The statement that 'one person's terrorist is another person's freedom-fighter' definetely is true and has remained this way for thousands of years. It based off of a very basic concept of perspective, not only religion, politics, and culture.There are minor examples of this to be noted every day. For example, the recent visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was seen by many as something to be protested. His blatant statements against the United States and Israel specifically have caused turmoil among those who do not support Iran (especially in a fight against the U.S.), before the visit to the United States. Perhaps to some people here, Ahmadinejad is considered a prophet, someone who spreads a holy word, and preaches the destruction of more than one capitalist state.
I believe that one of the most important examples today is the conflict in Israel/Palestine. I have lived in Israel for 6 months and have friends that are Jewish Israeli, Arab Israeli, and Palestinian. Although the history is far too complicated to recount, the two sides of this conflict, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (and other Arab powers that do not believe that Israel should exist) take viewpoints that are almost impossible to change. Although my friends from Palestine are not suicide bombers, they believe very strongly that the Israeli Defense Force is a terrorist organization because of attacks against the Palestinian people. Israel itself is proud of its army, the only method of protecting the small state surrounded by Arab countries. Israelis, specifically the Israeli government, believe that the Palestinians are terrorists (and some are by international definition) and therefore there is a need for high security in Israel, protection against Palestinian and other Arab attacks.
The same theory holds true for Al Queda and the United States. Suicide bombers like those who attacked the world trade center are known terrorists. Yet, to some Muslim extremists, they are the saviors and it is the highest honor to be a martyr, although they may take it farther than is intended.
As far as policy goes, there definetely is the necessity of observing this concept. It connects to our discussions of the past few weeks about understanding other cultures. There is a fine line though, I believe, and we can only go so far in learning and 'understanding' people like suicide bombers who try to attack our country.
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2 comments:
I think you are touching on something deeper her than freedom fighters/terrorists. You seem to be talking about militaries as terrorists which is a great topic to consider.
Well these are not just militaries, they are groups of people that are known in our world to be terrorists, but they are just people. My main example is Israel and Palestine which both have militaries, but basically they are just two states with incredibly different views. Doesn't this also apply to countries because of the different perspectives that we have?
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