One Man’s Terrorist is Another Man’s Freedom Fighter

This article is not in any way supporting terrorist activities, but it will surely help the reader to have a clearer understanding of its concept, and bring the factors which necessitate its initial adoption into focus.
Terrorism as a concept is not new in history. However, it came into limelight as a political phenomenon in the early 20th century. The earliest recorded significant act of terrorism in the 20th century took place in Serbia. In Serbia, a twenty- one year old student named Gavrillo Princip, who was trained by Serbian secret society known as the Black Hand shot and killed archduke Ferdinand of Austria. It will be pertinent to note that this was one of the major causes of the First World War The end of that war brought Germany to a state of comatose.
The treaty of Versailles of 1919 sealed a fate of servitude on the Germans. The provisions of that treaty were designed to cripple Germany militarily and economically, but it backfired as widespread disenchantment followed. Dangerous movements sprang up, and the leading philosophy of the terrorist group, Black Hand became rampant when the Nazis infiltrated every aspect of German life.
By 1933, the Nazis took over power in Germany and employed acts of intimidation and terror as official means of realization of government policies. In the international aspect, Nazi official terrorism was extended to neighboring states which were intimidated, annexed or partitioned. Ethnic nationalities, particularly the Jews and the Slavs were the victims of the genocide which emanated from official terror of Germany.
Terrorism as a concept serves negative and positive purposes. These purposes can be deciphered from the view point of the terrorist. Many of these so called terrorists view their actions as means of correcting injustice. The Arabs of the Middle East always readily employ acts of terror to correct perceived injustice at the hands of Israel and America. The Israelis equally employed this system in the 1940s through an organization known as the Irgun led by Menachem Begin. The Jewish actions of the 1940s were targeted against the British presence in Palestine, and they received the support and cooperation of the Arabs who were delighted to have a movement that was fighting against the British colonialists. The cooperation between the Arabs and Israelis ended in 1948.
The uneasy relations between the Arabs and Israelis apparently fueled cases of terrorism in world history. It heightened when Israel successfully prosecuted the six- day war which led to the seizure of Golan Heights (Syria) in 1967 and the Yom Kippur war of 1973 that led to the seizure of Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. Seizure of Gaza strip from Jordan, occupation of Jerusalem and Palestinian territories led to formation of organized terrorist movements such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Intifadh adhoc movement, and more recently Al Qaeda and Taliban. The Arab militants were not only discontent with Israel, but also with the western world who they felt were betrayals. This feeling of betrayal dates back to the end of the First World War, when the Arabs did not realize their hopes of independence after they were persuaded by Lawrence of Arabia to join in the uprising against the Ottoman empire.
One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. To most of the oppressed peoples of the world, their liberation movements were agencies for the realization of freedom. The African National Congress, the Mao Mao Movement of Kenya, the South West African People’s Organization and the Palestinian Liberation Organization were at some point designated terrorist movements by imperial masters.
In recent years, the term “terrorism” is a coinage of the western world which is used to suit their definition of opponent.
INVESTORS COMMUNITY