Can a person who committed acts of terrorism become a national leader and a warrior for peace and unity? To most people this would seem like an unresolvable paradox, a virtual impossibility. Yet world history provides numerous examples of individuals who have used violence in struggles for just causes and who later became admired political figures, leading nations and fighting for the welfare of their people.
This essay explores the line between terrorism and heroism, and how context, perspective, and history shape our understanding of both. To understand this question, it is useful to explore the meaning of the word terrorism. Commonly defined as the use of violence to achieve political, religious, or ideological goals, it sometimes includes targeting civilians in order to instil fear, destabilize conditions, and impose change.
Today, the word “terrorism” has become a catch-all term for varied forms of asymmetrical warfare, where combatants fight with vastly different resources and the tactics of terrorists are aimed more at instilling fear than achieving military victory. A good example is that of suicide bombers. It has been said that “suicide terrorism is the atomic bomb of the poor.” Self-sacrificial fighters have often served as an unparalleled resource, achieving significant military victories against conventional armies. There are numerous instances of suicide missions throughout history, but the one that gave its name to this type of warfare was the Japanese Kamikaze pilots, who inflicted enormous casualties upon their enemies during World War II.
In struggles for freedom from tyranny, there is always a great disproportion of means available to the combatants. Mighty armies with powerful weapons have faced small groups of men who are often poorly armed, but extremely well organized and highly motivated. The so-called terrorists, willing to do anything for their cause, are ready to sacrifice their lives and endure barbaric imprisonment and torture. They fight to the last drop of blood for their homeland, their families, their history, and their culture, against well-armed and far more numerous opponents. While no regular army would undertake a military venture from which there was no chance of returning alive, the extreme idealism of freedom fighters can make them feel invincible.
Many nations around the world were born through the use of paramilitary actions that could be defined as terrorist.
Terrorism is a broad phenomenon that includes varied forms and techniques. People who engage in this type of warfare are often identified as partisans, guerrilla fighters and insurgents, or snipers and saboteurs for the techniques they use. These forms of armed struggle have been used for centuries by colonized peoples seeking freedom from subjugation and exploitation. In struggles for liberation, irregular bands of warriors have often overwhelmed their oppressors. Many nations around the world were born through the use of paramilitary actions that could be defined as terrorist.
Many individuals in history who have sparked successful revolutions have become founding fathers and national heroes. Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), who fought against the Spanish conquerors of Latin America, was considered a fierce terrorist by the Spanish crown. Today he is regarded as the liberator and father of Venezuela, as well as the liberator of several other Latin American nations, and he is celebrated as a hero and cultural icon across the continent.
In Italy, nearly every town has a street named after Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), who was a politician, journalist, and revolutionary leader. He played a crucial role in Italy’s unification and its founding as a nation, yet to Austria and other powers that once ruled Italy, he was a terrorist and was sentenced to death. Today he is celebrated as a national hero. The same is true for other Italian patriots like Giuseppe Garibaldi and Silvio Pellico. Partisan fighters who helped liberate France and Italy from fascism at the end of World War II were hunted down as terrorists. Celebrated today for their courageous resistance to Nazi and other fascist forces, they were tortured and executed for their actions.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), president of South Africa after the fall of apartheid, was labelled a terrorist. Having exhausted all legal means to oppose the system’s oppression, he took a more militant path of resistance and was incarcerated for 27 years. Yet his moral philosophy, humaneness, and forgiveness of his oppressors calmed and inspired his followers and helped prevent the breakout of civil war and national disaster. He became a world-famous statesman and co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Some of his colleagues in the African National Congress, a ‘terrorist organisation,’ became leaders in international mediation, helping to resolve the Northern Ireland crisis and others.
Abdullah Öcalan (1948- ), founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and promoter of the rebirth of the Kurdish nation, was considered by Turkey to be the most dangerous terrorist alive. Sentenced to life imprisonment in 1999, he is a hero and martyr for the Kurds. Islamic militants throughout the Middle East, considered terrorists by Western countries, are martyrs and heroes in the Islamic world
More recently, the term ‘terrorist state’ has come into usage in international bodies. The term refers to states that use repressive measures to attack political opponents and terrorize the population into supporting harsh controls. Among the common attributes of terrorist states are the use of violence to eliminate opposition and justify authoritarian measures, the carrying out of secret paramilitary operations to infiltrate suspected groups and suppress free speech, and the use of “false flag” attacks to pin responsibility for violent actions on opposition groups in order to justify repressive actions and even wars.
Syria was such a terrorist state under its last dictator, Bashar al-Assad. The rebel army that deposed him utilized a form of terrorism that can be defined as “foundational,” as the goal of the armed struggle is to replace the foundations of tyranny with a liberated state. On December 8, 2024, an armed brigade of rebel fighters overthrew a terrorist regime. They were treacherous murderers and enemies of state to the existing regime and its supporters, but they rapidly became heroes to much of the Syrian population.
The use of terrorism poses a great moral dilemma as it is hard to justify using violence against innocents, even for the cause of liberating a nation. Yet, history shows that victories achieved through armed struggle can sometimes lead to the birth of governments dedicated to peace and unity. This is the case of the rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria. Emerging from militant Islamist factions, including al-Qaeda affiliates, former HTS leaders have distanced themselves from jihadist movements and have taken up the work of governing and unifying a nation and a region.
Militants who destroy a country are easier to find than those who can guide the country’s recovery and reconstruction. Ahmad al-Sharaa in Syria appears to be an example of the latter.
Militants who destroy a country are easier to find than those who can guide the country’s recovery and reconstruction. Ahmad al-Sharaa in Syria appears to be an example of the latter. Weeks after abandoning the role of insurgent leader, he assumed the role of government leader, taking rapid steps to rebuild every sector of Syrian life—from uniting armed factions into a single national army to forging economic and financial alliances for the stability and well-being of his people. Like other warriors in history who successfully fought to overthrow tyrannical regimes, al-Sharaa is being transformed in many minds from terrorist to hero.
July 2025