Terrorism: The
Statute of Fear
“Terrorism” from the French word “Terrorisme” means “The act of
terrorizing”. It was coined in France to denote the period after the onset of
the French Revolution in which rival factions intimidated and executed
political opponents throughout France called “The Reign of Terror” (5 September
1793 – 28 July 1794). The word itself is derived from Latin “Terreo” which means “I Terrify”. The
history of terrorism goes back to “Sicarii Zealots” — Jewish extremist
group active in Iudaea Province at the beginning of the 1st century AD. After Zealotry rebellion in the 1st century AD,
when some prominent collaborators with Roman rule were killed, according to
contemporary historian Josephus, in 6 AD Judas
of Galilee formed a small and more extreme offshoot of the Zealots, the Sicarii. Their terror also was directed
against Jewish "collaborators", including temple priests, Sadducees,
Herodians, and other wealthy elites.
Historically the term referred to the
act of “State Terrorism” in which a ruling authority or legitimate government
resorted to acts of subterfuge and sabotage against political rivals and/or foreign
governments. The earliest mention of the term is “Terror Cimbricus”, which was a state of emergency and panic in the
Rome in response to the approach of warriors from the Cimbri Tribe in 105 BC.
Nowadays the term refers to any act of violence against an organization. The Encyclopædia Britannica Online defines
“Terrorism” generally as "the
systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population
and thereby to bring about a particular political objective", and
states that "terrorism is not legally defined in all jurisdictions."
The encyclopaedia adds that "[e]stablishment
terrorism, often called state or state-sponsored terrorism, is employed by
governments -- or more often by factions within governments -- against that
government's citizens, against factions within the government, or against
foreign governments or groups."
Terrorist Acts can be motivated by any
factors such as economic, political, religious or ideological. (e.g Communism
vs. Capitalism, Nazism, Religious Warfare, Independence etc.). As such many terrorist acts have occurred
around the world throughout history. Perpetrators of those acts have belonged
to various denominations of society. They were religious leaders and political
leaders of differing ideologies. Such discrepancies have given rise to a
popular aphorism: “One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter”
On several occasions revolutionaries, freedom-fighters, political figures,
religious groups etc. have been
labelled as heretics, radicals or terrorists by their respective governing
authorities or opponents, such as ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA [Communist Revolutionary
active in Cuba], Freedom Fighters fighting Colonial Rule (India, USA, Brazil,
Ireland etc.), Various religious groups and sects being persecuted (Protestant
vs. Catholics, Zoroastrian Exodus from Islamized Persia etc.), Julian Assange
(Founder of Wikileaks branded as terrorist by several politicians).
Sometimes the act of resorting to
terrorism is more out of necessity than anything else. The Somali pirates are a
good example of this. Poverty-stricken fisherman at first, they initially took
up arms to protect their waters from illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic
waste along the Somalian coasts. The successful deterrence of these vessels
further bolstered confidence and turned to armed extortion or piracy along the
Somali Coastline, which is enroute to the Suez Canal, the most busy shipping
waters in the world, which make good ripe targets for extorting wealth in the
form of ransoms, which are used in further arming and training the pirates.
The subject of
Terrorism is wide and far-reaching. There are several definitions and
perspectives regarding it. Throughout history many terrorist acts have taken
place, each with its own agenda. Several thousand lives have been lost because
of it and the death toll keeps on rising. Terrorist acts are carried out by
Individuals, Groups, Organizations and Nations. They do it for political or
economic gains. Independence from a ruling authority or bring into attention
their plight on certain issues. Modern terrorism is dominated by cultural
divide and encourage by ignorance. The only effective way to rid the world of
this menace is by facilitating cultural exchange among different cultures and
educating the world about the diversity that inhabits this planet e.g. Association
Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (AIESEC). Born in ashes of WW II Europe, it was
formed “to expand the understanding of a nation by expanding the understanding
of the individuals, changing the world one person at a time.” Today AIESEC annually offers “20,000 leadership positions
and delivers over 470 conferences to [its] membership of over 60,000
students". AIESEC also runs an international exchange program that enables
over 16,000 students and recent graduates the opportunity to live and intern in
another country.” The exchange programmes have brought the world a lot closer
into a “Global Village” which is a step closer to a truly unified human
civilization.
