State Terrorism, Oliverio and Gunder Frank re. Social Construction ofTer

You also might consider The State of Terror,  Annamarie Oliverio's new book
[SUNY Press],  as Gunder Frank writes in the Foreword:

Oliverio's powerful appeal is to comprehend that it is the state,
including especially the academy and the media, who serve their own
interests by labelling, denouncing, and persecuting the powerless as the
sources of "terrorism." Concomitantly, Oliverio also appeals to our
comprehension of how the same interested parties use this same power to
shape our perceptions in their (largely successful) attempt to protect
themselves from the terrorist label and other critiques and to exempt
their polices from reform.

What, for example, exempts the British state from charges of routine
state and army of occupation-terrorism for twenty five-years in Northern
Ireland and in its notorious H block prisons. And speaking of prisons,
Oliverio asks why the U.S. is also exempt from charges of "terrorism"
when more of its young African American males are locked away in prison
and on parole than in "normal" society, not to mention in school?

What of the violence of poverty, disease, exploitation, or
oppression in the Third World, the economic polices imposed by the
International Monetary Fund, which have aggravated the same. Terrorism by the
State--Why not?

KSamman@aol.com wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> For anyone interested in the issue of the social construction of
> terrorism may find this short piece of interest.
>
> Khaldoun Samman
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
> On Sunday, Prof. Ehud Sprinzak, the so-called "expert on extremist
> movements," was interviewed on the lunchtime programme [Yoman
> Hatzohorayim] of Channel 7. The interviewer, Ariel Kahana, presented him as
> a "person of the left". Sprinzak did not like this description. "I am a
> person of
> the centre", he said, "and in general I dislike labels". Then the following
> dialogue took place:
>
> Kahana: "What do you think about the executions in the Palestinian
> Authority?"
>
> Sprinzak: "I have a very positive opinion; I mean, it is a vital instrument,
> part
> of the struggle against terrorism and I have no reservation, except for one
> thing..."
>
> Kahana: "Ah, one moment, one moment: I was referring to the executions of
> collaborators by the Palestinian Authorities, not to the liquidations by our
> forces".
>
> Sprinzak: "Pardon, pardon, I thought you were asking me ... In any case,
> about the Palestinians: it is disgusting, nauseating, this is how a
> dictatorial
> system operates, without any juridical process. Absolutely unacceptable,
> shocking."
>
> [Originally from GNAA]