Victor, a journalist with over 20 years' experience in the Middle East, delivers a jarring and intimate indictment of Palestinian society. The two primary crimes she charges it with are the exploitation of women and the desperate acceptance of a "culture of death." On January 27, 2002, these two factors began to overlap as Wafa Idris became the first female Palestinian suicide bomber. Victor (A Voice of Reason: Hanan Ashrawi and Peace in the Middle East) spent the next year interviewing leaders, historians, victims, psychiatrists and feminists on both sides of the Green Line. The most poignant passages come from the families of bombers—parents and siblings vacillating between grief and celebration. While she concludes that there are many ingredients in the "fatal cocktail" of suicide bombing—religious extremism, socioeconomic deprivation, nationalistic fervor and Israeli occupation—the book reserves its harshest criticism for manipulative male relatives who convince vulnerable and marginalized women to blow themselves up, and for opportunistic leaders—including Yasir Arafat—who encourage and reward such behavior. Victor is well versed in the intricacies of Palestinian politics and emotions, and her attempt to communicate her knowledge to the reader is—perhaps inevitably, given the complexity of the subject—a bit rambling, but ultimately convincing that a "misguided feminism" underlies actions like Idris's attempt to seek equality in death. Only hardened partisans (who may outnumber neutral observers, given the polarizing nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) will fail to accompany Victor on her journey from compassion to judgment. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)
