What is the difference between freedom fighters and insurgents

But this subordinates a means or tactic — terrorism — to an end or strategic goal — fighting for freedom. Though primarily intended for judging inter- or intrastate warfare, the theory has a long history of being applied to terrorism Walzer ; As summarised by Evans , Jus ad bellum consists of seven criteria: just cause; proportionality; probability of success; last resort; right intention; right authority; and a public declaration of war.

Jus in bello , on the other hand, consists of four: only targeting people and infrastructure directly involved in the war; proportional use of force; just treatment of non-combatants including prisoners of war ; and adherence to national and international law. There are, however, two exemptions to the Jus in bello criteria. To assess, then, if a freedom fighter can justly resort to terrorism, it is necessary to provide a working definition of terrorism without a priori violating the Just War-criteria, while also distinguishing it from warfare.

In this view, non-violent terrorism or war would simply be normal politics, such as demonstrations or negotiations. This is the least controversial and most common elements included in definitions of terrorism Ganor The emphasis on politics also separates war and terrorism from crime. However broadly, terror and war — unlike crime — seeks to influence the ordering of social life — whether it be economic, religious or otherwise Ganor ; Nathanson Instead the description permits terrorism to be seen as a tool that can be wielded by a variety of actors, in a variety of situations and for a variety of reasons.

A key defining feature of terrorism, then, is its targeting of non-combatant people or property Finlay This leads to two further but interrelated differences between war and terror, which is the nature of the violence and nature of their communicative elements.

For whatever political aim, terrorism uses violence against a limited number of non-combatants or infrastructure to send a message to wider society and exploit fear of further violence Goodin In essence, war contains a promise of potential military defeat.

War thus threatens the existence of a community, while terrorism threatens a small number of its members. As such, war may be viewed as a top-down instrument, while terrorism works bottom-up. In addition comes the long-term effects of the destruction of institutions, communities and infrastructure. Mason is responsible for publishing a series of newsletters in the s, which promoted the idea of lone actors conducting terrorist attacks against the United States government in order to bring about the collapse of society and a race war.

Mason has also provided tactical direction on how to operate a terrorist group and has met with members of AWD, where he coached them on propagandizing murder and genocide. Mason and Siege have also been cited as the ideological foundation of Feuerkrieg Division and Sonnenkrieg Division, groups that have been proscribed as terrorist entities in the United Kingdom.

Description JMA is a jihadist militant group operating primarily in the Aleppo area of northern Syria. JMA is led by Chechans from Russia's North Caucasus, and the group's membership consists of approximately fighters, most of them foreign.

JMA's tactics include the use of large suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, ground assaults, hostage taking and kidnapping, including foreign nationals and Syrian civilians loyal to Assad. Description Jemaah Islamiyyah JI has its roots in Darul Islam, a violent radical movement that advocated the establishment of Islamic law in Indonesia. JI subscribes to a Salafist interpretation of Islam and aims to establish an Islamic caliphate spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, and the southern Philippines.

JI has had cells throughout much of Southeast Asia and targets what it sees as enemies of Islam. JI has been responsible for a series of bank robberies, hijackings, and several major bombings of civilian targets, such as the attack on a night club in Bali, which killed people and injured others, including Canadians citizens. Description Kahane Chai Kach is a marginal, extremist Jewish entity whose goal is the restoration of the biblical state of Israel, replacing democracy with theocracy.

Kahane Chai Kach advocates expelling Arabs from Israel, expanding Israel's boundaries to include the occupied territories and parts of Jordan, and the strict implementation of Jewish law in Israel. Kahane Chai Kach has openly espoused violence against Arabs and the Israeli government as a viable method for establishing a religiously homogenous state.

Its activities have included threats to government officials and infrastructure, grenade attacks, armed violence, and bombings. Its activities include attacking the Turkish military, diplomats and Turkish businesses at home and in some western European cities. It has also been known to bomb resorts and kidnap tourists in an attempt to destabilize tourism in Turkey.

