Severe though the ongoing wave of terror may be, argues Boaz Ganor, it does not merit the term intifada (Arabic for “uprising”), since—compared with the first and second intifadas—there have been relatively few perpetrators and victims. Rather, he writes, it is a peculiarly Palestinian manifestation of a global phenomenon:
In the current wave of terror, we are dealing with self-initiated and locally initiated attacks. The term “lone wolf,” [however], is too narrow to include the characteristics of the phenomenon, as is the phrase “attacks by [isolated] individuals.” . . .
[The motivation for these attacks is rooted in] a deep hatred of Israel, personal and social frustration, despair over the national and economic situation, and generational conflict. (Attacks are often an assault on parental authority in general, or on the father’s authority in particular.)
All of these are channeled at a particular moment and under the influence of deliberate and prolonged incitement into an act considered by the terrorists themselves and many members of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim society to be an admirable expression of altruism, patriotism, and religious devotion.
In most cases, it is not a momentary whim or crazy emotional outburst [that precipitates an attack], but rather an informed personal or group decision that crystallizes over time. In many cases, the decision is the result of subjective cost-benefit considerations. In other cases, it is a response to an urge for adventure wrapped in an attractive cloak of altruism and patriotism.
The terrorists are not necessarily different from young Muslims in the West who . . . decide to join a group of foreign fighters in conflict zones or carry out self-initiated or locally initiated terrorist attacks in their own country (such as Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who carried out the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in 2015).
This phenomenon . . . currently threatens the entire world.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Combating-terror-449749