Old stuff I just felt like posting. Think some will find it interesting, if so... do tell.
"The following is a long answer (in 2 parts) to 2 different questions (which if you would really like to hear I will tell you later myself) on a military history class final exam I had back in Kingsborough. This class was focused on Terrorism. Just thought I would share it with some of you; Particularly my baby Vanilla. I am not speaking out of anger whatsoever when I say this but... anyone who has a major issue with me after reading this can go fuck themselves :-D" - yours truly
If you knew or felt you had to do some home construction, revamp, restyle, and reorganize the way things look and possibly work, you would certainly have to make sure you have the proper tools to get the work done. If you tried to cut lumber with an ax, realized it didn’t do the job right, then used a hacksaw, still felt it wasn’t giving the proper cut, then went and used a table saw, and realized there is nothing else that should ever be used for the job but that table saw ever again. You will always go back to using that table saw for your work to be done, because it is the most effective and precise tool that you have at your disposal for what you need. The same could be thought of the use of terrorism. One of the points raised by Clauswitz in his analysis of the political role of the military was the idea that “War is a continuation of Policy by other means.” Terrorists usually seek some kind of change by a government or group for themselves, their people, or their country. If the military uses war as means of achieving a goal that politics cannot, then Terrorism is simply the next step a revolutionary would take had their requests of change, or wants not been met by more civilized ways. It is a continuation of policy by a means that will produce the proper results for the cause. The actions taken by Nihilists, Mikhail Bakunin, and Michael Collins, are then understandable if the above logic is used in the analysis of their situation and the changes they sought to make.
Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. Nihilism is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history.
If the root of Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless, and that the process by which a change can come about is simply utter destruction, then whether it be justifiable or not, the actions of a Nihilist will be labeled as terroristic in nature. There are no specifics about the targets that are chosen, except when backing a cause. True nihilists would then never have a problem with self-sacrifice, making them quite possibly the most effective weapons a cause could have. The only problem with this is that most nihilists are not true to the base meaning of Nihilism. They seek to accomplish a specific goal, branching them out into different forms of Nihilism; Epistemological nihilism, Political nihilism, Ethical nihilism, and Existential nihilism. Each of these still however uses some form of destruction for their successes. Nietzsche believed that “If we survived the process of destroying all interpretations of the world, we could then perhaps discover the correct course for humankind.”
Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian revolutionary of the mid 1800’s, sought the liberation of people from the government and an establishment of a federation of free workers. His passionate campaigning for democracy and anti-colonialism made him “public enemy number one” in the eyes of most European monarchies. In 1848 he was expelled from France for making a speech in support of independence for Poland. A year later, Bakunin assisted in the May Insurrection in Dresden, leading to his arrest and death sentence. After Russia demanded his extradition he spent 6 years in prison without trial, only to be exiled to Siberia once released. Upon his arrival in Europe, after a dramatic escape from his exile, he immediately went back to his work assisting in obtaining the independence of Poland. He then began to rethink his approaches towards independence and turned towards anarchism.
While Marx believed that socialism could be achieved by an overthrow of the state, Bakunin wanted nothing more than to see its destruction and the creation of a new society; the formation of a free federation of free workers. This idea would spread drastically and become one of the foundations of modern terrorism today. The use of terrorism in this respect was a means that Bakunin had come to after contemplation of his original methods. At first, he was oppressed and jailed for his beliefs and the attempt to spread them. If a child is not listened to after an hour of yelling it is almost certain that the child will do something else to get your attention, usually destructive (of course depending on how you raised the kid), forcing you to remember that he/she may resort to those measures again and again just to make a change or at least be listened to. It seems apparent that Bakunin realized that he would get nowhere by mere words (though most certainly it was his words may have been the most powerful thing the man could have had in his arsenal, as seen in the effects of them on future radicals), so he resorted to more extreme measures, and thus sought for the destruction of government for a clean slate to work with. Bakunin could never have known what a profound affect both his actions and writings would have on the future of anarchism and terrorism.
