This article discusses an image of a child dressed in the uniform of a Palestinian suicide bomber that circulated in the media under the name ‘The baby bomber’. The author examines both the claims made about the picture by Israeli & Palestinian authorities, & the reception of the image in the Western media. Focusing on the representation of childhood & the representation of suicide, the article addresses the emphasis on repetition, temporality & threat that marks the reception of this photograph. Linking the image to debates around the pornographic & September 11, the discussion is informed by the work of Derrida, Barthes, Baudrillard & others. (30 refs)