Towards a Clear Definition of Terrorism

By Hassan El-Najjar and M. Burhanuddin Qasmi

ccun.org, August 27, 2008

M. Burhanuddin Qasmi wrote:

History of Terrorism
 
According to sociologists and experts on terrorism the French Revolution provided the first uses of the words terrorist and terrorism. The use of the word terrorism began in 1795 in reference to the ‘Reign of Terror’ initiated by the Revolutionary government in France during the French Revolution. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of "The Terror" were referred to as 'terrorists’. The French Revolution provided an example to future states in oppressing their populations. It also inspired a reaction by royalists and other opponents of the Revolution who employed terrorist tactics such as assassination and intimidation in resistance to the revolutionary agents. Systematic use of terror as a policy is first recorded in England in 1798.
 
The words terrorism and terrorist were first used as political terms to describe atrocities of an occupying establishment – say colonial government. 
 
Researches done on the history of terrorism reveal that ‘terrorist’ in the modern sense dates to 1947, especially in reference to Jewish tactics against the British in Palestine – while earlier it was used for extremist revolutionaries in Russia (1866). The tendency of one party's terrorism said to be another's guerilla war or fight for freedom was noted in reference to the anti-British actions in India (1857), Cyprus (1956) and the war in Rhodesia (1973). The word terrorist has been applied, at least retroactively, to the Marquis resistance in occupied France in World War II.
 
The Britain has first used the terms ‘terrorism and terrorist’ to describe anti -establishment forces or those who used hit-and-run practices against British colonialism.
   
It is relatively hard to define terrorism albeit it is not a new phenomenon for the world. A Western writer argues, ‘Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination.’ Obviously, a lot depends on whose point of view is being represented. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict. As an asymmetric form of conflict, it confers coercive power with many of the advantages of military force at a fraction of the cost.
 
 
Definition of Terrorism
 
World’s popular online encyclopedia -- Wikipedia, notes ‘The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. A 2003 study by Jeffrey Record for the US Army quoted a source (Schmid and Jongman 1988) that counted 109 definitions of terrorism that covered a total of 22 different definitional elements. Record continues "Terrorism expert Walter Laqueur also has counted over 100 definitions and concludes that the 'only general characteristic generally agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence.' Yet terrorism is hardly the only enterprise involving violence and the threat of violence. So does war, coercive diplomacy, and barroom brawls.’’
 
The lack of agreement on a definition of terrorism has been a major obstacle to meaningful international countermeasures.

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Hassan El-Najjar wrote:

Terrorism is terrorizing or being terrorized, a mode of governing, or of opposing government by intimidation.

The term should be used to describe individuals, groups, and governments, which are involved in terrorizing the civilian populations.

Corporate media journalists in NATO countries use the term routinely to describe individuals and groups but never use it to describe the governments which target the civilian population by killing them, destroying their homes and fields, or by subjecting them to collective punishment.

For a balanced approach, both terms of terrorism and state terrorism should be used.

It is inaccurate to use the term in describing resistance to foreign invaders and foreign occupation forces, such as the case of Palestinians fighting Israeli occupation forces to liberate themselves from foreign military rule.

The same principle applies to resistance to foreign invaders throughout history, such as resistance to Japanese occupation of east Asian countries and German occupation of European countries before and during World War II.

Algerians were not terrorists when they fought against and defeated the French imperialist occupation of their land. The same applies to all African national liberation movements which fought against European imperialist powers during the twentieth centuries.

Invaders and occupation forces have committed terrorist acts against civilian populations since the middle of the nineteenth century. However, politicians serving the ruling classes and corporate media in the imperialist powers, which are owned by imperialist ruling classes, systematically refer to the resistance to foreign invasion and occupation as terrorism. The objective is to justify the killing of millions of people in the invaded countries, during the process of controlling their resources.

But terrorism has been also applied as a tactic by governments against their own people, such as what happens in the case of a rebellious region, particularly when dictators face popular uprisings or when a region attempts to secede from a country.

Examples of this kind of state terrorism can be found in burning Atlanta by the Union forces during the American civil war, and in the ferocious Russian forces attacks against Grozni, the capital of Chechnya in the 1990s.

Finally, when politically-motivated individuals or groups within a country target civilians or civil servants in attacks to kill, injure, or intimidate them, it is also terrorism, domestic terrorism in this case.

Examples from the United States include attacks on abortion clinics, Oklahoma City bombing, and attacks on Muslim mosques after September 11, 2001.

Domestic terrorism is also found in any country in which opposition groups turn to armed struggle instead of peaceful means, which may result in killing innocent civilians and civil servants.

I hope this brief treatment of the issue educates people about one of the most distorted political terms in our times, in which victims of terrorism are described as terrorists.

More: Conflict Terminology