Author(s): Ayman Abu Al-haj
The way terrorism is conceptualized today inadvertently reinforces political ideas about terrorism. The author overlooks the process of terrorism, which involves an evolving dialectic of acts and reactions, mostly because they ultimately depend on the intentions of terrorists to define “terrorism”. As a result, terrorism is reduced to the deliberate acts of terrorists, and this obfuscation of the causes of terrorism encourages the “negation of history” in politics as well as the “rhetoric of response”. This paper focuses on the intersection of terrorism with human security law. Furthermore, it discusses terrorism in the context of international criminal law, human rights, and the right of people to selfdetermination such as counter-terrorism. It finds that the conflict between the authority of states and the rights of oppressed peoples forms the core of the debate. While governments hold the exclusive right to exercise lawful force within their territories, this authority is not without limits, notably when it violates upon the basic rights of individuals and communities. The Charter of the United Nations and various other international legal texts, which strongly affirm the principle of self-determination, offer a moral and legal basis for the justified resistance against oppressive governments. The interplay between terrorism and the people’s right to resist for self-determination underscores the importance of a thorough understanding of conflict dynamics, along with a commitment to dialogue, peace-building, and friendly resolution of disputes. For a considerable period, the pursuit of a more just and balanced global order can only be achieved through collective efforts to challenge systemic injustices and give a voice to the marginalized.