Text 36 Terrorism

Terrorism is a term used to describe violence against civilians, acts which are intended to create fear or "terror". Acts of terrorism can be carried out by individuals, groups, or states for political or other ideological goals. Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty.

There are various types of conflict:

• Secession of a territory to form a new sovereign state,

• Dominance of territory or resources by various ethic groups,

• Imposition of a particular form of government, such as democracy, theocracy or anarchy,

• Economic deprivation of a population,

• Opposition to a domestic government or occupying army

Terrorism is sometimes used when attempting to force political change by convincing a government or population to agree to demands to avoid future harm or fear of harm, destabilization of an existing government, motivating a disgruntled population to join an uprising, escalating a conflict in the hopes of disrupting the status quo, expressing the severity of a grievance, or drawing attention to a neglected cause, creation of international visibility for a persistent problem.

The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" are often used as political labels to condemn violence or threat of violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate, or unjustified. Those labeled "terrorists" rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other generic terms or terms specific to their situation, such as: separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerilla, rebel, jihadi, fedazeen, mujaheddin, or any similar-meaning word in other languages. Most organizations that are accused of being a "terrorist organization" will deny using terrorism as a military tactic to achieve their goals, and there is no international consensus on the bureaucratic definition of terrorism.

Here is a list of organisations that are, or have been in the past, proscribed as "terrorist organizations": Aum Shinrikyo, now known as Aleph, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and Hezbollah.

Religious terrorism is terrorism by those whose motivations and aims have a religious character or influence.

The term Islamic terrorism refers to acts of committed by Muslims for the purpose of achieving political and/or religious objectives. Islamic Jihad is an Islamist terrorist group based in the Western world. Some of Islamic terrorist groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have limited their acts to localized regions of the Middle East, while others, notably Al-Qaeda, have an international scope for their terrorist activities. The most widely utilized tactic by Islamist terrorists is suicide bombing. This tactic is used against civilians, soldiers, government officials, the hijacking of passenger vehicles, kidnappings and executions.

Christian terrorism or extremism is carried out by groups or individuals who claim Christian motivations or goals for their actions. The following Christian groups are proscribed as "terrorist organizations”: Christian Identity movement, Freedomites (also Svobodniki or Sons of Freedom, Canada, 1902-present), Army of God ( right wing terrorist group).

State terrorism is a term which means violence against civilians conducted by a national government against a foreign state or its own people

Questions:

1. What is the definition for the term “terrorism”?

2. What are the types of conflicts?

3. When is terrorism used as a form of unconventional warfare?

4. When are terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" used?

5. Do these labeled "terrorists" and "terrorist organization" identify themselves as such?

6. What organizations are proscribed as "terrorist organizations"?

7. What is known as Islamic Jihad?

8. What are the most widely utilized tactics of Islamist terrorists?

9. What groups are proscribed as “Christian terrorist organizations”?

10. What does the terms “State terrorism” mean?