Judea Pearl, father of journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan seven years ago, is afraid not just that the world is moving away from a battle on terror, but that it is reluctant to acknowledge that there is such a thing as terror.
"Terror is not just a tactic; it is an ideology. On the one hand it acts like a virus; it's contagious. On the other hand it acts like a cancer in the sense that it builds on very healthy tissues in our civilization. So we have to treat it as an epidemic."
"...We have to define terror and for some reason the UN pretends that it cannot be defined. Every child understands what terror is. It's a targeting - an injuring - of innocent people for the purpose of broadcasting or transmitting a political grievance. The ingredient that makes it unique is that it's a license given to an individual to elevate his or her grievances above all norms of civilized society.
"The current strategy is to treat terrorism as isolated phenomena, unrelated, whereas in reality we see here a common thread which is this ideological viral ingredient that permits a person to elevate or amplify their grievance into a cosmic injustice and then provide oneself with a license to cross civilized lines.
For some reason, terrorists acts - acts against innocent civilians - for the purpose of transmitting political grievances is gaining credence - is gaining legitimacy - in the mores of our culture."
Recent Comments