One Man's Terrorist is Another Man's Freedom Fighter: The Brutal War in Gaza, Terrorism & The Terroristic Threat.

Welcome to the 70th episode of Light ‘Em Up! We’re excited and honored that you’ve joined us!  We know your podcasting options are vast.

As we air our final full-length, explosive episode of 2023, just like the 3 Wise Men — we come bearing very exciting news.  Light ‘Em Up is actively being downloaded in 107 countries globally!

Tonight, as the war continues to rage on in Gaza — we provide an intense, investigative journalistic focus on “Terrorism and the Terroristic Threat” — with a special focus on the war in Gaza and the barbaric October 7th terror attack in Israel — which caught its citizenry, the Israeli government, its defense forces (the IDF) completely and utterly by surprise, unaware and ill prepared as was the case with the terror attacks here, in the U.S., on 9/11/2001.

Hamas leaders say they launched the attack on Israel because they believed the “Palestinian cause was slipping away, and that only violence could revive it”.

In an assault without recent precedent in its complexity and scale, the militants crossed into Israel by land, sea and air, according to the Israeli military, leading to some of the first pitched battles.  The attack, which was clearly meticulously planned — used rockets, paragliders, boats, motorcycles, other vehicles, and whatever other means they could use.

The armed militants infiltrated the Jewish state and murdered around 1,200 people, including 30 Americans — injured over 5,400, and captured and fled with some 230+ hostages back deep into Gaza (more than 100 hostages held in the Gaza Strip have since been released).

It’s been said that “the only thing we learn from history … is that we do not learn from it”.

In this episode we challenge you to think critically as we delve into and unpack:

♦ The concept and phrase: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

♦Some myths about terrorism (stemming from our usage of the Global Terrorism Database).

♦ We highlight examples of designated terrorist organizations.

♦ We ask: Does it help to label a person or a group as being terrorists?  “Terrorism” is a contested and politicized term that may be applied or rejected by different actors depending on their interests and perspectives.

♦ We’ll drill down on the main challenges of negotiating with terrorists and share some historic examples of successful negotiations that built trust through diplomacy and effective communication.

This episode proved to be one of our most challenging and ambitious episodes of the year.  I’m very proud of our team and the research behind it.

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Merry Christmas!  Feliz Navidad!  Buon’ Natale! Happy Hannukah!

Thank you so much for being a loyal listener and a fan of Light ‘Em Up.