On April 11, , the PKK bombed a police compound in Diyarbakir, Turkey, resulting in the death of 3 people, including 1 police officer. Description As a radical Islamist group reportedly linked to Al Qaida, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi LJ aims to establish an Islamist Sunni state in Pakistan based on Sharia Law — through the use of violence if necessary — and to have all Shiites declared non-believers.

It is reputed as being one of the most violent Islamist extremist organizations in Pakistan. Responsible for killing hundreds of Shiites since its formation in , LJ was behind some of the worst incidents of sectarian violence in Pakistan's history. In October , for example, a group of LJ members conducted a suicide attack at a Shiite mosque in Bolan, Baluchistan, killing at least 11 people and wounding another More recently, in June , LJ claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing at a crowded market in Parachinar, Pakistan, which killed at least 67 people and wounded over others.

Description Lashkar-e-Tayyiba LeT is a Pakistan-based, radical organization established in the late s that operates in the Indian states of Kashmir and Jammu. Its overall objective is threefold: to force the accession of Indian administered Kashmir to Pakistan; and to create two Islamist-run states, in the North and in the South of India.

LeT's activities include suicide bombings and armed attacks on civilians, government officials and the Indian security forces. The group is also allegedly linked to Al Qaida. LeT's most infamous operation was the hour terror attack in Mumbai on November , The LeT has targeted security personnel such as in the December attack at a Mohara artillery camp that killed 8 army soldiers, 3 policemen and 6 militants, and the February attack on a police convoy that killed 2 police officers and injured 10 others.

On February 6, , LeT militants attacked a hospital in Srinager to free their jailed commander, Naveed Jat, killing 2 policemen. Over the years, the LTTE has waged a violent secessionist campaign with the help of ground, air, and naval forces, as well as a dedicated suicide bomber wing.

LTTE tactics have included full military operations, terror attacks against civilian centres, and political assassinations, such as the successful assassinations of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

The LTTE has also had an extensive network of fundraisers, political and propaganda officers, and arms procurers operating in Sri Lanka and within the Tamil diaspora. Although the LTTE was militarily defeated in May , subversion, destabilization, and fundraising continue, particularly in the diaspora. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa has carried out terrorist activities including kidnappings, small arms attacks, improvised explosive devices attacks, and suicide bombings.

Its objective is the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

During its most active period, it is known to have conducted several high-profile attacks, including the October hijacking of the Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro. The PIJ maintains that armed struggle by the Palestinian people, in tandem with active support from the Arab and Muslim worlds, is the only viable strategy for achieving its objectives - the destruction of Israel and the complete liberation of Palestine.

The PIJ was among the first to use suicide bomb attacks against Israel. In , two PIJ suicide bombers executed a coordinated attack at a bus stop in Beit Lid, killing 19 people and wounding PIJ claimed responsibility for the October 3, , knife attack in Jerusalem which killed 2 Israeli men and wounded the wife and child of one of the deceased.

On February 23, , rockets were fired toward southern Israel after Israel said it had killed a Palestinian militant who tried to place a bomb along the Israel-Gaza barrier fence. PIJ launched several rockets at Israel by the time the ceasefire was announced.

The group is opposed to any negotiation with Israel and believes solely in a military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was the first Palestinian group to use suicide squads: in , three members attacked Qiryat Shemona and killed 18 people before dying in a battle with Israeli soldiers.

The PFLP-GC has used barometric bombs to blow up aircraft, parcel-explosives sent through the mail as well as motorized hang-gliders in a guerilla raid into Israel. During the s, the group took part in some of the boldest terrorist attacks of the period, such as hijacking three civilian airliners in one day and storming the Vienna headquarters of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC.

In , the PFLP turned increasingly to the use of suicide bombers, guerilla tactics, car bombings, and mortar strikes. On June 16, , two coordinated attacks targeting Israeli police officers were carried out near the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's walled old city.

In September , the Israeli security forces arrested four PFLP members allegedly responsible for remotely detonating an improvised explosive device in the West Bank that killed an Israeli teenager and seriously wounded two family members. Description The Proud Boys is a neo-fascist organization that engages in political violence and was formed in The group and its members have openly encouraged, planned, and conducted violent activities against those they perceive to be opposed to their ideology and political beliefs.

