Hezbollah Are They a Terrorist Group or a Racial Social Group
Hezbollah are they a Terrorist Group or A Racial Social Group Contrary to popular belief, Terrorism has been a globalized reality long before the events of September 11. Indeed, only after the occurrence of the September 11 attacks did people, and to some extent countries, around the world consider terrorism as a threat to international peace and security. The destruction of the World Trade Center in New York became a lasting impression to Heads of State/Government around the world: an impression that can only be equaled to that of the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989. (Wright, 2006) Unlike the fall of the wall, however (which signaled the victory of Democracy over Communism and the end of the Cold War), the events of September 11 made the International Community realize how important it is to consider non-state actors as part of their national agendas and their preservation of their national security. Terrorism, as various academics and politicians alike have declared, has been around for centuries. Depending on how present institutions and people within societies perceive, define and understand terrorism, terrorist acts have been roughly estimated to first occur way back during the time of the Romans. For others however, the first sources of terrorist acts began during the French Revolution. Still, others indicate that the idea of terrorism first developed during the Munich Olympics in 1972. (Jamail, 2006)
Such differences in both idea and origin only perpetuate the ambiguity of the true nature of terrorism is one reason why the International Community has not yet come up with a universal definition for the term. Every country in the International Community perceives terrorism in a different way. As one famous notion has put it, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. (Westcott, 2002) Indeed, some governments and institutions actually believe that some terrorist groups are freedom fighters that actually operate for their benefit. One
Such differences in both idea and origin only perpetuate the ambiguity of the true nature of terrorism is one reason why the International Community has not yet come up with a universal definition for the term. Every country in the International Community perceives terrorism in a different way. As one famous notion has put it, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. (Westcott, 2002) Indeed, some governments and institutions actually believe that some terrorist groups are freedom fighters that actually operate for their benefit. One
References: Westcott, Kathryn (2002) Who are Hezbollah? BBC News World Edition. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1908671.stm CFR.org Staff. (2006) Hezbollah Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/publication/9155/#1 Wright, Robin (2006) Inside the Mind of Hezbollah. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071401401.html Jamail, Dahr (2006) Hezbollah’s Transformation. Asia Times. Retrieved from http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG20Ak02.html Country Reports on Terrorism (2009). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145737.htm