Terrorism is a complex and controversial topic with no universally agreed upon definition. The document discusses how the label of "terrorism" is often used by powerful states against weaker groups to delegitimize them. It also examines how both states and non-state groups have employed violence and intimidation against civilians for political aims. Ultimately, there are good-faith arguments on both sides of what constitutes terrorism versus freedom fighting, and the labeling is often more about perspective and power dynamics than objectively defining unlawful violence.

1. IS TERRORISM JUST A
POLEMICAL LABEL
USED BY POWERFUL
AGAINST POWERLESS?
ANIQA ALI 17063
AISHA SHAHID RANA 17147
YASIR DIL 17234

2. PROBLEM DEFINITION:
• THE QUESTION OF HOW TERRORISM IS DEFINED IS
INEVITABLY LINKED WITH THE QUESTIONS:
WHO IS DEFINING?
BY WHAT AUTHORITY?
AND TO WHAT EFFECT?

3. INSIDE TERRORISM
•'UNBOUNDED' MORALITY ULTIMATELY BECOMES
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE EVEN IN TERMS OF THE
SAME MORAL PRINCIPLES BEING SOUGHT. THE
LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS APPLIES TO
MORALITY’

4. DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS ARE OF
LITTLE HELP
• TERRORISM: A SYSTEM OF TERROR. 1. GOVERNMENT BY INTIMIDATION AS DIRECTED AND
CARRIED OUT BY THE PARTY IN POWER IN FRANCE DURING THE REVOLUTION OF 1789-94;
THE SYSTEM OF `TERROR'. 2.GEN. A POLICY INTENDED TO STRIKE WITH TERROR THOSE
AGAINST WHOM IT IS ADOPTED; THE EMPLOYMENT OF METHODS OF INTIMIDATION; THE
FACT OF TERRORIZING OR CONDITION OF BEING TERRORIZED.
• . AS A POLITICAL TERM: A. APPLIED TO THE JACOBINS AND THEIR AGENTS AND PARTISANS
IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, ESP. TO THOSE CONNECTED WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY
TRIBUNALS DURING THE `REIGN OF TERROR'. B. ANY ONE WHO ATTEMPTS TO FURTHER HIS
VIEWS BY A SYSTEM OF COERCIVE INTIMIDATION; SPEC. APPLIED TO MEMBERS OF ONE OF
THE EXTREME REVOLUTIONARY SOCIETIES IN RUSSIA.

5. TERRORISM OR FREEDOM FIGHT ?
• THE WORD `TERRORISM' WAS FIRST POPULARIZED DURING THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION
• HENCE, UNLIKE TERRORISM AS IT IS COMMONLY UNDERSTOOD TODAY, TO
MEAN A REVOLUTIONARY OR ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY UNDERTAKEN BY
NON-STATE OR SUBNATIONAL ENTITIES
• THE REGIME DE LA TERREUR WAS AN INSTRUMENT OF GOVERNANCE WIELDED
BY THE RECENTLY ESTABLISHED REVOLUTIONARY STATE
• ON THE EVE OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

6. STATE AND TERRORISM
• STATES CAN NOT COMMIT ACTS
OF TERROR (ELDEN/CRONIN)
NOTE : WE WILL SHOW A SHORT VIDEO TO DEFEND THE STATMENT

7. STATE CAN NOT BE TERRORISTS
(GIBBS)
• GIBBS ASSERTS, OFTEN NO LAW "BUT THE WILL OF THE DESPOT", UNDER THIS
UNDERSTANDING STATES CAN COMMIT ACTS OF TERROR, BUT CANNOT BE
ASCRIBED AS TERRORISTS. CONVERSELY, A SUFFICIENTLY VAGUE DEFINITION
SUCH AS ZINAM’S (1978), WOULD ALLOW THE STATE PROSECUTION OF ILLEGAL
ACTIVITIES TO BE CLASSIFIED AS TERRORISM. THESE CONSIDERATIONS ALONG
WITH THE CONFUSING NATURE OF INCLUDING CRIMINALITY INTO A
CLASSIFICATION (LOMANSKY 1991) (I.E. HOW CRIME IS SUBSTANTIATED (GIBBS
1989) AND WHERE IT IS CONSTITUTED MUSTAFA (2005)), MAKES IT CLEAR THAT
A DEFINITION IS THEREFORE REQUIRED THAT EXCLUDES ILLEGALITY AS A
NECESSARY CRITERION FOR TERRORISM.

