Religion and Middle Eastern Terror

Just as terrorism in the Middle East cannot be understood apart from the rival claims made for the territory of the state of Israel by the state and by Palestinians, so it cannot be understood apart from its religious attributes. But as White explains, building on his explanation of the Iranian revolution as having core importance in respect of international terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism spread outward from Iran, inspired by its example, and setting up a shifting dynamic of interest. White cites three forms of this dynamic: "struggle for control of the Palestinian movement, the directions of revolutionary Islam, and the spread of terrorism from the Afghan war" (1999, p. 152). These three forms all predate 9/11; the Afghan war refers to the Russian invasion. The overarching tendency, however, is the amplification of terrorist ethos, with the Palestinian a key but not the only key to Islamist terrorist ambition. In that regard (and writing in 1999), White mentions the threat from "a group headed by Osama bin Ladin" (p. 152). Curiously, he gives equal weight to the terrorist threat from anti-Arab Jewish fundamentalism, which, given 9/11, can be interpreted as overcaution in the manner of actual threat scale from terrorist behavior.

Still, White's principal focus is on Islamist terrorism. He attempts to clarify and be more specific about the nature of the main Islamic threat. He describes two opinions about Islamic terro

. . .
capitalism more generally. They formed an alliance with Palestinian groups and conducted operations in Israel, Asia, and Europe, plus an abortive attempt at an incident in the U.S. White cites the group's "phoenixlike" ability to surface from time to time, though many of its adherents are in jail and though the 1990s saw its activity wane. Even so, the founding leader Shigebonu is at large. And then there was neofascism, as ethnocentrism combined with coordinated responses to left-wing violence gained a higher and higher profile. Neofascism also gained appeal in the context of the end of the Cold War and the unification of Germany, which left many disaffected because of the economic hardships that ensued for some segments of society. White explains that right-wing terrorists, particularly in Austria and Germany, targeted individual Jews, Russians, and Americans rather than anonymous groups (p. 183). That limited right-wing terrorist activity. However, neofascist operatives have formed alliances with and trained with Palestinian groups, in a species of international solidarity. On the other hand, neofascism in Europe was factionalized among various groups--e.g., brownshirts vs. blackshirts vs. Nazis--just as it was on the left. Th
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Middle East, Israel Palestinians, Trade Center, Ulster Constabulary, Turkey Islamic, Palestine European, Russians Americans, Faction RAF, Daniel Byman, Native Americans, middle east, 4th ed, terrorism white, white jr 2003, 2003 terrorism introduction, terrorism introduction 4th, calif wadsworth/thomson, belmont calif, ed belmont, sri lanka, white jr, introduction 4th, introduction 4th ed, 4th ed belmont, terrorist tactics,
Approximate Word count = 4592
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Religion and Middle Eastern Terror