Inside the Mind of a Suicide Bomber

Dec. 6, 2001 — -- Although he has been condemned in much of the world as a murderous criminal, in the West Bank town of Kalkilia, at least, Saeed Hotari is a hero.

His face is plastered on posters everywhere. He's a legend. The children, especially, idolize him.

"When I grow up, I want to be just like him," said Hosni, a 9-year-old Palestinian boy.

But Hotari was not a rock star, famous athlete or a movie star. What makes him famous is what he did on the last night of his life — when he killed 21 people and himself at an Israeli disco.

On the night of Friday, June 1, Hotari stood in line at the Dolphinarium, which was one of the most popular Tel Aviv discos. The 22-year-old Palestinian had turned himself into a human bomb: Strapped to his chest was a deadly mix of powerful explosives and hundreds of steel ball bearings. At 11:26 p.m., he triggered the bomb, killing himself and leaving 21 others, mostly young girls, to die in one of Israel's worst suicide bombings ever.

In the past week, terrorist bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa have killed 25 Israelis and three other Palestinian suicide bombers. The recent violence led to Israeli military strikes against Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza.

What is it that would drive anyone to commit such a horrendous act, at the same time killing himself? As ABCNEWS' John Quiñones discovered, a look inside one town can shed light on why for some extremists death is more meaningful than life.

Residents of Kalkilia, where Hotari is celebrated as a hero, point to the Israeli tanks in the streets and bulletholes in their homes. They blame the Israeli government and the Americans, who they say support Israel.

"What would you do if this was your home?" asked one man.

A feeling of desperation and helplessness, residents say, is what fuels the suicide bomber.

"A sense of mission empowers him," explained Dr. Eyad Sarraj, a Palestinian psychiatrist and one of the world's foremost experts on suicide bombers. "The identification with his people tells him that out of this misery, out of this despair, you have to act."