On January 6, , the Proud Boys played a pivotal role in the insurrection at the U. Leaders of the group planned their participation by setting out objectives, issuing instructions, and directing members during the insurrection. The leader of the Proud Boys was arrested two days before the insurrection as part of a stated effort by U. The group is best known for having members and sympathizers linked to violent activity abroad and seeks to build ties to neo-Nazi organizations in Europe and the United States to offer them paramilitary training and bomb making instructions.

RIM leaders intended the WNCM to facilitate the sharing of tactical skills across peer organizations and promote their own paramilitary training program. Furthermore, RIM has donated money to foreign neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups associated with the WNCM and provided training to members who have carried out bomb plots in their own countries.

Its objective is to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with a communist peasant revolutionary regime which would eliminate foreign influence from the country. SL's area of operations is limited to Peru, with most of its activities in rural areas, but some of its attacks have taken place in the capital, Lima. Its tactics include indiscriminate bombing campaigns, political assassinations, as well as armed attacks against civilians and foreign interests in Peru.

In March , suspected SL snipers attacked a police convey in Cumumpiari, killing 3 officers. More recently, in September , 3 additional officers were killed in an SL ambush.

Description The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. The Taliban's main objectives are the removal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, and the restoration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan through the overthrow of the current government. The top leadership structure in the Taliban is the Rahbari Shura leadership council , better known as the Quetta Shura after the Pakistani city in which it is currently based. Beneath the Rahbari Shura are the regional military shuras for four major geographical areas of operations in Afghanistan Quetta, Peshawar, Miramshah, and Gerdi Jangal.

In , the Taliban was responsible for the majority of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and have been known to carry out a number of attacks on girls' schools in particular. More recently, on January 27, , the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul which utilized an ambulance as a suicide vehicle-borne IED to kill at least 95 people and wound more than It was led, first, by militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and, following his death, by Hakimullah Mehsud.

The TTP has conducted numerous armed, bomb and suicide attacks to achieve its objectives. The TTP has also engaged in criminal activity, such as extortion, theft, robbery and kidnapping for ransom to support its terrorist operations.

Recently, in February , the TPP claimed responsibility for a suicide attack at an army base in northern Pakistan, killing at least 11 soldiers and wounding 13 others. Description The Base is a neo-Nazi organization founded in The group was primarily active in the United States and promotes a nihilistic and accelerationist rhetoric— an ideology embraced by white supremacists who have determined that a societal collapse is both imminent and necessary.

They advocate for direct action, especially in the form of violence, to create chaos, incite a race war, and establish a white ethno-state. The Base has distributed manuals for lone-wolf terror attacks, bomb making, counter-surveillance, and guerilla warfare to its members. Be that as it may, both insurgents and terrorists engage in violence in order to attain certain political or increasingly politico-religious objectives-national liberation and independence, establishing a communist system of government or an Islamic form of government, restoration of the Caliphate, etc.

Skip to main content. You are here Home » Ask an Expert. Lerner, Craig S. Maria, Norberto. Matloff, Judith. Medrano Juan, Diez. Divided nations: class, politics, and nationalism in the Basque Country and Catalonia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, Moreno, Luis. Panait, Alexandru. The Madrid Train Bombings. Teichmen, Jenny. Tuman, Joseph S. Wells, Donald A.

Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, , 9. Before you download your free e-book, please consider donating to support open access publishing.

E-IR is an independent non-profit publisher run by an all volunteer team. Your donations allow us to invest in new open access titles and pay our bandwidth bills to ensure we keep our existing titles free to view. Any amount, in any currency, is appreciated. Many thanks! Donations are voluntary and not required to download the e-book - your link to download is below. This content was originally written for an undergraduate or Master's program.

It is published as part of our mission to showcase peer-leading papers written by students during their studies. Conclusion This paper demonstrated how ETA were fundamentally freedom fighters as their armed struggle was necessary in resisting oppression by the Spanish government.

Holt, Emily.