8. TERRORISM LABELLINGS
A REASON FOR THIS IS THAT, ACCORDING TO THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY,
THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE THEIR SURROUNDING WORLD IS SOCIALLY
CONSTRUCTED. IDEAS AND SHARED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT REALITY HAVE A
STRONG IMPACT ON WORLD POLITICS. IN THAT SENSE, DISCOURSE IS VERY
IMPORTANT AS LANGUAGE PLAYS A PREDOMINANT ROLE IN SHAPING REALITY
AND IN INFLUENCING THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE IT (KEGLEY 2009, 39-42).
CONSEQUENTLY, LABELLING (OR NAMING) IN ITSELF, AS WRITTEN BY
JACKSON, IS ‘ALWAYS A HIGHLY CHARGED PROCESS THAT CAN HAVE SERIOUS
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES’ (2005: 23).

9. CONT…
• THE TERRORIST LABEL IN PARTICULAR HAS A STRONG POLITICAL IMPACT AS IT
DELEGITIMIZES THE ACTORS IT TARGETS. FIRST AND FOREMOST, THIS CAN BE
EXPLAINED BY THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE TERM (BARTOLUCCI 2010: 122).
REFERRING TO AN ACTOR AS A TERRORIST IMPLIES INFERRING FEAR TOWARDS
HIS ACTIONS AND MOTIVES.
• BY USING SUCH EMOTIONAL WORDS, IT IS THUS EASIER FOR THE LABELLING
ACTORS TO MANIPULATE THE WAY THE AUDIENCE PERCEIVES THE SO-CALLED
TERRORIST GROUP SINCE IT HAMPERS THE EXTENT TO WHICH PEOPLE WILL BE
ABLE AND LIKELY TO RATIONALLY ANALYSE THESE GROUPS.

10. NELSON MANDELA - "ONE MANS
TERRORIST IS ANOTHER MAN'S FREEDOM
FIGHTER“
• A LONDONDERRY OFFICIAL CALLED HIM "A COLD-BLOODED RUTHLESS TERRORIST
(WHO) WILL WEIGH UP THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS ONLY IN TERMS OF
BENEFIT TO THE IRA, REGARDLESS OF THE COST IN HUMAN LIVES." ANOTHER SAID
HE WAS A "FANATIC ... RESPONSIBLE FOR MASS MURDER."
HE HIMSELF HAS SPOKEN OF THE "LEGAL AND MORAL RIGHT OF THE IRA TO KILL A
BRITISH SOLDIER AT ANY TIME," AND WAS ONCE QUOTED: "FREEDOM CAN BE
GAINED ONLY AT THE POINT OF AN IRA RIFLE, AND I APOLOGIZE TO NO ONE FOR
SAYING THAT WE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE IRA."

11. CONT…
• IS IT THEN TRUE THAT "ONE MAN'S TERRORIST IS ANOTHER MAN'S FREEDOM FIGHTER"? AFTER ALL, MANY
IRISH CONSIDER MCGUINNESS AND HIS SINN FEIN COMRADE GERRY ADAMS, WHOM BILL CLINTON INVITED TO
THE WHITE HOUSE FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY, AS FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN THE TRADITION OF THE "MARTYRS" OF
THE "EASTER RISING" OF 1916, CELEBRATED BY THE POET W. B. YEATS.
• NOBEL PRIZE WINNER YASSER ARAFAT HAS BEEN CHARGED IN THE COLD-BLOODEDASSASSINATION OF U.S.
AMBASSADOR CLEO NOEL IN THE SUDAN IN 1973. HIS PLO IS AN UMBRELLA GROUP EMBRACING
ORGANIZATIONS FOR WHOM THE WEAPON OF CHOICE IN THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL IS TERROR.
NELSON MANDELA, ANOTHER NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, DID NOT GET LIFE IMPRISONMENT ON ROBBEN
ISLAND FOR SITTING IN AT LUNCH COUNTERS, BUT IF MEMORY SERVES, FOR PLOTTING TERROR TO
OVERTHROW THE REGIME.

