Hamas and the pro-Palestine rioters in the US laying siege to campuses are terrorists, by definition, not freedom fighters. They both target civilians with violence and threats of violence to bring about political change.
There is an old saying: “The difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist is victory.” The idea being that the victor gets to write the history and can convert terrorists to heroes. A similar saying is, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” The meaning here is that terrorist or freedom fighter is a matter of perspective, and that if you were trying to gain your freedom, you would see the terrorists as freedom fighters. Both of these sayings are wrong, however. Terrorism is a malign methodology, which can be directed at a variety of goals from achieving independence to bringing about Armageddon, or preventing deforestation. The ends do not justify the means, and they certainly do not change the nature of terrorism.
One of the problems with terrorism is that it lacks a single, universally accepted definition. In the US, various federal agencies, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, state and city governments, and courts all operate on differing definitions of terrorism. On a global level, foreign countries and international organizations also have differing definitions of terrorism.
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