Not much really to add to this story, somehow.

So to speak. :)

FWIW, in case you're curious, as I was, "Amal" appears to be primarily, though perhaps not exclusively, a girl's name according to a quick check at some baby-name sites.

Makes me curious how fundamentalist Islamist types deal with even the notion of hermaphrodites, doctrinally. Seems like it would produce a "does not compute" reaction (or maybe an "oh, just topple a wall on top of him/her to be on the safe side" reaction.)

Given the humiliating life he must have had, it is no wonder he was willing to commit suicide rather than pass on his genes.

I've always wondered...

Why 72 virgins in particular?

Or, like the female suicide/homicide bomber, perhaps s/he was outed and humiliated and given the choice of an "honorable" death...

Man, talk about 3rd string. It looks like they are pulling what's left on the bench and suiting them up. First kids, then a 'tard, now this.

Huh, some interesting comments over here:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=10991_Palestinian_Hermaphrodite_Suicide_Bomber#comments

Apparently the "hermaphrodite" description may be imprecise and/or premature. Someone quoting the Jerusalem Post:

"As to her gender, Israeli security officials said that while Juma'a's physical appearance was extremely 'manly' they were unable to confirm reports claiming she is a hermaphrodite."

But the most interesting/strange factoid reported there is that genetic hermaphroditism is actually significantly more common among Palestinians and Jordanians due to inbreeding - first-cousin marriages are apparently extremely common in the population.

I share colorado's suspicion, that (as with the mentally retarded would-be suicide bomber) this might be another example of Palestinian splodeydope eugenics....

Eric:

the number 72 is not mentioned in the Koran itself, it was a later interpretation applied for numerological reasons. Not being familiar with Islamic numerology, that's as much as I can give you.

TBox,

As strange as it seems now, there was a time when the Arabic (actually Persia more than Arabia) nations were the center of learning on the planet in: Medicine, Astronomy, Math, etc., etc., etc.

Our current math is "Base 10 Arabic Numerology". It replaced the Roman Numerals.

Someone else may know on the 72 Virgin Deal.

I understand the Rule of 72 for increasing money, etc. Since we are talking about Jealous Arabs, maybe they stay mad at the Jews because they feel they are outsmarted business-wise. Who else knows on the "sex" part? I suspect the 72 is important in both areas ????

Where are the "role models" for the intersexed? Will a hermaphrodite ever be president or a celebrity icon? And what about the sacred over-pontificated institution of marriage, is it gay-marriage, same-sex partnership, straight marriage or just kinky?

My real point is that so much human behavior is based in sex and/or reproduction that some people are AUTOMATICALLY disregarded permanently by a physical reality. Gender is always identified in any conversation/communication, wonder why?

Someone used the word "it" above, we don't even have a proper term beyond she or he. HeShe? SheHe? Hes?


hermaphrodite

\Her*maph"ro*dite\, n. [L. hermaphroditus, Gr. ?, so called from the mythical story that Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite, when bathing, became joined in one body with Salmacis, the nymph of a fountain in Caria: cf. F. hermaphrodite.] (Biol.) An individual which has the attributes of both male and female, or which unites in itself the two sexes; an animal or plant having the parts of generation of both sexes, as when a flower contains both the stamens and pistil within the same calyx, or on the same receptacle. In some cases reproduction may take place without the union of the distinct individuals. In the animal kingdom true hermaphrodites are found only among the invertebrates. See Illust. in Appendix, under Helminths.


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. (from Dictionary.com.)

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