Terrorism and Tamil Tigers
Terrorism, as defined in the dictionary, is known to be making use of violence, intimidation and threats to achieve a certain goal, which happens to be of political purposes most of the times.
In this essay, we’ll look into the different reasons of why people resort to terrorism, if it is really the last and best way to achieve what they want. I will also write about the opposing views of seeing terrorists as just terrorists alone, or if they are actually freedom fighters. Lastly, we will discuss if terrorism can ever be justified.
One of the factors is due to political reasons. Unlike other types of terrorism, political terrorism is a criminal politcal act that aims to strike a political blow to the concerned countries, or at times, to the world. This happens when there is a breakdown in communication between the authorised personnel and the people who think that they are “seeking justice”. One example of such terrorism can be seen from Black September, a Palestinian group. The Munich Massacre, which happened on 5 September 1972, during the Munich Olympics. Black September was unhappy with the fact that the Israeli government had captured over 200 of their people and hence demanded for the release of the political prisoners in Egypt. With such political motivation, they captured and killed a total of eleven innocent Israeli athletes who were at the Munich Olympics to compete. This political terrorism escalated into a transnational one as well; Black September was based in Palestine, they annihilate Israeli citizens and attacked in Munich. This proves that political terrorism may not necessarily happen within the concerned countries alone.
Another would be due to religious reasons. Religion is something that people keep themselves and their beliefs rooted to. And most of the times, it contains a moral code to the way people live their lives. A well-known example would be Al-Qaeda, with Osama Bin Laden being their figurehead. As the United States took over
In this essay, we’ll look into the different reasons of why people resort to terrorism, if it is really the last and best way to achieve what they want. I will also write about the opposing views of seeing terrorists as just terrorists alone, or if they are actually freedom fighters. Lastly, we will discuss if terrorism can ever be justified.
One of the factors is due to political reasons. Unlike other types of terrorism, political terrorism is a criminal politcal act that aims to strike a political blow to the concerned countries, or at times, to the world. This happens when there is a breakdown in communication between the authorised personnel and the people who think that they are “seeking justice”. One example of such terrorism can be seen from Black September, a Palestinian group. The Munich Massacre, which happened on 5 September 1972, during the Munich Olympics. Black September was unhappy with the fact that the Israeli government had captured over 200 of their people and hence demanded for the release of the political prisoners in Egypt. With such political motivation, they captured and killed a total of eleven innocent Israeli athletes who were at the Munich Olympics to compete. This political terrorism escalated into a transnational one as well; Black September was based in Palestine, they annihilate Israeli citizens and attacked in Munich. This proves that political terrorism may not necessarily happen within the concerned countries alone.
Another would be due to religious reasons. Religion is something that people keep themselves and their beliefs rooted to. And most of the times, it contains a moral code to the way people live their lives. A well-known example would be Al-Qaeda, with Osama Bin Laden being their figurehead. As the United States took over
References: o Dictionary.com. InTerrorism | Define Terrorism at Dictionary.com. Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism o Boaz Ganor o Amy Zalman. (n.d.). About.com. In History of Terrorism – A Guide to the History of Terrorism. Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/p/Terrorism.htm o (November 9, 2012) o Jude Wanniski. (n.d.). Polyconomics. In Political Terrorism. Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://www.polyconomics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1882:political-terrorism&catid=54:2005 o (n.d.) o (September 2012). New York Magazine. In September 11 by Numbers. Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/1year/numbers.htm o (n.d.) o (n.d.). Start. InTerrorist Organization Profile: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3623 o Kate Pickret