AP Human Geography Project: Terrorism Elizabeth Rios-Mujica Cindy Flores Andrew T.

What is Terrorism? According to Dictionary.com, Terrorism is defined as “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for policial purposes.” Terrorism usually involves a method of resisting a government, basically politics plays a major role. Some examples of terrorism are: 9/11 attack on World Trade Center Boming on London Subway Boston Marathon Bombings

How do we describe terrorism? We would define terrorism as any extreme act that a person or group of people do to a person or people to invoke fear and terror onto them. Not everyone has the same definition of terrorism, it may stem from a lower extreme such as bullying, to a great extreme such as Al Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Center. People can distinguish different acts of terrorism through its motives, whether it is political, ideological, or domestic. We believe terrorists have a deep seated motive on why they would want to cause harm to people. Since terrorism very much stems from causing a great amount of terror and harm, we do not believe there are any acceptable of terrorism.

Hamas: An Islamic Resistance Movement What is Hamas? Hamas is a militant fundamentalist Islamic organization that opposes peace with Israel and uses terrorism as a weapon. Hamas wants to make an Islamic state in the place of Israel, and is popular among Palestinians. Hamas came to prominence in the 1990s by rejecting the Oslo peace process which sought to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Their intention is to eliminate the Jewish state completely. Hamas instills terrorism through suicide bombings on civilian and military Israeli targets.

Hamas’ Terrorism Acts From 2000 to 2004, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly 400 Israelis and hurting more than 2000 in 425 attacks. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have launched thousands of rockets into Israel. The most prevalent terrorist attacks from Hamas are suicide bombings. This happened at Afula on April 16, 1994, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives- laden car next to a bus. This act killed 9 and wounded 50. The most deadly suicide bombing was an attack on a Nentanya hotel on March 27, 2002 in which 30 people were killed and 140 people were wounded. This is also known as the Passover Massacre, which took place on the first night of the Jewish festival of Passover at a Seder. Hamas defends these suicide attacks as a legitimate aspect of its asymmetric warfare against Israel.

World Responses Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel, Britain and the European Union. During the Gaza Conflict of 2008-2009, the United Nations Goldstone Report found that rocket attacks by Hamas constituted war crimes, and may have amounted to crimes against humanity. The Goldstrone Report also found that Israeli forces had committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch has accused Hamas, as well as Israeli authorities and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, or war crimes.