided immediately with U.S President Bush on the "global war on terror."
The Kremlin continues to link Chechens fighting for independence with international terrorists connected with Al Qaeda without providing any proof.
"The women who take part in terrorism do it not out of their own desire or willingness but because they are manipulated. They are given no other choice," says Yulia Yuzik, who has interviewed scores of Black Widows and their relatives in the Caucasus for her book Nevesty Allakhy (Brides of Allah). "Other members of their community, who are desperate to avoid persecution themselves, often ostracize the family", Yuzik says. "The community that welcomes you after that is the Islamist one. There you find self-respect. You are called a sister. You go to pray with them, socialize with them, and you integrate into these groups based around Islam. That in itself serves as a kind of counterforce to the security regime, a way of expressing grief and frustration."
VERSCHILLEN CHECHNYA AND OTHER ARABIAN COUNTRIES
Until recently, Chechnya's female suicide bombers have been portrayed as religious martyrs who have made a personal choice to die for their country and their faith.
The Chechen situation is completely different from that in Arabian countries, where terrorism is closely linked to Islamist fundamentalism: far from begin freedom fighters with an equal right to die for their beliefs, Chechens female martyrs are more likely to be forced, blackmailed or brain- washed to their deaths. Even when they have chosen their mission, it is not because of a religious mission or a political cause, but for personal reasons: to avenge the death of a husband or other male relatives.
Conclusion
Het hoogtepunt van de strijd in de Kaukasus is voorbij, maar er is nog steeds een gestage stroom berichten over schietpartijen, ontvoeringen, martelingen en moorden. Het verkrachten van vrouwen is onderdeel van de terreur. Alleenstaande of verkrachte vrouwen hebben in de Tsjetsjeense maatschappij geen status of bescherming meer. Eén manier om status te herwinnen en aan de uitzichtloosheid een eind te maken is hun leven te offeren.
In een maatschappij waar eerwraak een hoofdrol speelt en een vrouw niets te vertellen heeft, ontstaat een enorme druk om in actie te komen na de dood van verwanten. Als veel mannen uit het gezin verdwenen, dood of gevlucht zijn moeten vrouwen hun verantwoordelijkheid te nemen. Volgens Joesik zijn vrouwen door hun (schoon)ouders verkocht aan rebellenleiders om als zelfmoordterrorist te dienen. Anderen zijn ontvoerd, misleid of met behulp van drugs gehersenspoeld. Sommigen blazen niet zichzelf op, maar worden van een afstand door hun leiders tot ontploffing gebracht. De dood van deze vrouwen verhoogt in een moeite door de morele druk op 'laffe' mannen om zelf hun rol in de Tsjetsjeense rebellie op zich te nemen.
Whatever the truth - whether these women choose their fate or are pushed into it - while their country is still at war with Russia, many more are likely to meet the same violent end.
Such is the level of desperation and the degree of decimation of the male Chechen population, and the determination of some Chechen women to join their men in "paradise."
Anne Speckhard & Khapta Ahkmedova, „Black Widows: The Chechen Female Suicide Terrorists‟, Yoram Schweitzer ed. Female Suicide Terrorists Jaffe Center Publication, Tel Aviv, 2006
Speckhard, Anne & Akhmedova, Khapta: „The New Chechen Jiahd: Militant Wahhabism as a
Radical Movement and a Source of Suicide Terrorism In Post-War Chechen Society‟, Democracy & Security 2006
Dorit Naaman, "Brides of Palestine/Angels of Death: Media, Gender, and Performance in the Case of the Palestinian Female Suicide Bombers," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 32:4 (2007): 934.
G.M Yemelianova, Russia and Islam A Historical Survey, New York: Palgrave, 2002
Charlotte Hille, State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus, Leiden: Brill, 2010
Anne Nivat (2005): The Black Widows: Chechen Women Join the Fight for Independence-and Allah, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 28:5, 413-419
Emma Gilligan, Terror in Chechnya: Russia and the tragedy of civilians in war, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009
