Terrorism - Research Paper Example

FBI definition of terrorism has been one of the most used in understanding this concept; FBI defines terrorism as the unlawful use of violence or force against property or persons in an attempt to coerce or intimidate a civilian population, a government, or any sort of segment to further certain social or political objectives (White, 2012). In order to understand how the definition of terrorism is impacted upon public and societal perspective and how it changes over time, this paper will address several questions regarding the Irgun.

Irgun, also referred to as The National Military Organization in the Land of Israel was a militant Zionist underground group that was actively mainly between 1931 and 1948 during the British control in Palestine (Bowyer, 1977). The group broke from the earlier Zionist paramilitary organization that was known as Haganah. The Irgun was founded on the policy of Revisionist Zionism that stated that each Jew had the right of entering Palestine and that only active retaliation could deter Arabs, and that Jewish armed force that is armed was the only one capable of ensuring the Jewish state (Pedahzur and Arie, 2009).

Irgun committed assassination and terrorism acts against the British, whom it considered as illegal occupiers; also Irgun committed violence acts against the Arabs. After the state of Israel was created in the 1948, Irgun was disbanded and absorbed into the Israel Defense Forces (Eisenstadt, 1985). Irgun’s stated motivation and goal for their military actions was to establish a Jewish state on the either sides of the Jordan (Bowyer, 1977). This motivation and goal was informed by the Revisionist Zionism policy which Irgun was founded upon that stated that each Jew had the right of entering Palestine; only active retaliation which involves force and violence can deter the Arabs; and only armed force of the Jews would ensure the Jewish state.

Apart from the King David Hotel acts by the Irgun, the group undertook other violent actions to achieve their goals. One of the other violent actions by Irgun included the “Sergeants Affair” in July, 1947 which involved hanging of the hostages (two British Sergeants) after the British had confirmed the death sentences for the Irgun members (Shlaim, 1995). The other violent action by the Irgun is what was referred as the “Acre Prison Break” where the Irgun undertook one of their largest operations of a prison in Acre; this raid allowed 41 of its members to escape from the prison.

Another violent action of the Irgun was the bombing of the British Embassy located in Rome, on October 31, 1946, where close to half of the building was destroyed and at least 3 people injured (Bowyer, 1977). The violent actions of the Irgun mainly targeted the British officials and soldiers, as well as the Palestinian Arab civilians and fighter