A Study on the cognition to the Middle Eastern Terrorism

As for the definition of terrorism, academics and analysts diverge in their opinions. No one has been able to produce a universally agreed definition. Walter Laqueur, even argues that terrorism is simply indefinable and unworthy of definition. One of the controversial questions related to a finite definition of terrorism is how to identify state terrorism. In this regard, the West blames some Arab nations and the Muslim world for state terrorism and religious terrorism by supporting Islamic Radicals or Islamic extremist, while Arab nations and the Muslim world ascribe terrorism to the developed nations’ colonization of the less developed nations. Terrorist groups in the Middle East have diverse origins, ideologies, and organizational structures. These groups date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the majority of these were formally or informally linked to the PLO. Typically, they are also relatively bureaucratic and maintain a nationalist or Marxist agenda. In contrast, most new generation groups arose in the 1980s and 1990s, have more fluid organizational forms, and rely on Islam, especially the concept of Jihad as a basis for their radical ideology. The groups have survived to this day partly through support from states such as Syria, Libya, and Iran. The groups retain the ability to train and prepare for terrorist missions; however, their involvement in actual operations has been limited in recent years, partly because of successful counter terrorism campaigns by Israeli and Western Anti-terrorism agencies. In contrast, the newer and less hierarchical groups, such as Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hizbullah, Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group (GIA), the Egyptian Islamic Group (IG), and Osama bin Laden’s Arab Afghans, have become the most active organizations in and around the Middle East. After the gulf war in 1991, Muslims regard the coalition army, especially the US military presence as an intimidation of Islam by the West. Al-Qaida's ideology and behavior is seen as an extreme form of Islam and as a political movement by modern Islamic Fundamentalists, and one of its ideals is pan-Islamic unity. To Al-Qaida in particular, the world is viewed as a struggle between their extreme Islamist ideology on one hand and non-Islam, like Zionism, Christianity and the secular West on the other.