Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Terrorist or Freedom Fighter?

This is one question that doesn't have an easy answer. A group may be considered "terrorists" by some people and "freedom fighters" by others. It really depends on your point of view. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by many Western nations, whereas it is considered a legitimate political party by countries such as Iran and Palestine. Hezbollah uses terrorist tactics like suicide bombings against Israeli civilians while at the same time providing humanitarian aid to Lebanese civilians in the wake of the 2006 Lebanon Conflict. The African National Congress, once considered a terrorist organization by the South African apartheid government, is now the democratically elected ruling political party in South Africa. The Soviet Union viewed the Mujahideen as terrorists, and the United States viewed them as freedom fighters.

Maybe one man's terrorist really is another man's freedom fighter.

-Gregory Proulx

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