Martyrdom: perversion of Islam or mainstream view?

Many commentators, Islamic and otherwise, have said that suicide bombers are a perversion of the Koran. If that’s true, then why is so prominent and presumably mainstream a cleric as the Chief Mufti of the Palestinean Authority extoll the glories of the bomber? Aluma Solnick in her paper The Joy of the Mothers of Palestinian ‘Martyrs’ explores some historical background that clearly establishes martyrdom as a longstanding heroic role in Islam.