Terrorism

In part 1 of this invaluable primer, the distinguished Palestinian intellectual and scholar Eqbal Ahmad examines the concepts of "terrorist" and "freedom fighter" in the context of U.S. foreign policy. What do these terms mean? Where do they apply? How can the roots of political violence be stemmed? In part 2, David Barsamian interviews Ahmad upon his return from Afghanistan, where he met with and interviewed Osama bin Laden.

EQBAL AHMAD, who passed away in 1999, was hailed by his close friend Edward Said as "perhaps the shrewdest and most original anti-imperialist analyst of the postwar world, particularly of the dynamics between the West and postcolonial Asia and Africa; a man of enormous charisma, dazzling eloquence, incorruptible ideals, unfailing generosity and sympathy. Humanity and genuine secularism ... had no finer champion." Eqbal Ahmad was Professor Emeritus of International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. For many years he served as managing editor of the quarterly Race and Class. His essays appeared in The Nation and other journals throughout the world.