I would find it hard to distinguish other terrorists in occupied territories from the folks who fought the Nazis.
This is where the definition of 'terrorist' shades into 'resistance fighter' (or even 'insurgent' <g>). I shan't rehash all those.
However, offhand I'd say there are a few notable characteristics common to most if not all true resistance movements:
- they have no other way (e.g., democratic vote) of removing the forces or government they're fighting
- the aim of removing the occupiers (even if not any other aims) commands plurality and probably majority support in the occupied population
- they operate largely or entirely on their own occupied territory, to free it, or directly on enemy territory
- their actions are predominantly against enemy/occupying forces, military and paramilitary, or militarily strategic points (e.g., arms factories, key transport links, oil or water supply, etc.)
- their actions are designed to minimise or avoid civilian casualties, not to disregard them, and certainly NOT to cause them
I don't claim this is at all definitive but I'd say it's fair.
Hence Hezbollah acting against Israeli soldiers, on Israeli soil, without current cause, are terrorists...
The first one is vital. If you can theoretically vote an occupier out, in a fair vote - and it leaves - then other action is probably terrorist even if all the other checks above are met.
And if a plurality of the occupied don't want to be rid of the occupiers, then again you're probably terrorists to abandon democracy and seek to remove a preferred government by force.
Groups like Hamas - or indeed Hezbollah - may do OK on the support categories, but obviously miss the point about not targeting civilians.
And here's where Israel really doesn't help, because if the occupier doesn't bother to distinguish it's hard to see why the occupied will in such an asymmetric combat.
Parsers can have fun scoring different 'terrorist' groups on the above! Unfortunately the pre-1997 Taliban come off rather well... although of course that was when they were allies of and supported by the West. |
