TERRORISM… ARE WE BENG PLAYED?
by Geoff Cooper
Have you ever stopped to think what this word actually means? And who it can be applied to?
The word itself is thrown around so often these days; it gives us the feeling that terrorism is on some kind of rise. You could even be forgiven for thinking that pre-September 11, terrorism hardly existed the way it is being talked about now.
Who’s a terrorist?
Using the word “terrorism” does two things in the mind of a listener. Firstly, it scares you. It has become common to hear crass phrases like “the terrorists are coming” (What better example than ‘War of the Worlds’?). Secondly, it denotes who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. A notion that quite simply doesn’t exist in the world as we know it. Terrorism is a word that describes the threat of individuals towards a predominating system (notice how it is only ever used by representatives of that system?).
Who’s a Freedom Fighter?
Consider for a moment that people whom Western countries are told to consider as terrorists, are known as “freedom fighters” in their own communities. ‘Why do they have to fight for this freedom?’ would seem to be a question worth considering, if you want to understand this political weapon. Why do terrorists seem to come from the poorest countries in the world? Why do they feel that creating disruption in the west will further their cause?
Good guys and bad guys?
At this stage, it is tempting to think that they are simply trying to disrupt and steal the freedom we have because they don’t have it. This is a temptation we must resist, because it fails to acknowledge the connection that all countries have with one another. If we believe that globalisation is in action (as well we should) then it is impossible to believe that there is no relationship between political strategies in the west and apparent terrorism in the Middle East. Let me make the point here that this is no justification for the acts of terror that we see on a day to day basis in countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, or the one-off attacks in the States, Bali etc. It is merely to make the point that there are no good guys and bad guys, just different clashing political outlooks, of which both have a part to play.
21st century propaganda
Being a New Zealander and a member of the western world, it is portrayed to me that Arabs are bad and we are good. We must search for a more balanced view on these oversimplified cultural models. For instance, how often are we told that Al Jazeerah TV is a tool of terrorism? I would challenge you to look into Al Jazeerah TV, what its views are and why it holds them. Same goes with the newly launched Chavez TV in Venezuela. Both stations were denounced by US authorities as causing disruption to the global community. Lets now make mention of FOX TV. Why are we never told about the dangers that this poses to the global community?
The word terrorism makes a mockery of complex political systems that are at work. It is a nationalistic tool, used to rally the support of a country, to square off against cultures that they don’t understand without asking the questions that really need to be asked.
LEARN MORE
Check out the definition of Terrorism in Wikipedia
Read the Global Education Centre’s factsheet : Revolutionary or Terrorist?
Read the Global Issues magazine online: There’s a Terrorist in my TV
TAKE ACTION!
Watch “Outfoxed” DVD (Available to borrow from the GEC library).
Get news from a different perspective from Al Jazeera
Photos courtesy of Creative Commons.
