What is terrorism? Some thoughts on the subject...

Saint Augustine once told the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. "How dare you molest the sea?", asked the great Greek Emperor. "How dare you molest the whole world?", replied the pirate and he went on. "Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you doing it with a great navy are called an emperor". This story illustrates perfectly how the concept of terrorism has been used (mainly) by western governments.

They use this term to label atrocities that target the west. September 11th, London Bombings and more recently Mumbai shootings (although India is not a western country, it is inserted in the economic and geopolitical dynamic) are just few examples of how the term has been used. However, if we stop and think, what is the real concept of terrorism? Are they just violence acts towards the west?

There is a definition argued by many authors as the most appropriated. It is ironicaly in the British law in the Prevention of Terrorism Act and it says "Terrorism means the use of violence for political ends and includes ANY use of violence for the purpose of putting the public or any section of the public in fear". So would it not be terrorism what the USA has been doing in Iraq, Israel has been doing in Palestine and what England did in Northern Ireland? Similarly, all these countries used violence for political (and economical) ends and left population in a constant state of fear.

Hence, in this case it can be concluded that labelling something as a terrorism act is intimately connected to questions of power and inlfuence. Certainly, if a powerful nation such as the USA says someone is a terrorist it will hold a bigger weight than if the member of a Palestinian community says that Israeli Government is commiting terrorism. Saint Augustine has certainly anticipated the concept of terrorism. Pity the powerful nations always forget to use it properly.