A strive for independence of Ireland from British control was the driving force behind the actions of Michael Collins. Collins, growing up with a great understanding of his “Irishness,” and a well educated and physically fit young man, had been profoundly influenced by his teachers, and family about the struggle for nationalism, and dedicated himself early on in his life to seeing Irelands autonomy becoming a reality.
Much like Bakunin, although each with very different goals, Collins had relied on, at first, political methods towards attaining independence. The IPP’s (Irish Parliamentary Party) failure to establish Home Rule simply attracted more young recruits to the cause. The IRB’s (Irish Republican Brotherhood) methods would not be as friendly and the IPP’s. Although a horribly botched plan, the Easter uprising, which Collins was himself a part of, proved to rally even more support. After being thrown in an English prison he would soon be released and given an executive position in the Sinn Fein organization. During 1917 and 1918, his activities included: creating an intelligence network, organizing a national loan to fund a rebellion, creating an assassination squad ("The Twelve Apostles") and an arms-smuggling operation. By 1920, Michael Collins was wanted by the British and had a price of #10,000 stg. on his head. Now in a position to administer forces on terrorist campaigns, Collins pushed the envelope, attempting to start a war with England. Their reaction, the creation of the “Blacks and Tans”, a group of specialized soldiers created to deal with the Irish opposition. Thus began a pattern of assassination and reprisal.
On 21 November 1920 Michael Collins' squad assassinated 14 British officers, effectively destroying the British Secret Service in Ireland. In reprisal, the Black and Tans fired on a crowd watching a football match at Croke Park. Twelve people were killed, including one of the team players. The day became known as Bloody Sunday. To say that the campaigns of Collins were ineffective is debatable. But one thing is certain... the seriousness and dedication of Collins for the Independence was apparent in the drastic measures he chose to take for the realization of Irelands freedom from England.
To say that terrorism is a justifiable extension of the means that these men chose to use is something that can certainly be argued depending on how you look at the situation. If you put yourself in an outside view of things, it may be easier to see both sides of the spectrum. If you are involved however, it is almost certain that your vision would be limited because of your position. A cornered animal will act quite ferociously out of necessity, thus the use of terrorism in the case of a person or people seeking to release the grip of an outside party, controlling that which really does not belong to them, is in my view acceptable. In the sense of using it as a tool for instigation of war, or to point the finger at nations which one feels is responsible for it’s hardships, is simple narrow minded and extremely dangerous to the world as a whole.
When a person, or group, needs to make a change, and the beliefs behind that change are strong enough to drive that person or group to take drastic measures to achieve those goals or changes, it could, depending on the severity or power behind the belief, lead to dangerous results. The goals of terrorist organizations could be religious, political, economic, or even personal. The want of any one person our group to achieve the realization of their goals can surpass the morality of their actions, and in some cases, at least in the mind of the perpetrator, justifies those actions. The terrorist movements of both the Israeli Lehi, and Yasser Arafat's PLO, have each had goals that they wished to achieve, and each has taken their own route to achieving those goals. The Israeli Lehi movement and Arafat's PLO have used terrorism as the primary tool for their respective goals. The similarities and differences in each organizations wants and tactics for manifesting their ideals is enlightening and disturbing. I would like now to analyze these findings, and hopefully bring about a better understanding of their respective goals, the approaches toward success, and the results of their actions.
The hostility of Jews towards Palestinian Arabs is rooted in the Zionist movement of the Hebrew nation. Zionism is the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of the Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. Any person or thing, which opposes this achievement, therefore, becomes an obstacle. Religious beliefs, as I had originally mentioned, can drive a group or person to deem their actions towards the achievement of a goal as legitimate as self-defense for preservation of their own lives (The Haganah, or Israeli defense army, at first, used non aggressive means to oppose Arab attacks).
The Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) was an underground unit that operated from 1940-1948. This organization that was originally part of Etzel (Irgun) and shared its violent means of attacking Arab and British targets in or affecting Israel. Lehi's goals were mainly the total conquest and liberation of Israel, war against the British Empire, complete withdrawal of Britain from Palestine; and the establishment of a "Hebrew Kingdom from Euphrates to the Nile." Although these goals were maximalist in conception, and the drive for these goals great, the actuality of their becoming a reality were slim to none. It never had more than a few hundred fighters, and its arms stores were meager. The Lehi had neither the manpower nor the arms to support their campaigns. Therefore, whatever actions were taken had to be bold and extreme as to obtain funding and to demonstrate that they could successfully strike at the enemy despite it's lacking size and armament.
Unlike the Haganah, who followed a policy of self-restraint (not acting aggressively by any means unless absolutely necessary), the Lehi followed more extremist modes of aggression. They embarked on an assassination campaign against British soldiers, police, administrators, and diplomats. In 1943, Yitzhak Shamir, a leader of Lehi who would in the future become the prime minister of Israel, publicly endorsed terrorism as an effective weapon against Israel's enemies. On November 6, 1944, two Lehi members assassinated Lord Modyne, the British Minister for Middle East Affairs in Cairo. On September 17, 1948, Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte, a U.N. mediator, was assassinated in Jerusalem, and Lehi members were suspected. These acts of violence were, supposedly, primarily used as a means of rallying the spirit and mobilizing the will of the Jewish people as a whole. This was accomplished and organizations such as the Haganah eventually rejected it's practice of self restraint and used more forceful methods for dealing with Arab attacks on Jews.
British reaction to Lehi terrorism was quite harsh. Captured terrorists were imprisoned, tortured, and even executed. In February 1942 Ya’ir, a Lehi commander, was captured and murdered in cold blood in his hide out.
The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was created in 1964, during a meeting known as the Palestinian Congress in an effort to give a voice to the large numbers of Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon. The true power behind the PLO would not be present at it’s creation but would come with the integration of another terrorist group founded by Yasser Arafat and his friends, known as al-fatah. It wasn’t until 1967, however that Arafat would take full control of the PLO. By this time the PLO had decided that their primary goal was the destruction of the state of Israel. For the next ten years, this goal was the primary focus of the massive terrorist campaign by which their reputation was formed.
In 1970 Arafat's thugs hijacked four airliners, flying one to Cairo and the remaining three to Dawson's Field in what was then PLO-controlled northern Jordan. Once European governments surrendered to their demands by releasing PLO terrorists in exchange for hostages, Arafat ordered the planes blown up. In March 1978, PLO terrorists entered Israel from Lebanon, murdering an American tourist and killing 34 civilians in a bus attack. Arguably the most infamous act of terrorism committed by the PLO was during the Olympics in Munich Germany. Black September was an extremist group that emerged from within al-Fatah. On September 5, 1972 the group infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany taking eleven Israeli athletes hostage. Two of the athletes were murdered in their room, and the other nine were murdered at the airport when one of the terrorists threw a hand grenade into their helicopter during a botched rescue attempt by German officers.
One of Israel's largest responses to terrorism would be the action taken prior to the Munich attack. Israeli retaliation was swift and massive. Three days after the events in Germany, an air strike was launched involving about 75 aircraft, the largest such attack since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Fighter-bombers struck guerrilla targets in Lebanon and Syria, killing 66 and leaving hundreds injured. Israeli fighters even managed to shoot down three Syrian planes over the Golan Heights, with a loss of two of its own. Israeli troops were also ordered into Lebanon to engage Palestinian terrorists who had been mining Israeli roads.
To this day, although Arafat has on occasion shown attempts to reconcile differences with Israel, the terrorism continues. Whether directed by the splintered PLO factions that did not agree with Arafat and his attempt at peace, or some other isolated radical terrorist group, Jews and Palestinian Arabs are still fighting.
