By Claude Salhani- Trend:
Terrorism finds itself in the spotlight and under the microscope once again following the horrendous attacks Friday night in Paris when gunmen armed with explosive vests and weapons left a trail of bodies, injuries and many shattered dreams.
The attack on six or seven spots in the French capital were claimed by the group calling itself the Islamic State, a group considered to be a terrorist organization by most of the world. Those some people and groups tends to disagree.
By the end of the evening most of the attackers had been either killed by French police or had blown themselves up with their exploding vests.
But by then the terrorists had managed to kill about 124 people. One hundred and twenty-four innocent people who were going about their own lives, minding their own business, enjoying a meal or a music concert. Their death is the result of pure evil... of terrorism. In the mind of any sane person this can never be justified. This is precisely what the terrorist intends to do, for The banality of their targets makes one fear that it could have been him or her.
But that is not all the terrorists left behind, an attack of the sort that took place Friday night in Paris is without question an atrocious terrorist attack.
However, should we not first clarify who, or rather what, constitutes a terrorist?
The answer is simple enough to most people: terrorists are people who intentionally kill or maim innocent people in order to achieve their political or social agendas. That, at least, is my interpretation of terrorism. But the subject is much more complicated than that.
One definition found in the dictionary describes a terrorist as such: "a person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims."
So what is terrorism? "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims."
But one can question whether the use of violence and intimidation in Paris last Friday night was indeed something done in the pursuit of the political aim? How can killing teenagers enjoying a rock concert help any political agenda?
The United Nations still cannot come up with a definition of who is a terrorist and that is acceptable to all member countries, because of some countries one to include state terrorism in the definition of terrorism. The countries concerned of being labeled a terrorist state of course object to the definition and therefore block procedures. So there is no official definition of what is a terrorist.
One individual can be engaged in terrorism for one person, but seen as a hero by another.
So the IS or people are terrorists? As far as I am concerned, yes, I believe they are. That being said, there are some people who will beg to different who will regard ISIS as liberators.
According to my description of what constitutes a terrorist, then, "terrorists are people who intentionally kill or maim innocent people."
So what happens when a country engages in such acts? Well there is such a thing as state terrorism. Buts that 's a whole different issue altogether.
Claude Salhani is a senior editor with Trend Agency. You can follow Claude on Twitter @Claudesalhani