12. AL-QAIDA- "WAR ON TERROR"
• ONE OF THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF WAR PROPAGANDA IS TO “FABRICATE AN ENEMY”. THE “OUTSIDE ENEMY”
PERSONIFIED BY OSAMA BIN LADEN IS “THREATENING AMERICA”.
• PRE-EMPTIVE WAR DIRECTED AGAINST “ISLAMIC TERRORISTS” IS REQUIRED TO DEFEND THE HOMELAND. REALITIES
ARE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK.
• IN THE WAKE OF 9/11, THE CREATION OF THIS “OUTSIDE ENEMY” HAS SERVED TO OBFUSCATE THE REAL ECONOMIC AND
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES BEHIND THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA. WAGED ON THE GROUNDS OF SELF-
DEFENSE, THE PRE-EMPTIVE WAR IS UPHELD AS A “JUST WAR” WITH A HUMANITARIAN MANDATE.
• AS ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT GROWS AND THE POLITICAL LEGITIMACY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FALTERS, DOUBTS
REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF THIS ILLUSIVE “OUTSIDE ENEMY” MUST BE DISPELLED.
• COUNTER-TERRORISM AND WAR PROPAGANDA ARE INTERTWINED. THE PROPAGANDA APPARATUS FEEDS
DISINFORMATION INTO THE NEWS CHAIN. THE TERROR WARNINGS MUST APPEAR TO BE “GENUINE”. THE OBJECTIVE IS
TO PRESENT THE TERROR GROUPS AS “ENEMIES OF AMERICA.”

13. CONT…
• IRONICALLY, AL QAEDA –THE “OUTSIDE ENEMY OF AMERICA” AS WELL AS THE ALLEGED ARCHITECT OF THE 9/11 ATTACKS– IS A CREATION OF
THE CIA.
• FROM THE OUTSET OF THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR IN THE EARLY 1980S, THE US INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS HAS SUPPORTED THE FORMATION
OF THE “ISLAMIC BRIGADES”. PROPAGANDA PURPORTS TO ERASE THE HISTORY OF AL QAEDA, DROWN THE TRUTH AND “KILLTHE EVIDENCE”
ON HOW THIS “OUTSIDE ENEMY” WAS FABRICATED AND TRANSFORMED INTO “ENEMY NUMBER ONE”.
• THE US INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS HAS CREATED IT OWN TERRORISTORGANIZATIONS. AND AT THE SAME TIME, IT CREATES ITS OWN
TERRORISTWARNINGS CONCERNING THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONSWHICH IT HAS ITSELF CREATED. MEANWHILE, A COHESIVE
MULTIBILLIONDOLLAR COUNTERTERRORISMPROGRAM “TO GO AFTER” THESE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONSHAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE.
• PORTRAYED IN STYLIZED FASHION BY THE WESTERN MEDIA, OSAMA BIN LADEN, SUPPORTED BY HIS VARIOUS HENCHMEN, CONSTITUTES
AMERICA’S POST-COLD WAR BOGEYMAN, WHO “THREATENS WESTERN DEMOCRACY”. THE ALLEGED THREAT OF “ISLAMIC
TERRORISTS”, PERMEATES THE ENTIRE US NATIONAL SECURITY DOCTRINE. ITS PURPOSE IS TO JUSTIFY WARS OF AGGRESSION IN THE
MIDDLE EAST, WHILE ESTABLISHING WITHIN AMERICA, THE CONTOURS OF THE HOMELAND SECURITY STATE.