The Lehi was born from a strive for independence from the British and the need for an establishment of a Hebrew kingdom for Jews. Theirs was a goal that should have been attained by peaceful means had the British declarations been drawn out carefully and the land divided more equally. This doesn’t mean that the Arabs in Palestine might have just sat back and let their country be claimed in the name of a religious movement, but it may have been an easier road to tread as opposed to the bloodshed that would follow in the coming years. The PLO was created for a reason I have above mentioned, the Israeli encroachment on Palestinian land. Theirs was also a strive for independence, but twisted and more deserving the title of “Terroristic” in my view. The goal was not just their reclamation and/or an existence of a state of Palestine for the Arabs who once lived there, they had decided that they needed to utterly destroy the nation of Israel; a virtual act of genocide.
Each organizations tactics were essentially the same. Terrorist strikes to instill fear in their opponents for the purpose of attaining their goal, though each claimed at some point or another that these actions were taken to strengthen their respective peoples morale; Solipsistic Terrorism. The Lehi attacked more non-civilian British targets than unarmed civilians. The PLO attacked all that seemed fit in the pursuit of the destruction of Israel as a people, and targets effective enough to liberate fellow Palestinians from capture.
The reactions of the governments affected by each of these groups were slightly different. The Israeli government, in reaction to PLO terrorism, was one of almost immediate retaliation. They attacked with ferocity the installations of PLO that they knew existed in Lebanon and Syria, killing 6 times as many terrorists for their actions in Munich Germany. The British government tried as best they could to eliminate the terrorist threat by capturing, through harsh treatment was administered at times once soldiers were imprisoned, and sometimes executed. One government followed, in a small way, etiquette when dealing with the terrorist they retaliated against. The other followed a (seemingly) “Take no prisoners” policy when the atrocity seemed to warrant it.
The overall out come of all of this blood, death, and tragedy, is on the one hand, for Israel and Palestine, an attempt by the politicians and leaders of the nations involved at peace. On the other hand, there is still unrest and aggression present in the Middle East over who deserves what in Palestine. As for the British domination of Israel, after years of conflict, declarations, and unkept promises, the British have minimal involvement in Israeli affairs except in times of oncoming war, when as we have recently seen, the 2 major contributing forces in the fight against terrorism are Americans and the British.
Due to the most recent atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in the United States, terrorism has become something the entire world must acknowledge and seek to coming as close to ending as possible. Not simply because it happened here, but because the people that were killed where of many different backgrounds, races, creeds, religions, and international affiliations. It was an attack on america than nipped a little bit of many other nations in the world.
If you knew or felt you had to do some home construction, revamp, restyle, and reorganize the way things look and possibly work, you would certainly have to make sure you have the proper tools to get the work done. If you tried to cut lumber with an ax, realized it didn’t do the job right, then used a hacksaw, still felt it wasn’t giving the proper cut, then went and used a table saw, and realized there is nothing else that should ever be used for the job but that table saw ever again. You will always go back to using that table saw for your work to be done, because it is the most effective and precise tool that you have at your disposal for what you need. The same could be thought of the use of terrorism. One of the points raised by Clauswitz in his analysis of the political role of the military was the idea that “War is a continuation of Policy by other means.” Terrorists usually seek some kind of change by a government or group for themselves, their people, or their country. If the military uses war as means of achieving a goal that politics cannot, then Terrorism is simply the next step a revolutionary would take had their requests of change, or wants not been met by more civilized ways. It is a continuation of policy by a means that will produce the proper results for the cause. The actions taken by Nihilists, Mikhail Bakunin, and Michael Collins, are then understandable if the above logic is used in the analysis of their situation and the changes they sought to make.
Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. Nihilism is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history.
If the root of Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless, and that the process by which a change can come about is simply utter destruction, then whether it be justifiable or not, the actions of a Nihilist will be labeled as terroristic in nature. There are no specifics about the targets that are chosen, except when backing a cause. True nihilists would then never have a problem with self-sacrifice, making them quite possibly the most effective weapons a cause could have. The only problem with this is that most nihilists are not true to the base meaning of Nihilism. They seek to accomplish a specific goal, branching them out into different forms of Nihilism; Epistemological nihilism, Political nihilism, Ethical nihilism, and Existential nihilism. Each of these still however uses some form of destruction for their successes. Nietzsche believed that “If we survived the process of destroying all interpretations of the world, we could then perhaps discover the correct course for humankind.”
Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian revolutionary of the mid 1800’s, sought the liberation of people from the government and an establishment of a federation of free workers. His passionate campaigning for democracy and anti-colonialism made him “public enemy number one” in the eyes of most European monarchies. In 1848 he was expelled from France for making a speech in support of independence for Poland. A year later, Bakunin assisted in the May Insurrection in Dresden, leading to his arrest and death sentence. After Russia demanded his extradition he spent 6 years in prison without trial, only to be exiled to Siberia once released. Upon his arrival in Europe, after a dramatic escape from his exile, he immediately went back to his work assisting in obtaining the independence of Poland. He then began to rethink his approaches towards independence and turned towards anarchism.
While Marx believed that socialism could be achieved by an overthrow of the state, Bakunin wanted nothing more than to see its destruction and the creation of a new society; the formation of a free federation of free workers. This idea would spread drastically and become one of the foundations of modern terrorism today. The use of terrorism in this respect was a means that Bakunin had come to after contemplation of his original methods. At first, he was oppressed and jailed for his beliefs and the attempt to spread them. If a child is not listened to after an hour of yelling it is almost certain that the child will do something else to get your attention, usually destructive (of course depending on how you raised the kid), forcing you to remember that he/she may resort to those measures again and again just to make a change or at least be listened to. It seems apparent that Bakunin realized that he would get nowhere by mere words (though most certainly it was his words may have been the most powerful thing the man could have had in his arsenal, as seen in the effects of them on future radicals), so he resorted to more extreme measures, and thus sought for the destruction of government for a clean slate to work with. Bakunin could never have known what a profound affect both his actions and writings would have on the future of anarchism and terrorism.
A strive for independence of Ireland from British control was the driving force behind the actions of Michael Collins. Collins, growing up with a great understanding of his “Irishness,” and a well educated and physically fit young man, had been profoundly influenced by his teachers, and family about the struggle for nationalism, and dedicated himself early on in his life to seeing Irelands autonomy becoming a reality.
Much like Bakunin, although each with very different goals, Collins had relied on, at first, political methods towards attaining independence. The IPP’s (Irish Parliamentary Party) failure to establish Home Rule simply attracted more young recruits to the cause. The IRB’s (Irish Republican Brotherhood) methods would not be as friendly and the IPP’s. Although a horribly botched plan, the Easter uprising, which Collins was himself a part of, proved to rally even more support. After being thrown in an English prison he would soon be released and given an executive position in the Sinn Fein organization. During 1917 and 1918, his activities included: creating an intelligence network, organizing a national loan to fund a rebellion, creating an assassination squad ("The Twelve Apostles") and an arms-smuggling operation. By 1920, Michael Collins was wanted by the British and had a price of #10,000 stg. on his head. Now in a position to administer forces on terrorist campaigns, Collins pushed the envelope, attempting to start a war with England. Their reaction, the creation of the “Blacks and Tans”, a group of specialized soldiers created to deal with the Irish opposition. Thus began a pattern of assassination and reprisal.
On 21 November 1920 Michael Collins' squad assassinated 14 British officers, effectively destroying the British Secret Service in Ireland. In reprisal, the Black and Tans fired on a crowd watching a football match at Croke Park. Twelve people were killed, including one of the team players. The day became known as Bloody Sunday. To say that the campaigns of Collins were ineffective is debatable. But one thing is certain... the seriousness and dedication of Collins for the Independence was apparent in the drastic measures he chose to take for the realization of Irelands freedom from England.
To say that terrorism is a justifiable extension of the means that these men chose to use is something that can certainly be argued depending on how you look at the situation. If you put yourself in an outside view of things, it may be easier to see both sides of the spectrum. If you are involved however, it is almost certain that your vision would be limited because of your position. A cornered animal will act quite ferociously out of necessity, thus the use of terrorism in the case of a person or people seeking to release the grip of an outside party, controlling that which really does not belong to them, is in my view acceptable. In the sense of using it as a tool for instigation of war, or to point the finger at nations which one feels is responsible for it’s hardships, is simple narrow minded and extremely dangerous to the world as a whole.
