Reflective writing on acts of terrorism

Reflective writing on acts of terrorism

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Reflective writing on acts of terrorism

What I found surprising and confusing in the past week is the issue of terrorism across the world. My primary concern is that I find it difficult to understand why people choose to engage in acts of terrorism and precisely how an individual would find pleasure in killing a large number of people without any apparent reason. It has often been said that, “not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims” (Lehto, 2009). This statement has got me thinking about the history of terrorism and the reason terrorists associate themselves with Islam and make terrorism appear as though it is a battle between Muslims and Christians. It has made me wonder why we don’t often witness cases where there are Jewish, Buddhists, or Christians who engage in acts of terrorism. There are several people who have on several occasions committed horrible acts of terrorism in the name of Islam. On the other hand, Muslim faithfuls have argued that the acts of terrorism are not in any way related to their faith but rather the terrorists engage in such acts for their own political agenda (Lehto, 2009). This has further got me thinking whether terrorism is religiously motivated or politically motivated.

The other area of concern is the reason most countries have not been able to counter if not to entirely wipe out any form of terrorism across the world. It has often been observed across the world that most countries only continue to pass laws such as Terrorism Acts, Prevention of Terrorism Acts, Counter-Terrorism Acts, Terrorism Prevention Acts, and so on, whenever an act of terrorism is executed. The countries have not however designed any policy aimed at eliminating terrorism (Nathanson, 2010). This has got me wondering what exactly could be the driving force for terrorism and the exact solution to this problem across the world. It has got me thinking just why terrorists associate themselves with Islam and why it has become so difficult to uproot the spirit of terrorism from the society, across the world. The major question that I would like my classmates to consider discussing or analyzing is the reason terrorists find pleasure in killing other individuals whom they feel are not aligned with Muslim faith (Nathanson, 2010).

References

Lehto, M. (2009). Indirect responsibility for terrorist acts: Redefinition of the concept of terrorism beyond violent acts. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Nathanson, S. (2010). Terrorism and the ethics of war. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.