CAIRO, 2 June 2008 — Women are challenging Al-Qaeda’s refusal to include — or at least acknowledge — them in its ranks, in an emotional debate.
In response to a women questioner, Al-Qaeda No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman’s role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of Al-Qaeda fighters.
His remarks have since prompted an outcry from women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists. The statements have also created some confusion, because in fact suicide bombings by women seem to be on the rise, at least within the Iraq branch of Al-Qaeda.
A’eeda Dahsheh is a Palestinian mother of four in Lebanon who said she supports Al-Zawahri and has chosen to raise children at home as her form of jihad. However, she said, she also supports any woman who chooses instead to take part in terror attacks.
Another woman signed a more than 2,000-word essay of protest online as Rabeebat Al-Silah, Arabic for “Companion of Weapons.” “When Sheikh Ayman Al-Zawahri said there are no women in Al-Qaeda, he saddened and hurt me,” wrote Al-Silah. “I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest.”
“Women were very disappointed because what Al-Zawahri said is not what’s happening today in the Middle East, especially in Iraq or in Palestinian groups,” said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, an organization that monitors militant websites. “Suicide operations are being carried out by women, who play an important role in jihad.”
It is not clear how far women play a role in Al-Qaeda because of the group’s amorphous nature. Experts believe there are no women in the core leadership ranks around Bin Laden and Al-Zawahri. But beyond that core, Al-Qaeda is really a movement with loosely linked offshoots in various countries and sympathizers who may not play a direct role. Women are clearly among these sympathizers, and some are part of the offshoot groups.
In the Iraq branch, for example, women have carried out or attempted at least 20 suicide bombings since 2003.