When a person, or group, needs to make a change, and the beliefs behind that change are strong enough to drive that person or group to take drastic measures to achieve those goals or changes, it could, depending on the severity or power behind the belief, lead to dangerous results. The goals of terrorist organizations could be religious, political, economic, or even personal. The want of any one person our group to achieve the realization of their goals can surpass the morality of their actions, and in some cases, at least in the mind of the perpetrator, justifies those actions. The terrorist movements of both the Israeli Lehi, and Yasser Arafat's PLO, have each had goals that they wished to achieve, and each has taken their own route to achieving those goals. The Israeli Lehi movement and Arafat's PLO have used terrorism as the primary tool for their respective goals. The similarities and differences in each organizations wants and tactics for manifesting their ideals is enlightening and disturbing. I would like now to analyze these findings, and hopefully bring about a better understanding of their respective goals, the approaches toward success, and the results of their actions.
The hostility of Jews towards Palestinian Arabs is rooted in the Zionist movement of the Hebrew nation. Zionism is the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of the Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. Any person or thing, which opposes this achievement, therefore, becomes an obstacle. Religious beliefs, as I had originally mentioned, can drive a group or person to deem their actions towards the achievement of a goal as legitimate as self-defense for preservation of their own lives (The Haganah, or Israeli defense army, at first, used non aggressive means to oppose Arab attacks).
The Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) was an underground unit that operated from 1940-1948. This organization that was originally part of Etzel (Irgun) and shared its violent means of attacking Arab and British targets in or affecting Israel. Lehi's goals were mainly the total conquest and liberation of Israel, war against the British Empire, complete withdrawal of Britain from Palestine; and the establishment of a "Hebrew Kingdom from Euphrates to the Nile." Although these goals were maximalist in conception, and the drive for these goals great, the actuality of their becoming a reality were slim to none. It never had more than a few hundred fighters, and its arms stores were meager. The Lehi had neither the manpower nor the arms to support their campaigns. Therefore, whatever actions were taken had to be bold and extreme as to obtain funding and to demonstrate that they could successfully strike at the enemy despite it's lacking size and armament.
Unlike the Haganah, who followed a policy of self-restraint (not acting aggressively by any means unless absolutely necessary), the Lehi followed more extremist modes of aggression. They embarked on an assassination campaign against British soldiers, police, administrators, and diplomats. In 1943, Yitzhak Shamir, a leader of Lehi who would in the future become the prime minister of Israel, publicly endorsed terrorism as an effective weapon against Israel's enemies. On November 6, 1944, two Lehi members assassinated Lord Modyne, the British Minister for Middle East Affairs in Cairo. On September 17, 1948, Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte, a U.N. mediator, was assassinated in Jerusalem, and Lehi members were suspected. These acts of violence were, supposedly, primarily used as a means of rallying the spirit and mobilizing the will of the Jewish people as a whole. This was accomplished and organizations such as the Haganah eventually rejected it's practice of self restraint and used more forceful methods for dealing with Arab attacks on Jews.
British reaction to Lehi terrorism was quite harsh. Captured terrorists were imprisoned, tortured, and even executed. In February 1942 Ya’ir, a Lehi commander, was captured and murdered in cold blood in his hide out.
The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was created in 1964, during a meeting known as the Palestinian Congress in an effort to give a voice to the large numbers of Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon. The true power behind the PLO would not be present at it’s creation but would come with the integration of another terrorist group founded by Yasser Arafat and his friends, known as al-fatah. It wasn’t until 1967, however that Arafat would take full control of the PLO. By this time the PLO had decided that their primary goal was the destruction of the state of Israel. For the next ten years, this goal was the primary focus of the massive terrorist campaign by which their reputation was formed.