14. ISRAEL - PALESTINIAN SUICIDE
BOMBER
• THE INDIVIDUAL BOMBERS DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE A BACKGROUND OF BEING
RELIGIOUSLY DEVOUT, BUT THEIR ACTIONS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS FRAMED AS ACTS OF SELF-
MARTYRDOM.
• FOR THE ATTACKERS AND THE GROUPS THAT SEND THEM, THIS GIVES THEIR DEATHS
RELIGIOUS SANCTION AND MEANS THEIR SUICIDE CAN BE CELEBRATED.
• THE ATTACKERS, WHO ARE OFTEN RECORDED ON VIDEO DECLARING THEIR INTENTIONS TO
MURDER ISRAELIS, MOST OFTEN CAST THEIR ATTACKS AS ACTS OF REVENGE AND SEEM TO
BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL GO STRAIGHT TO PARADISE.
• PART OF THE PACT BETWEEN A BOMBER AND THE GROUP THAT SENDS HIM IS THAT THE
ATTACKER'S DEATH WILL BE CELEBRATED AND HIS FAMILY PROVIDED FOR.

15. CONT…
• MANY PALESTINIANS SEE SUICIDE ATTACKS AS THE ONLY FORM OF ARMED
RESISTANCE TO OCCUPATION AVAILABLE TO THEM, GIVEN THE VAST SUPERIORITY
OF THE ISRAELI ARMY.
• PALESTINIANS OFTEN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE ATTACKS AS DESPERATE ACTS OR
REVENGE BORN OF THEIR SUFFERING UNDER OCCUPATION. THEY POINT TO THE
LARGE NUMBER OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN DEATHS AS A RESULT OF ACTIONS BY
THE ISRAELI ARMY.
• ISRAEL'S LEADERS APPEAR TO HAVE ULTIMATELY COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT
ONLY PHYSICAL SEPARATION WITH THE PALESTINIANS CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM
OF HUMAN BOMBS.

16. CONT…
• "MORE CIVILIANS WERE KILLED BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT THAN IN ANY
OTHER FORM OF ARMED VIOLENCE". (ARMSTRONG)
• THE KHMER ROUGE EXECUTED A MILLION OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE IN JUST FOUR
YEARS AND MORE PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE IDF THAN
ISRAELIS KILLED BY PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBERS (MAZOWER 2002).
STATE VIOLENCE ALSO TENDS TO BE SYSTEMATIC AND WELL ORGANIZED,
LARGELY AS A RESULT OF THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES AVAILABLE TO
THEM.

17. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
• THE POLEMICAL LABELING OF TERRORISM IS EXPLOITED THROUGH HEGEMONIC DISCOURSE AND THE
GEORAPHICALNESS OF TERRORISM NEEDS TO BE LOOKED BEYOND TRADITIONAL MEANS OF GEOGRAPHY AND MORE
TOWARDS THE SPATIAL ELEMENTS OF TERRORISM
BY DISTINGUISHING TERRORISTS FROM OTHER TYPES OF CRIMINALS AND TERRORISM FROM OTHER FORMS OF CRIME, WE
COME TO APPRECIATE THAT TERRORISM IS :
• * INELUCTABLY POLITICAL IN AIMS AND MOTIVES;
• * VIOLENT -- OR, EQUALLY IMPORTANT, THREATENS VIOLENCE;
• * DESIGNED TO HAVE FAR-REACHING PSYCHOLOGICAL REPERCUSSIONS BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE VICTIM OR TARGET;
• * CONDUCTED BY AN ORGANIZATION WITH AN IDENTIFIABLE CHAIN OF COMMAND OR CONSPIRATORIAL CELL
STRUCTURE (WHOSE MEMBERS WEAR NO UNIFORM OR IDENTIFYING INSIGNIA); AND
• * PERPETRATED BY A SUBNATIONAL GROUP OR NON-STATE ENTITY.