montelatici, et al,
For the general layman, this is true. Like our friend "montelatici" says: "There is no agreement as to what terrorism is."
DGS49, et al,
Like the Secretary-General says, "Nothing can justify terrorism — ever. No grievance, no goal, no cause can excuse terrorist acts." Not even this disparity in equipment and technological superior arms. THAT IS AN INVALID EXCUSE. But it is one that the Hostile Arab-Palestinian uses quite frequently.
You silly goose, there is no way the indigenous Arabs could win an "all out war" because of the gross disparity in equipment and men-at-arms. This is why they resort to isolated "terror" attacks.
I don't know what the "solution" is in Palestine, but I do know that until the U.S. gets serious about protecting the human rights of the indigenous Arabs the situation can never get any better.
American Jewry is one of several constituencies that our politicians are simply unwilling to confront rationally. Much the pity.
(COMMENT)
You act as if the US has some duty to defend the aggressor. Where did the US acquire that responsibility. The US does have a mutual defense arrangement with the Gulf Oil States; it a constantly evolving agreement. And we do give the Palestinians funding every year. "Since the establishment of limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the mid-1990s, the U.S. government has committed approximately $5 billion in bilateral assistance to the Palestinians, who are among the world’s largest per capita recipients of international foreign aid." (Source:
U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians Jim Zanotti Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs )
But we need to terminate those aid programs altogether to open-up opportunities for the Arab League to contribute.
Most Respectfully,
R
There is no agreement as to what terrorism is. The ANC's bombings of shopping centers in Pretoria and elsewhere were considered terrorist acts by some at the time and now they are hailed as catalysts for the eventual capitulation of the Apartheid government. Defining terrorism depends on one's point of view. The Israeli bombing of apartment buildings housing women and children is considered terrorism by most of the world and the UN, to the US and Israel it's considered self-defense.
(COMMENT)
Now, for the rest of the story. It is a bit like Schrödinger's Cat -- defined --- but not defined, at the same time. Our friend "montelatici" peeked in the box, and he see the is cat dead --- but if you peek in the box, you may see the cat alive. It is the same way for this definition do to its political nature
(a topic for a separate discussion).
There are several countries that use their own legal definition to deal with the issue. The US is one of them. But in the international environment, there are two competing definitions in limbo:
Arab-League Definition of "Terrorism." ---
THE ARAB CONVENTION FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF TERRORISM
2. Terrorism
Any act or threat of violence, whatever its motives or purposes, that occurs in the advancement of an individual or collective criminal agenda and seeking to sow panic among people, causing fear by harming them, or placing their lives, liberty or security in danger, or seeking to cause damage to the environment or to public or private installations or property or to occupying or seizing them, or seeking to jeopardize a national resources.
3. Terrorist offence
Any offence or attempted offence committed in furtherance of a terrorist objective in any of the Contracting States, or against their nationals, property or interests, that is punishable by their domestic law. The offences stipulated in the following conventions, except where conventions have not been ratified by Contracting States or where offences have been excluded by their legislation, shall also be regarded as terrorist offences:
(a) The Tokyo Convention on offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, of 14 September 1963;
(b) The Hague Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, of 16 December 1970;
(c) The Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, of 23 September 1971, and the Protocol thereto of 10 May 1984;
(d) The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents, of 14 December 1973;
(e) The International Convention against the Taking of Hostages, of 17 December 1979;
(f) The provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, of 1982, relating to piracy on the high seas.
BUT, in the Preamble of the League Convention,
adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers of the Interior and the Council of Arab Ministers of Justice. Cairo, April 1998, is this clause:
Affirming the right of peoples to combat foreign occupation and aggression by whatever means, including armed struggle, in order to liberate their territories and secure their right to self-determination, and independence and to do so in such a manner as to preserve the territorial integrity of each Arab country, of the foregoing being in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and with the Organization's resolutions.
The UN
International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism --- A/RES/54/109 25 February 2000
Article 2 - ANNEX
1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person by any means, directly or indirectly, unlawfully and wilfully, provides or collects funds with the intention that they should be used or in the knowledge that they are to be used, in full or in part, in order to carry out:
(a) An act which constitutes an offence within the scope of and as defined in one of the treaties listed in the annex; or
(b) Any other act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian, or to any other person not taking an active part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.
Most Respectfully,
R