In 1970 Arafat's thugs hijacked four airliners, flying one to Cairo and the remaining three to Dawson's Field in what was then PLO-controlled northern Jordan. Once European governments surrendered to their demands by releasing PLO terrorists in exchange for hostages, Arafat ordered the planes blown up. In March 1978, PLO terrorists entered Israel from Lebanon, murdering an American tourist and killing 34 civilians in a bus attack. Arguably the most infamous act of terrorism committed by the PLO was during the Olympics in Munich Germany. Black September was an extremist group that emerged from within al-Fatah. On September 5, 1972 the group infiltrated the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany taking eleven Israeli athletes hostage. Two of the athletes were murdered in their room, and the other nine were murdered at the airport when one of the terrorists threw a hand grenade into their helicopter during a botched rescue attempt by German officers.
One of Israel's largest responses to terrorism would be the action taken prior to the Munich attack. Israeli retaliation was swift and massive. Three days after the events in Germany, an air strike was launched involving about 75 aircraft, the largest such attack since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Fighter-bombers struck guerrilla targets in Lebanon and Syria, killing 66 and leaving hundreds injured. Israeli fighters even managed to shoot down three Syrian planes over the Golan Heights, with a loss of two of its own. Israeli troops were also ordered into Lebanon to engage Palestinian terrorists who had been mining Israeli roads.
To this day, although Arafat has on occasion shown attempts to reconcile differences with Israel, the terrorism continues. Whether directed by the splintered PLO factions that did not agree with Arafat and his attempt at peace, or some other isolated radical terrorist group, Jews and Palestinian Arabs are still fighting.
The Lehi was born from a strive for independence from the British and the need for an establishment of a Hebrew kingdom for Jews. Theirs was a goal that should have been attained by peaceful means had the British declarations been drawn out carefully and the land divided more equally. This doesn’t mean that the Arabs in Palestine might have just sat back and let their country be claimed in the name of a religious movement, but it may have been an easier road to tread as opposed to the bloodshed that would follow in the coming years. The PLO was created for a reason I have above mentioned, the Israeli encroachment on Palestinian land. Theirs was also a strive for independence, but twisted and more deserving the title of “Terroristic” in my view. The goal was not just their reclamation and/or an existence of a state of Palestine for the Arabs who once lived there, they had decided that they needed to utterly destroy the nation of Israel; a virtual act of genocide.
Each organizations tactics were essentially the same. Terrorist strikes to instill fear in their opponents for the purpose of attaining their goal, though each claimed at some point or another that these actions were taken to strengthen their respective peoples morale; Solipsistic Terrorism. The Lehi attacked more non-civilian British targets than unarmed civilians. The PLO attacked all that seemed fit in the pursuit of the destruction of Israel as a people, and targets effective enough to liberate fellow Palestinians from capture.
The reactions of the governments affected by each of these groups were slightly different. The Israeli government, in reaction to PLO terrorism, was one of almost immediate retaliation. They attacked with ferocity the installations of PLO that they knew existed in Lebanon and Syria, killing 6 times as many terrorists for their actions in Munich Germany. The British government tried as best they could to eliminate the terrorist threat by capturing, through harsh treatment was administered at times once soldiers were imprisoned, and sometimes executed. One government followed, in a small way, etiquette when dealing with the terrorist they retaliated against. The other followed a (seemingly) “Take no prisoners” policy when the atrocity seemed to warrant it.
The overall out come of all of this blood, death, and tragedy, is on the one hand, for Israel and Palestine, an attempt by the politicians and leaders of the nations involved at peace. On the other hand, there is still unrest and aggression present in the Middle East over who deserves what in Palestine. As for the British domination of Israel, after years of conflict, declarations, and unkept promises, the British have minimal involvement in Israeli affairs except in times of oncoming war, when as we have recently seen, the 2 major contributing forces in the fight against terrorism are Americans and the British.
Due to the most recent atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in the United States, terrorism has become something the entire world must acknowledge and seek to coming as close to ending as possible. Not simply because it happened here, but because the people that were killed where of many different backgrounds, races, creeds, religions, and international affiliations. It was an attack on america than nipped a little bit of many other nations in the world.