Terrorism

Terrorism does not arise in a vacuum. For example, terrorist attacks directed against the US and its allies are invariably a direct response to the injustice of US policies in the Middle East, which have led to the deaths of thousands of people in that region. Similarly, Russian actions in Chechnya, Israeli attacks against the Palestinians, and the Indian occupation of Muslim Kashmir have caused many innocent people to lose their lives, and have been met with terrorist responses. The terrorism itself is often barbaric, cruel, fascist in nature and completely unjustified, but it exists as a result of the unjust situations powerful countries have themselves created. The desire for control and the use of methods of terrorism by these states begets further terrorism; injustice begets injustice. As some members of non-state terrorist groups have said - “we are fighting them because they are fighting us.”

Powerful nations will often seek to attack terrorist groups or other states in order to protect their own “security”. For example, Israel will send tanks into Palestinian refugee camps, hunting for militant groups, to protect the security of Israelis, and the US will launch pre-emptive strikes against other nations to protect US security. But do those innocent people caught up in these attacks not also have the right to security? Do they not also have the right to live in peace? It seems that the right to security belongs only to the powerful, with the powerless the helpless victims in the face of its brutal assertion.

This use of double standards extends to the treatment of those who commit atrocities. There is often no real penalty for Israeli pilots who drop bombs on apartment blocks, for American Marines who slaughter people at self-imposed “checkpoints”, or for Indian soldiers who kill unarmed villagers in Kashmir. Their crimes are relatively hidden, and go unchecked and unpunished. However, as soon as a terrorist attacks a powerful state, that state and elements of its public demand that the terrorists are immediately brought to justice, forgetting completely that their own terrorists and criminals act with impunity. Justice is a universal concept, and does not just belong to the powerful to be applied to the meek. Each state must bring its own criminals to account, and an International Criminal Court, with universal jurisdiction, could ensure that there is justice for the victims of crimes committed by even the most powerful western politicians.

Justice is the only way out of the vicious circle of state terrorism leading to non-state terrorism. We have to recognise that all people have equal rights and deserve equal respect, regardless of where in the world they live, or whose authority they challenge. Imperialism must become a concept associated with the dark days of the past, replaced with the much vaunted but less practiced notions of self-determination and justice.