The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported November 27 that 122 women were recently arrested in Iraq for “attempting to carry out suicide operations.” On December 6 two women bombers were successful in detonating themselves and 43 Iraqis.

Other women lining up to become Al Qaeda suicide bombers include Iraqi Sajidi Mubarak Atrous al-Rishaqi, whose failed attempt last month in the Amman attacks and subsequent confession on Jordanian TV were seen throughout the world. Another notable example was Muriel Degauge, the Belgian convert who blew herself up in an attack on an American patrol in Iraq last month.

The successful campaign by Al Qaeda to enlist female suicide bombers began with the launch of Al-Khansaa, Al Qaeda’s women’s magazine last year. The magazine was named after Al-Khansaa bint Omar, a poetess of the pre-Islamic period who converted to Islam during the time of Muhammad, and is considered to be the “mother of the Shahids [martyrs].” When her four sons died in the battle of Al-Qadissiyya, she did not mourn but thanked Allah for honoring her with their death. Following suicide attacks in Israel, the mothers of the bombers are often found making similar statements on Arab TV.

An editorial in Al-Khansaa’s first issue in August 2004 stated: “Our goal is Shahada [martyrdom] for the sake of Allah, and our goal is [to gain] the pleasure of Allah and His Paradise. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our men. … We will stand covered by our veils and wrapped in our robes, weapons in hand, our children in our laps, with the Koran and the Sunna of the Prophet of Allah directing and guiding us. The blood of our husbands and the body parts of our children are the sacrifice by means of which we draw closer to Allah…. The wind of Paradise is already blowing.”

Another article by Umm Badr titled, “Obstacles in the Path of the Jihad Warrior Women,” details how women must prepare for jihad, including emotionally, militarily, and physically to prepare for “direct conflict with the enemy.”

A November 25 report in the London Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat dis cussed Web sites that are affiliated and sympathize with Al Qaeda which often refer to the role of women in Chechnya’s jihad. The article stated that Chechen rebel leader Shamol Basayev always took pride in the “Black Widows” who engaged in suicide operations against the Russians after losing their husbands in battles. The widows wore black gowns that concealed explosive belts and played an important part in the hostage taking operations of the Moscow theater and Beslan school massacres. Approximately 27 women successfully carried out suicide attacks against the Russians.

The article also quoted London Islamist Hani Al-Sibai, who heads the Al-Maqrizi Center for Historical Studies. He claimed that Ms. Al-Rishaqi’s failed attack was Al Qaeda’s “first attempted operation to be carried out by a women.” In Iraq he explained, “Women do not even need to seek permission from their husband, father, or brother to participate in jihad” and “that al-Zarqawi’s group would not deprive women of the rewards of martyrdom if they are able to fight.”

While “72 Black-Eyed Virgins,” are the well-known rewards of male suicide bombers, one would-be female Palestinian bomber caught in Israel recently told the press that religious authorities taught her that the reward of women martyrs is to “become the purest and most beautiful form of angels at the highest level possible in heaven.”

It should be mentioned that the most influential Arab religious, political, and media personality have celebrated female suicide bombers over the past few years. For example, the first female Palestinian suicide bomber, Wafa Idris, was called the Arab world’s “Mona Lisa” and “Joan of Arc.”

The Egyptian Nasserite weekly Al-Arabi, stated: “Wafa Idris… became the most beautiful of the women in this world. … What is more beautiful than the transformation of a person from a chunk of flesh and blood to illuminating purity and a spirit that cuts across generations?”

Salah Muntasir wrote in the leading Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram: “Wafa Idris has not faded from my [mind] since I saw her picture for the first time. … Her dreamy eyes and the mysterious smile on her lips, that competes with the famous smile some artist drew on the lips of Mona Lisa – Wafa’s smile is more beautiful.”

Some Arab writers have denounced female suicide bombers, but overall their voices have been drowned out by those who support them.

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.