Although it is
true that
terrorism can be defined as the act of
killing civilians, the
border between
civilians and
non-civilians can be more blurred than people think. For example, consider the new
settlements being created in
Israel. The
settlers know perfectly well that they are living on
land built on
conquered territory. They
know that they are going into a
war zone. They are explicitly there so that
Israel, if and when peace talks ever get anywhere can claim "We can't give back that area, we have settlers living there, and we developed it." Nobody makes any bones about the fact. The settlers are well-armed and know exactly what they are there for.
Given these facts, would Palestinians who attack what is quite clearly an invading civilian force (paradoxical, I know, but true nonetheless) terrorists, or merely a resistance movement, fighting against the forced occupation of their territory by a civilian force defended by the military?