Dumbest Thing They Could Have Done?

Questions surrounding "what is terrorism" get at the heart of everything social justice activists work for. What *is* terrorism? What creates terror in otherwise peaceful populations?

What creates terror in Palestinians? What creates terror in people living in American ghettos? What creates terror for people whose community is starving? What creates terror in Kabul tonight?

The Bush Administration and the military industrial complex have banked so much on a long-term, metaphoric "war on terrorism" ... unfortunately, they have come full circle. They want to eradicate what they are; it is the ultimate in a corrupt system engendering a deeply-rooted self-reflective hatred. This is no war on plants and chemicals (as a cover for a war on people) like the war on drugs.

This is a war against "terror" --- and no matter how you look at it, war is terror. Starvation is terror. Poverty is terror. Environmental destruction is terror. Terrorism is implicitly defined in the victim; terror is a feeling.

When local police terrorize a neighborhood, like the Oakland Riders for instance, what should be our response? If we are to put our hearts and souls into a war on terror, whose "terror" shall we consider?

I know I'm going on, but I think this is a way for many of us activists, socialists, anarchists, etc to forge a new strategy for a resistance that has never been needed more.

The perfect example is what is happening in Israel. Now that the Bush Administration has made such a big deal out of terror, Ariel Sharon is using this for his own "war on terror" --- but it is too late. The western world is no longer fooled into thinking in black and white, Israelis = police, Palestinians = terrorists. During war, you don't have that. You have soldiers on both sides. If Israel can be shown to have repeatedly escalated "terror" over the past year or so (which can certainly be shown, the evidence is overwhelming), who is the "terrorist"?

Already, China has spoken out against Israeli terrorism and more and more people are using this terminology: "Israeli terrorism" ... this is unheard of in western media!

Since 1999, the true face of capitalism has been shown more and more. Maybe someone's back is against the wall. The system is not working so smoothly. Big changes are happening. We can take the advantage, and fight for true social justice and self-determination for ALL peoples.