Terrorism+Research

__** Period 6 Tuesday February 28, 2012 AND Period 3 Wednesday February 29, 2012 **__

__** STEP 1: Copy and Paste the Research Guide Below onto your Terrorism Research Page **__

**Research Guide: Terrorism and Your Country **

 * Directions: Use the questions below to guide your research on your country’s experience with **


 * 1) **Have any acts of terror occurred in your country? (Include the date, perpetrators, and **
 * 2) **What has your country done to combat terrorism? (Have they created new laws, organizations, campaigns etc. to deal with terrorism?) **
 * 3) **What actions has your country taken on the issue on an international level? Does you country help other countries who are victims on terrorism? If so, how do they? **
 * 4) **Is you country a member of any international organization and/or coalition currently working to stop terrorism? **
 * 5) **What role would your country like to see the international community take to address the problem of terrorism **

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 * __ STEP 2: Click here to find reports about your country and terrorism: __**

-Look for the region your country is located in (i.e. Middle East and North Africa is where you will find Egypt) -Scroll down until you find your country

-Add any additional information you may come across under the appropriate question
 * __ STEP 3: Read the report on your country and answer question #1 in your research guide. __**

http://modelunmps.wikispaces.com/The+Rise+of+Non-State+Actors
 * __ STEP 4: Additional resources on your country and terrorism can be found here: __**

** Period 3 Monday 2/27 Directions: ** 1. Copy and Paste the reading and 2 column notes sheet below onto your //Terrorism Research Page.// 2. Fill out the 2 column notes sheet as your read. //** *Completed mark-up and 2 Column Notes are due at the end of class today, Monday Feb. 27th. **//

__**READING ON TERRORISM**__

**Definition of Terrorism** Terrorism can happen anywhere. There have been historical cases of terrorism. But why don’t we have a definition for it? As the saying goes, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” The term “terrorism” is so emotional that it doesn’t have an agreed-upon definition among countries, interest groups, or even the United Nations. However, **most governments, scholars and the UN agree that the objective of terrorist organizations is to achieve “social reform and political change”[i] by creating fear within the public**. Terrorists may have political (e.g. the Irish Republican Army), ideological (e.g. Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation Front) and/or religious (e.g. al-Qaeda, Hezbollah) motivations. They could also be seeking revenge and retaliation on the government. [ii]

Nevertheless, the United Nations, in its resolution 65/34 //Measures to eliminate international terrorism// (2011), “reiterates that criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them.”[iii]

**State-sponsored Terrorism** Terrorist organizations lack the army, territory, and sovereignty of a state, but it is their very statelessness that gives them power. Because one of their goals may be to convince people that their government is powerless to prevent acts of terrorism, terrorists attempt not only to cause panic but also to undermine confidence in the government and political leadership of their target country. Most terrorist organizations nowadays are one among many types of violent non-state actors, including warlords, militias, paramilitary forces, insurgencies, and criminal organizations/youth gangs. Violent non-state actors refer to an individual or organizations using violence not officially approved by the state to achieve a goal. As a result, the state loses its monopoly on violent force, which reduces its power over its peoples. However, some terrorist organizations are state-sponsored or supported by government, like Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and military organization allied with the Syrian government.

**Methods of Operation** Terrorists try to achieve their objectives by extreme means ranging from threats to actual bombings and assassinations, to intimidate, coerce, and create fear among the public. Because most terrorist groups have few members, limited weapons, and comparatively few organizational resources, they rely on dramatic and devastating acts of violence to attract attention to their cause. [iv] The instant publicity in turn gives them the power and influence that they otherwise lack. [v] Terrorists choose their targets very strategically, because their goal is to intimidate a large group of people, such as an ethnic or religious enemy, an entire country, or the international community. [vi] The psychological effects of terrorism have an impact on many more people than just the immediate victims of an attack. [vii] High-risk targets of terrorism are usually busy places that would attract a lot of attention and affect many people at once, such as large cities, international airports, large public gatherings, financial centers, government facilities or high-profile landmarks.

