Political Science

Theoretical context
This context is based on the acknowledgement of changes in support of violence based on suicide bombings from the Palestinian population while looking at the motivation behind such support between two significant periods with differentiated support.

Gaps being addressed
The author tries to focus on the issues that have not been focused on as the motivating factors towards this kind of violence. In the Middle East, suicide bombings have been conspicuous for their use by radical Islamic organizations to cripple the pace of peace process and progress of relations between the two warring groups of Palestinian Authority and Israel. Through this, Palestinian bombings are taken as the only tool that plays a central role of disturbing the peace process (Mia, 2004). From the view of Hamas Authority, these bombings are their only strong and key factor for their use in the field of struggle between them and Israel. A clear analysis of these bombings and their timings puts a clear picture which shows that, there is even a higher possibility these bombings are used more as a political muscle than a military strategy.

There is even a clear evidence the that, the Hamas group and other Islamic militants have been having informers who leak to them information about the peace processes and discussions between Israel and other interested parties like United States and even the political developments in Israel which gives them an opportunity of how to respond so as to influence their outcome. In another view, violence through bombing is seen as a measure for retaliation castigated by provocations from Israel. Cases of Hebron massacre and al-Ibrahim massacre have been regarded as the great motivators for retaliation efforts from the Palestinian community. In addition, provocations through assassination of Palestinian factional group leaders have also been taken to have taken a lead role in promotion of violent ideologies (Mia, 2004). A best example of this principle was portrayed through the consequent bombing and killing of  six Israelis though a Palestinian attack after the killing of a Fatah organization leader in January.

However, the author sees the above theories as giving a partial explanation to the actual motivating factors towards this kind of violence through their lack of giving an account of why there exists a variance in support for and against the violence. In addition, the results of the bombings are seen to overlap their motivation. According to her, there are instances when these Palestinian groups have given peace process a chance this means that the groups do not operate as a separate entity from each other but they have a common goal regardless of their competition. In addition, Hamas is seen to apply the tactic of suicide bombing when they are convinced that their violence will be equated to failure of ongoing negotiations. This therefore puts the control of peace process in their hands. In this view, the violence from extremists can be termed as strategic, where it targets two audiences (Mia, 2004). First, the violence aims at reaching the Palestinian community which is the domestic audience. Secondly, the violence is intended to draw the attention of external community of the Arab community living in and out of the Middle East commonly referred to as Zionist entity. The two notions of spoiler and retaliation tends to give a low regard to the domestic state building strives by giving more regard to competition for power. 

Central question
The central question being addressed by the author focuses on what is the motivation behind the choice of violence by Palestinian authorities in respect to peace processes, political and social life of Palestinian community.

Authors argument
According to the author, there is specific differentiation between the motivation of this kind of violence and the end results. She disputes both the spoiler and retaliatory theories of bombing on the grounds of their lack of explanation to the underlying motivation. She sees the existence of violence in March 2002 amid a period when there was a substantiate talks going on as a way of trying to control the outcome of the peace process. This is further supported by his view of Hamas do chose to apply violence to deter policy makers from reaching to amicable agreements but this choice is applied when they want to use it as a moderating tool. In other scenario, the application of suicide bombing appears as a non combative technique as it lacks the confrontational aspect by striking when least expected (Mia, 2004).

Relevant variables
Suicide bombings in this region of Middle East has gained popularity due to the increased attention given to the perpetrators and the nation affected as a whole. For each moment, the zeal by different Islamic militant groups to involve itself in this kind of violence seems to revolve around achieving political, military, social and regional objective in helping to re-establish and offer recognition to the Palestinian state. Politically, these bombings are seen as a way of lifting the organizational profile of the groups using them (Mia, 2004). As a result, the groups using these tactics have become more popular as these violent attacks are planned and carried out under the full awareness of the Palestinian authorities.

The popularity of Fatah and Hamas groups has been as a result of their operations to fight the external forces from Israel as a way of liberating Palestine. The impact of these attacks has gone ahead even to influence the outcome of Israeli politics such as the one that happened in 1996. Such political aspirations drive the intensity of these kinds of violence even higher. Palestine is faced by a challenge of resisting a mighty power of Israel. Palestines acknowledge very well that they stand no chance of defeating this power under a normal military confrontational technique. Therefore, they apply this kind of violence to inflict a colossal damage to the Israel military forces and other interests associated with Israel as a way of attacking their enemy. In this view, the Palestines may lack the power but through this strategy, they seem to achieve more than what their military forces would have achieved in the field.

In the socio-economic field, these bombings have gone a far distance in shaping the day to day life of Palestine population. Due to their massive popularity, they have become a conduit of recruiting militants from members of community. However, this support has come at a price of reduced security as the community is under constant fear of attack from Israel as they target the militant leaders who live among these communities. In addition, these suicide operations have gained a little foot in working towards achievement of set goals of a better future for Palestinian civilians (Mia, 2004). In this respect the opinion from Palestinians points at a deteriorating social life in terms of economic, social and health than earlier before the emergence of these suicide bombings.

Strengths and weaknesses of the argument
This argument helps in giving a better understanding in regard to this complex issue of suicide bombing in the territory of Palestine. The earlier arguments were based on the reason behind the occurrence of these bombings in relation to the two states of Palestine and Israel. However, the argument according to the author explains the underlying motivation behind the increased and decreased intensities of bombing violence. With this in mind, it is easier to analyze and understand the intention of each bombing that has occurred in the two periods under focus. However, regardless of its close analysis, it does not give any tangible solution that can be applied to solve this problem (Mia, 2004). The problem remains as eminent as before and the fear of acceleration of violence in form of suicide bombing seem to increase in intensity with the increased strategy of outbidding from the neighboring Arab states who share a common sentiments about Israel as Palestine population. The article represents a comparative study of suicide bombing violence support between two significant periods. The first period ranges from 1996 to1996 when there was a less than a third of Palestinian population in support of this kind of violence.

The author succeeds in justifying the change in support between the two periods by analyzing the internal politics of Palestine.  In the first period, these bombings were aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the Palestinian authority and cause a negative effect on the peace process. To the Palestinian population, this was seen as a setback to the goals of achieving a stable nation. In addition, the targeted authority was their elected authority hence to them it was their legitimate government. On the other hand, the increased support during the second period was as a result of competition for leadership of the country from different militant groups who are in competition for leadership within the state of Palestine (Mia, 2004).

Implications of the article on the peace between Israel and Palestine
The Middle East peace process has remained elusive for quite some years now. The major underlying factor is the lack of proper understanding of the intricate issues relating to the causes of the violence between these two neighboring states. Efforts from foreign players like United States in jump starting peace process have always done a lip service without dealing with the backbone of the matter. This might end up being an eye opener to the peace deals with a clear involvement of Palestinians. As we have seen, these bombings are just but a weapon of exerting their wish and interests in any peace process.