H.E. Mousa Maaytah, Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs (middle), and Mrs. Ulla Al-Shraideh (HSSt)

Terrorism involves violence against civilians, with a political or religious motivation. Terrorist acts are organized so as to attract maximum attention, and are committed for the purpose of intimidating a group of people, and/or pressuring a government to do (or not do) something. In most cases, terrorism is a weapon of small groups, fighting against governments that are more established and better-armed. Because terrorist organizations guard their secrecy, they offer no clear target for retaliation, and are hard to defend against. Now that the Cold War is over, many observers consider terrorism the greatest threat to world peace and security.

'Terrorists' don’t call themselves terrorists. The word implies that the person committing the terrorist act is a murderer. Those whom others call 'terrorists' see themselves as fighters for a just cause, and refer to themselves by names like 'freedom fighter, revolutionary, guerrilla, rebel',or 'patriot'. In the Islamic world, the names 'jihadi' and 'mujahedeen' are used in a similar way. In many conflicts, both sides call their enemies' 'terrorists'.