Some of the tactics that terrorist use include, but are not limited to: airline hijackings, bomb scares, car bombs, building explosions, threats or actual assassinations and kidnappings, mailings of dangerous materials, and agro-terrorism[1]. Terrorists are capable of sending explosives or chemical and biological agents through the mail. [viii] Technological advances have made it possible for terrorists to launch computer-based attacks. Terrorists also may use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons or even weapons of mass destruction,[ix] although some experts argue that it’s uncommon. [x]

**[1] Agro-terrorism:** terrorist attack on farming or food supply using plant or animal bacteria and virus

**Human Rights Violation** Terrorism has a direct and serious impact on human rights, for both its victims and perpetrators, in both acts of terrorism and counterterrorism. Firstly, acts of terrorism on innocent people pose a threat to the fundamental freedoms that all individuals and groups should be able to enjoy, including civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. [xi] Terrorism puts people in danger in a daily situation which denies the right of security. Terrorism also fuels racist sentiments among groups of victims against those are of the same ethnicity, nationality or religion as the perpetrators. Although not targets of the terrorist attack, certain groups may still be victimized.

**Historic Examples of Terrorism**

REIGN OF TERROR- The exact beginnings of terrorism is unknown, but the Reign of Terror marked the first time in history that “terror” was used to achieve political means. From September 1793 to July 1794 of the French Revolution, radical Jacobins, led by Maximilien Robespierre, oppressed citizens using violent force and established a centralized government called the Committee of Public Safety. As a result, 250,000 people were arrested; 17,000 were tried and guillotined; 12,000 were executed without trial; and thousands died in jail.[ii]

SEPTEMBER 11th- On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airplanes loaded with passengers and flew into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia, and a field in rural Pennsylvania. Around 3000 people died in this attack.[v] Before September 11, no single terrorist attack killed more than 500 people. The perpetrators of the attack were members of al-Qaeda, a radical Sunni Islamic movement led by Osama bin Laden that started in the late 1980s.[vii] This organization promotes religious extremism which stems from resistance and hostility to American dominance in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.[viii] Al-Qaeda had previously been linked to the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center[ix] and August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa.

MADRID TRAIN BOMBING- On the morning of March 11, 2004, in Madrid, Spain, ten backpacks filled with dynamite and nails blew up on four packed commuter trains in a terrorist attack. The bombings killed 192 people and injured around 1800, making it the worst terrorist attack in Spain[x] and the worst Islamist terrorist attack in European history.[xi] The Prime Minister at the time, José Aznar of the Popular Party, immediately blamed the attack on ETA, the Basque separatist group who was later found out to be unrelated to the attacks. Claims linking the attacks to al-Qaeda had also been made, investigations by the Spanish police found no evidence of al-Qaeda involvement in the attack.[xiii]

Other Examples of Terrorism since WWII: 1946: Zionist Israeli military group Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem of the British Mandate of Palestine, killing 91 people. 1972: During the Munich Olympics, Palestinian group Black September kidnapped and killed 11 Israeli athletes. 1970s - 1990s: The Irish Republican Army caused millions of dollars worth of damage in the 1994 bombing of the London Atlantic Exchange building. 1995: Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious movement, released poisonous sarin gas on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 people and causing temporary vision problems for thousand others.

__**2 COLUMN NOTES ON TERRORISM READING**__

**State-Sponsored Terrorism:****Methods of Operations:****Human Rights Violation:****Historic Examples of Terrorism:** ||
 * **Main Idea:****CCQs (a minimum of 5 for full credit)** * Resolution: Statement of an idea or a beliefs || **Definition of Terrorism:** * No agreed definition of Terrorism
 * Common Understanding: Goal = social and/ or political change. Tactics = Create fear in the public by using violence (Political, Religious or Ideological motivations)
 * //**UN Resolution 65/34**// - Officially stands against Terrorism